Year 2009

German Internet Blocking Bill Suspension

In a “turn back the clock” action, the German Liberal Party (FDP) – which is negotiating with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU) on the programme of the coalition government – is pushing a suspension of the blocking bill…

Panel Calls For An Ethical Framework For IP And Climate Change

BANGKOK - Normal negotiation strategy is unlikely to result in an impact on climate change, since the most important stakeholders in fighting it - not yet born - have no seat at the negotiating tables, said a panel last week in Bangkok. An ethical approach is a better way to achieve results, speakers said, and an ethical take on intellectual property rights and alternative forms of innovation may have a place in new climate-friendly economic models.

ACTA Text Revealed To 42 Select Insiders

In the weeks leading up to the next negotiating session (first week of November in Seoul) of the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, 42 Washington, DC-area insiders, mostly from industry, were invited by the United States Trade Representatives to see copies…

European Union Prepares A New Intellectual Property Rights Strategy

Intellectual property rights and their protection will be high on the agenda of the European institutions in the upcoming legislature, representatives from the European Commission, European Council and the European Parliament said at the first European Innovation Summit in Brussels yesterday. Stronger IP rights (IPR) protection was declared by representatives of all three institutions as indispensable to promote innovation and the knowledge society, while only a few voices were raised asking not to overreach in IPR regulation.

Agenda For Next WIPO Traditional Knowledge Meeting Online

The next meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore will be from 7-11 December. The draft agenda is online and available here. The committee recently received its strongest…

WIPO Members Step Up To Implement Development Agenda

World Intellectual Property Organisation members are preparing to take the reins of the Development Agenda as it becomes clear that implementation success will depend on their actions. And their actions must not only be focused on specific projects such as patent databases but also on the broader spirit of the agenda for change at WIPO, key developing countries said.

ITU Panels: Innovation Makes ICTs A Moving Landscape; IP Dispute Resolution Rising

Innovation in information and communications technologies during the economic downturn has brought shifts in the landscape with new technologies and newcomers in the market, according to speakers at a symposium organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center on 8 October. Meanwhile, dispute resolution involving intellectual property rights is on the rise, they said.