Year 2010

Proposed WIPO Strategic Plan Shows Positioning For Uncertain Future

The importance of knowledge is increasing at a rate faster than patent offices can keep up with the demands of new inventors, reads the introduction to a proposed six-year strategic plan of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Creators and manufacturers of knowledge products are rapidly diversifying geographically, new innovation models are arising, and new demands are being placed on protected works for use in technology transfer or for shared global needs such as environmental sustainability or public health.

Intellectual Property Watch Thanks You For Your Support

Dear Readers, Intellectual Property Watch would like to thank all of you who responded to our first-ever call for help with a show of support from a range of sectors over the past few weeks. Finding a sustainable model will be essential to our ability to continue bringing you the unique, high-quality reporting, documents and information you have come to expect from us in an open-access format. We still have a long way to go, but we have benefited from your initial financial contributions (including a number from individuals on their own behalf), subscriptions, and helpful suggestions and ideas, including for possible funders, partnerships, marketing and advertising options, and prospects for new subscriptions. In the coming months, you will see changes that reflect these contributions and inputs, as well as new approaches aimed at sustainability. And with a critical turning point looming for IP, innovation and the economy, we hope to keep you on the front lines of policy, law and trends more than ever.

To view the IP-Watch call for help, click here: http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/wp-admin/page.php?action=edit&post=11476

Experts, Policymakers Debate Solutions For Counterfeit Products

A group of policymakers and other experts met this month in Geneva to discuss counterfeit and unsafe products and wrestled with possible balanced solutions to the problem. The event was hosted by the United States mission and supported by the US Chamber of Commerce. It included US Ambassador to the UN Betty E. King, among dozens of others.

Bayer “Liberty Link” Maize Banned In Brazil

German biotechnology company Bayer has met resistance in Brazil where the Paraná Federal Court revoked the authorisation for the commercial release of the company’s “Liberty Link” genetically modified maize on 27 July, according to a press release posted on the…

Civil Society Groups Warn EU On ACTA

An international set of civil society groups today sent a letter to the European Union trade commissioner outlining concerns that the latest, leaked, version of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement under negotiation will introduce “new and unbalanced intellectual property rules” which…

US Jobs Bill Would Restrict Foreign Access To Patent Applications

As the jobless rate remain high and budgets tight, United States policymakers increasingly are looking for ways to boost domestic innovation in order to create new jobs and boost the economy. One such bill to be announced tomorrow, called the "Strategic Manufacturing & Job Repatriation Act" aims to develop a national manufacturing strategy to create American jobs, including by lowering access to early patent applications and prioritising university patents.

The Great Firewall of China: When Does Online Censorship Violate WTO Rules?

China’s government says it is acting in the best interests of its citizens. It is regulating the internet in order to protect its people from pornography and other objectionable content. Critics, however, assert that China is guilty of wide-ranging censorship, drastically limiting what mainland residents can see, hear and say online. Moreover, according to a growing chorus, this online censorship violates World Trade Organization rules.