Year 2010

Reminder: Urgent Call To Support Intellectual Property Watch

Dear Readers, we at Intellectual Property Watch are writing to politely remind you that the financial support of every one of you is needed this year, especially those of you who have long benefited from our open-access work and have never been asked to contribute. We set a target of end of July, just a few days away. We would like to remind you of the reliable reporting and tough-minded analysis that Intellectual Property Watch brings to a complex area that will certainly continue to be at the centre of global policy and legal debates for years to come, whether your topic is IP law, public health, climate change, food security, trade, internet policy and knowledge access, or innovation.

Intellectual Property Watch
July 28, 2010

Global AIDS Conference Sees Pledge Of Access, Call For Funding; IP Rights Discussed

The global AIDS community meeting in Vienna last week ended with renewed determination to fight the epidemic but underlined an urgent need for increased funding to sustain scientific advances and universal access. Some warned against an intellectual property rights enforcement push threatening global access in particular through bilateral and regional trade agreements.

Catherine Saez
July 28, 2010

USPTO Seeks Comments On Post-Bilski Guidelines

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has posted supplemental interim guidance for the patent examining corps to use when determining subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 in light of the US Supreme Court’s holding in Bilski…

William New
July 28, 2010
1 Comment

Is USPTO 3-Track Plan TRIPS Non-Compliant?

A new proposal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a “Three Track” system for patent examination may violate US obligations under the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, US IP lawyer…

Kaitlin Mara
July 28, 2010

Review Of US Digital Millennium Copyright Act Brings New Exemptions

The United States Copyright Office this week completed its statutorily required review of the landmark Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Included in the ruling were three major exemptions: a renewal on the exemption for cell-phone unlocking, a new exemption for the jailbreaking of smart phones technology, and the use of visual media clips for transformative, non-commercial works. The ruling has resulted in a flood of optimism from a wide variety of non-governmental groups.

US Second Circuit Decision Opens Questions Of Transformative And Fair Use

A recent US court decision introduces entirely new questions about the balance between a transformative work and a copyright infringement. It also places the responsibility of balancing the public interest in freedom of expression against the interests of rights holders squarely in the hands of the court, writes Leslee Friedman.

The WHO’s Complex Path On Counterfeiting, R&D Financing, Pandemics

The World Health Organisation is following a complicated timeline for new mandates on combating fake medicines, creating alternative financing mechanisms for research and development on neglected diseases, and improving pandemic influenza preparedness.

Emma Broster
July 27, 2010

WIPO Sees First Real Progress In 10 Years On Text For Protection Of Folklore

Experts meeting last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization made the first real strides in over a decade at developing a concrete rules to protect the cultural expressions and folklore of indigenous and local communities.

Kaitlin Mara
July 26, 2010
9 Comments

WHO Working Documents On R&D Financing Now Online

World Health Organization working documents are now available online here. The documents for the first time reveal details of the working process of an expert working group (EWG) tasked with finding innovative solutions to finance research and development on drugs…

Kaitlin Mara
July 22, 2010

International Experts See Backswing In Pendulum Of Biological Patenting

MUNICH – Some experts in Europe are coming to agreement that a tipping point might have been reached with regard to biological patents. At a conference organised this week by the “no patents on seeds” initiative on the eve of a public hearing of the European Patent Office on cases involving the patenting of broccoli and tomatoes, non-governmental representatives and farmers associations from Europe and elsewhere said there were detectable changes in American jurisprudence and European governments seem to be rethinking the biopatent issue.

Consensus On Binding Biodiversity Agreement Elusive, To Reconvene in September

A last-chance negotiation of a draft protocol text on biodiversity access and benefit-sharing has been given yet another chance as delegates parted ways on Friday in Montreal without an agreement but with a tentative plan to reconvene to try to tie it up before a major UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in October.

Agencies Talk Cooperation On Medicines Access; Stakeholders Cautious

Key international agencies for health, trade and intellectual property on Friday jointly organised a symposium on access to medicines in an effort to gather information and expertise as a basis of a collaborative response to the challenges of public health.