Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Countries were split on North/South lines at a recent meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Information Technology (SCIT) over whether to accept a proposed broad agenda for future work that some feared would open the door to policy discussions beyond its mandate.
The United Nations International Telecommunication Union concluded its ninth Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) with a call by industry leaders to governments to approach regulation with a “light touch” and “allow markets to evolve naturally,” according to an ITU press…
Several leading universities in the United States as well as the National Institutes of Health have adopted a set of principles regarding intellectual property and research intended to aid dissemination of medical technology. The Statement of Principles and Strategies for…
The Intellectual Property Watch Monthly Edition features top news on international IP policymaking, the latest on who is coming and going in the international IP community, news briefs and more. The November edition is now available for subscribers.
Conservative US radio talk show host Glenn Beck, known for bad-mouthing others on radio and opposition television station Fox News, has lost a case at the World Intellectual Property Organization trying to force the takedown of website parodying him, www.GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com.
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) has denied two farmers’ advocacy organisations observer status to its governing Council on grounds that they have not demonstrated expertise relevant to the intergovernmental body’s work, stirring concern that opposition groups are being denied participation. Meanwhile, the functional head of UPOV will step down this spring after a decade of leadership, with several candidates in the running for his replacement.
The European Generic medicines Association today issued a call for criminal sanctions rather than technology to stem the flow of counterfeit drugs. This will stop counterfeiters, not bar-codes, said Antonyia Parvanova, a member of the European Parliament, according to an…
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations has appointed a new director general, Eduardo Pisani, to take office 1 January 2010.
A compromise was found last week between the European Parliament and European Council on “internet access safeguards” in the last remaining open issue in the European Union telecommunications package, according to the Parliament. But public interest concerns remain that restrictive punishment measures might still be possible.
Censorship of content over the internet by national governments, ostensibly on moral or security grounds, could be subject to challenge at the World Trade Organization for hindering trade in services, according to a working paper [pdf] published by Brussels think-tank…
During the most recent negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Seoul, Korea on 4-6 November, about which no information is available, US industry and public interest groups issued statements taking widely divergent positions on progress of the talks.
Intellectual property rights enforcement has risen on the global trade and IP agenda, but greater transparency in the evaluation of piracy and counterfeiting and assessments of broader social implications may be needed, according to speakers at a side event last week.