Papers by Emmanuel Kolawole Oke
Science, Technology and Society
Building on both the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the relevant portions... more Building on both the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the relevant portions of the advisory opinion of the International Monsanto Tribunal, this article presents a normative argument on the right-to-food responsibility of corporate actors that own and exercise intellectual property rights on seeds and plant varieties. This article contends that while states bear the primary responsibility for the right to food, corporate actors that own intellectual property rights on seeds and plant varieties equally have a responsibility to respect the right to food and to ensure that the exercise and enforcement of their intellectual property rights does not negatively affect the ability of small scale farmers to gain access to the means of food production nor threaten agricultural biodiversity, as both of these factors are crucial for ensuring food security. In this regard, agricultural companies that own intellectual property rights on seeds and plant varieties should not ...
When is Intellectual Property an Investment?
SSRN Electronic Journal
SCRIPT-ed
The principle of territoriality is one of the foundational principles of International Intellectu... more The principle of territoriality is one of the foundational principles of International Intellectual Property Law. This principle allows countries to design their intellectual property laws in a manner that facilitates the achievement of specific societal goals. However, while it is true that this principle has managed to survive the incorporation of intellectual property into the international trade law system (via the WTO's TRIPS Agreement), some scholars have expressed concern that the incorporation of intellectual property into the international investment law system via investment agreements (such as bilateral investment treaties) constitutes a potential threat to the principle of territoriality in the international intellectual property system. This paper will investigate the tension between the principle of territoriality and the global harmonisation of intellectual property standards in the context of the current iteration of intellectual property as an asset in investment agreements. Specifically, it will critically examine how this tension was resolved in two recent investment arbitration disputes. The first is the dispute between Philip Morris and * Lecturer in International Intellectual Property Law, Edinburgh Law School,
The Incorporation of a Right to Health Perspective into Brazil’s Patent Law Reform Process
Law and Policy in Latin America, 2016
Using the Right to Health to Enforce the Corporate Responsibilities of Pharmaceutical Companies with Regard to Access to Medicines
Image Rights of Celebrities in the Digital Era: Is There a Need for the Right of Publicity in Ireland?
South Africa: Aventis Pharma SA & Ors v. Cipla Life Sciences
A Triumph for Generic Medicines and the Right to Health in Africa: Patricia Asero Ochieng & Ors. v. Attorney General
Expanding the reach of India's ‘Bolar’ exemption
Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property, 2015
Incorporating a right to health perspective into the resolution of patent law disputes
Health and Human Rights, 2013
This article adopts the view that the courts in developing countries can play an important role i... more This article adopts the view that the courts in developing countries can play an important role in improving access to medicines in their countries if they incorporate a right to health perspective when adjudicating patent cases involving pharmaceutical products. The article argues that, since patent rights are not human rights, they should not be allowed to trump the right to health. The paper examines two notable cases decided by the courts in Kenya that illustrate the crucial role that incorporating a right to health perspective can play in improving access to medicines. Finally, the paper provides five reasons why courts in developing countries cannot afford to ignore the right to health when adjudicating cases involving patent rights on pharmaceutical products.
A triumph for generic medicines and the right to health in Africa Patricia Asero Ochieng & Ors. v. Attorney General (Petition No. 409 of 2009, Judgment of the Kenyan High Court, 20 April 2012)
Journal of Generic Medicines: The Business Journal for the Generic Medicines Sector, 2013
Justiciability of Human Rights Law in Domestic Jurisdictions, 2015
This chapter examines how the national courts in three developing countries (Kenya, South
Exploring the flexibilities in TRIPS: lessons from India's pharmaceutical patent law
Commonwealth Law Bulletin, 2015
Health and human rights, 2013
This article adopts the view that the courts in developing countries can play an important role i... more This article adopts the view that the courts in developing countries can play an important role in improving access to medicines in their countries if they incorporate a right to health perspective when adjudicating patent cases involving pharmaceutical products. The article argues that, since patent rights are not human rights, they should not be allowed to trump the right to health. The paper examines two notable cases decided by the courts in Kenya that illustrate the crucial role that incorporating a right to health perspective can play in improving access to medicines. Finally, the paper provides five reasons why courts in developing countries cannot afford to ignore the right to health when adjudicating cases involving patent rights on pharmaceutical products.
Other Areas of International Law Interpreting TRIPS: Globalization of Intellectual Property Rights and Access to Medicines by Hiroko YAMANE. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2011. xlvi+535 pp. Hardcover: £70
Asian Journal of International Law, 2013
Functional necessity appears to be the basis of the immunity usually accorded international insti... more Functional necessity appears to be the basis of the immunity usually accorded international institutions under international law. However, there is an emerging consensus that since international institutions are accorded legal personality under international law they should also be ready to accept the duties and responsibilities imposed on subjects of international law. It appears that the Nigerian courts are now reluctant to grant immunity to international institutions especially when the matter involves commercial agreements. The Nigerian courts justify this position by relying on the doctrine of restrictive immunity applicable to sovereign states when engaged in commercial transactions. The approach of the Nigerian courts is obviously an attempt to meet the ends of justice by preventing a situation where international institutions hide under the cloak of immunity to evade their legal responsibilities.
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Papers by Emmanuel Kolawole Oke