Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Five years after the tale began in Athens, the United Nations Internet Governance Forum returned to Europe last week to ask itself what has been achieved. The answer was encouraging enough to prompt a range of internet stakeholders to suggest continuation of the group, this time with a greater focus on concrete outcomes.
The multilateral system with its different agencies dealing with specific areas is sometimes seen as incoherent in global negotiations and norm-setting as there are overlaps in competency, definition and scope, according to speakers at a side event to the recent World Trade Organization Public Forum.
A Spanish group lobbying for alternative ways to protect and promote creative production has been asked to cease activity or face a lawsuit for damages, unfair competition and infringement by the Spanish collecting society SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores), according to the group. The collecting society also charged that the lobbying group is undermining its reputation.
Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter and UN Messenger of Peace Stevie Wonder today called on the governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization to create a system for copyright law to assist those with disabilities in getting access to education and reading materials. It is time to "declare a state of emergency and end the information deprivation that continues to keep the visually impaired in the dark," he told assembled delegates.
The second global symposium of intellectual property authorities met last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva to discuss global IP infrastructure and collaboration between IP offices, particularly in ways that might bring greater benefit to small offices.
The European Blind Union and the Federation of European Publishers have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on access to works for dyslexic or visually impaired readers on 14 September.
A frontline debate among many industry intellectual property lawyers in the United States is how to handle the explosion in use of online social networking media tools like Facebook, Twitter or FourSquare.
Private-sector experts and key government officials in the United States came together this week to discuss strategies for improving rules and procedures on intellectual property, and look for ways to maximise the value of company IP assets while cutting costs.
The second round of World Trade Organization dispute settlement consultations between the European Union and the Netherlands and India and Brazil over the seizure of generic medicines in transit were held this week.
The World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement has sparked decades of international debate over whether exporting stronger intellectual property norms to developing countries is beneficial or harmful.
The combined forces of strengthening copyright law and the explosion of information has led to huge transaction costs in managing legitimate transactions of copyright material, the top economist from Google said yesterday at the World Intellectual Property Organization.
The global economic crisis led to a significant drop in patent and trademarks filings in 2008 and particularly in 2009 but there are signs of recovery, according to the World Intellectual Property Indicators 2010 report released today. China is still showing vigorous growth and demand in intellectual property protection.