On May 20, Professor Peter K. Yu of Texas A&M University School of Law delivered a presentation titled "Realigning International Intellectual Property Negotiations with UN Sustainable Development Goals" at the International Conference on Intellectual Property and Development at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Scheduled before the opening of the 23rd session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property, this high-profile event brought together intellectual property experts from around the world to share their knowledge and experience on intellectual property and development and to strategize on how best to benefit from the intellectual property system. The conference was attended by more than 100 delegates, diplomats and NGO representatives. The webcast, to which hundreds of registered viewers had remote access, is now available online.

Yu's presentation identified six distinct strategies that developing countries may deploy to ensure greater promotion and fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which the UN General Assembly adopted in September 2015. The presentation utilized examples from the latest international intellectual property negotiations, including those involving the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Yu's presentation drew on his research for a chapter in a forthcoming book titled Intellectual Property and Sustainable Markets. Edited by Professor Ole-Andreas Rognstad and Associate Professor Inger Berg Ørstavik of the University of Oslo in Norway, the book will be published by Edward Elgar as part of Yu's Elgar Intellectual Property and Global Development Series.

Yu Discusses Protection of Pharmaceutical Test Data at WTO Seminar

On May 21, Yu was a featured speaker in the "IP & Trade Policy Today" seminar series organized by the Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. His presentation was titled "Data Exclusivities in the Age of Big Data, Biologics and Plurilaterals."

Speaking to a packed crowd of WTO staff, delegates and other invited guests, Yu discussed the ongoing legal and policy questions concerning Article 39.3 of the WTO TRIPS Agreement, which offers protection to undisclosed test data that have been submitted for regulatory approval of pharmaceutical and agrochemical products. He also explored the challenges and complications presented by the latest international intellectual property negotiations, the increased use of big data analytics in research and development, and the growing importance and popularity of biologics and personalized medicines.

Yu's presentation drew on his research for a forthcoming article titled "Data Exclusivities and the Limits to TRIPS Harmonization," which the Florida State University Law Review will publish this summer. The Texas A&M Law Review also recently published his short essay on the changing intellectual property discourse on the protection of pharmaceutical test data.

Yu Speaks at University of Oxford and Represents American Branch of International Law Association in London

On May 14, Yu returned to the University of Oxford to participate in the "Law, Technology & IP in China: The Next Great Leap Forward?" seminar organized by the Oxford Chinese Law Discussion Group and the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre in St. Hugh's College.

From 1999 to 2004, Yu was a research associate of the Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford. Last year, he visited Mansfield College and St Anne's College to participate in the "Constitutional Hedges of Intellectual Property" Workshop.

The weekend before, Yu represented the American Branch of the International Law Association (ILA) at the ILA Executive Council Meeting in Charles Clore House in London. As the Director of Studies of the American Branch, he joined Professors Ruth Wedgwood (Johns Hopkins University), David Stewart (Georgetown University), Leila Sadat (Washington University School of Law) and James Nafziger (Willamette University) in the U.S. delegation. Before the meeting, the delegation paid a visit to the U.K. House of Lords, which was hosted by Lord Jonathan Mance, ILA Chair and the former Deputy President of the U.K. Supreme Court.

About Professor Yu and Center for Law and Intellectual Property at Texas A&M University 

Yu directs the Center for Law and Intellectual Property at Texas A&M University School of Law and holds a joint appointment at the School of Law and the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. He is an award-winning teacher and a world-renowned expert on international intellectual property law. He has testified before the U.S. International Trade Commission on intellectual property protection and enforcement in China. He has also spoken on intellectual property issues at the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Library of Congress and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Under his leadership, the intellectual property law program at Texas A&M University has been transformed into a leading international hub for research and education in the field. In addition to an intellectual property concentration for J.D. students, the program offers a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property degree for lawyers and a Master of Jurisprudence (M.Jur.) in Intellectual Property degree for non-lawyers. In the past three years, peer surveys conducted by U.S. News and World Report have ranked Texas A&M consistently among the top 10 intellectual property law programs in the United States.