Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Health Organization has moved responsibility for intellectual property and innovation issues out of the direct control of the WHO director general and into the company of information, evidence and research, according to sources.
NAGOYA, JAPAN - Prospects for completing and approving a protocol protecting natural resources from biopiracy and providing equitable sharing of benefits derived from the commercial use of those resources are promising, according to delegates. But hard negotiations lie ahead if they are to meet a deadline to present an agreed draft protocol to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by the end of this week.
United States Attorney General Eric Holder today called on other governments to join in intensifying the fight against intellectual property infringement, on the theme that, “intellectual property crimes are not victimless.” But his law enforcement argument may need finessing to reach all stakeholders.
Entrepreneurial law firms in the United States and United Kingdom are targeting suspected internet infringers through mass letter-writing and lawsuit campaigns. Are “copyright trolls” the way of the future for protecting digital content?
A new two-volume set of books entitled Intellectual Property in the WTO, edited by high-impact academic Carlos Correa, is now available. For a short time, publisher Edward Elgar company is offering a 20 percent discount for Intellectual Property Watch readers.
The agenda has been circulated for the upcoming annual World Trade Organization review of an amendment to international IP trade law that has so far failed to increase access to needed medicines for the poorest economies. It shows a deeper look at existing measures and opens the possibility of new solutions to the issue.
Member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization today agreed on the first work programme for the committee on patent law in nearly five years. The delicate accord, reached after a long week of mostly closed negotiations, was quickly hailed by some as reflecting a new reality for the international patent system with stronger recognition of emerging economies’ interests.
This week, global attention will be focussed on hopes to reach an international agreement aimed at giving the world a better chance to reduce the loss of biodiversity and ensure benefits are being shared. Intellectual Property Watch will be in Nagoya, Japan to report on the negotiations.
The chair of World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) today circulated a text reflecting possible elements of future work for the committee. The text, which is now the subject of informal discussions, includes key parts of proposals put forward earlier in the week.
World Trade Organization members will convene tomorrow morning for an open-ended informal session of the WTO negotiations on geographical indications, in the run-up to next week's meeting of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council.
A growing number of patents are being filed on plant-based ingredients for use in cosmetics, according to a new report from the Geneva-based Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT).
A new report released today by the World Health Organization found that 17 neglected tropical diseases can be controlled. If strategies set out in the report are implemented widely, “they can substantially reduce the disease burden, breaking a cycle of infection, disability and lost opportunities that keep people in poverty, WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in a press release.