Call for Papers: IPublic Health: The Intersection of Intellectual Property and Public Health

The John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law will host a symposium at The John Marshall Law School in November 2013. The symposium theme will be IPublic Health: The Intersection of Intellectual Property and Public Health. Accepted papers will be published in the 2014 RIPL Symposium Issue and authors may be invited to present their works either individually or as part of a panel presentation at the Symposium.

Deadline: Please submit a proposal, including a detailed outline of the article, to cshapir[@]law.jmls.edu before June 15, 2013. im

There is a longstanding debate on the role of intellectual property in assuring the research and development of affordable healthcare. The recent Indian Supreme Court’s denial of Novartis’s cancer drug, the US Supreme Court’s consideration of patenting the human genome, and the upcoming implementation of the Affordable Care Act bring these issues to the forefront. Both sides of the debate recognize the need for critical evaluation of the current system. Some argue that the system must be strengthened to generate and reward innovation; others argue that those protections should be relaxed to promote access. Any solution to this problem must be addressed on a global scale. We welcome papers that will contribute to this discussion. Topics may include the interplay of generic and branded drugs, the WTO TRIPS agreement and its impact on developing nations, the Affordable Care Act, patenting the human genome, and other topics involving public health and intellectual property. We will also accept papers on issues that address related topics such as false advertising and preemption under FDA law, FASTR and open access to research, and global health tourism, as well as new health technologies and implications for patient care, such as smart phones as medical diagnostic tools and other e-health developments.

RIPL is an honors law review comprised of top students participating in the internationally recognized IP program at the John Marshall Law School.  RIPL is available in libraries across the world and is published online.  These students have a variety of IP backgrounds, experience in trade secret, patent, trademark, and copyright law, and an extensive amount of editing experience. Since our foundation, RIPL has earned accolades and judicial citation by publishing reputable authors, including Justice John Paul Stevens, Chief Judge Paul Michel, Judge Richard Linn and Donald Chisum.