Harvard ILJ

In examining how intellectual property
rights can most effectively and strategically support developing countries in
implementing this ambitious and potentially catalytic agenda in enabling innovation
for global health, this paper seeks to outline a coherent and strategic approach to
address human development needs and to facilitate the harnessing of innovation and
the sharing of knowledge for global health.

This essay explores one aspect of that discussion—the determinants of effective protection—by considering three commonly held beliefs about the path to overcoming the failure of a country’s intellectual property laws to provide adequate and effective protection. Each of these ideas posits a determinant of effective IPR enforcement: The first is domestic economic interest, the second is the rule of law, and the third is political will.

Admittedly this is an immense and complicated issue, and the economics behind pharmaceutical innovation and access is but one facet of a complete understanding of the problem. This paper describes the context of the problems surrounding access to medicines, highlighting the tremendously complicated web of issues that prevent medicines from reaching the world’s poorest.

Texaco operations in Ecuador began in 1964 and continued until 1992. Until 1990, Texaco served as sole operator of a concession covering approximately 1,500 square miles of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest.

This short article discusses tort liability for sexual harassment of women in India, China and Hong Kong. Sexual harassment is a violation of a woman’s freedom of her person, her dignity, bodily integrity and sexual autonomy.

A Reflective Essay by a panelist at the 2010 Harvard International Law Journal Symposium: “International Dispute Resolution in Practice”

I refer to the involvement of judges and lawyers in defending and consolidating the independence of the judiciary around the world. Through my work as U.N. Rapporteur, I can testify to various inspiring good practices in this respect, which go far beyond a narrow corporative approach of judicial institutions.

To be a judge is to enjoy a great trust. To judge others involves listening to their stories and applying the law to the essential facts to arrive at conclusions that conform to law but, where possible, also appear to be just.