Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The UN agreement struck last year to bolster access and benefit-sharing related to biodiversity has been gaining signatures rapidly and may on its way to an early approval, according to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity secretariat. However, while countries are signing, not one has yet had a chance to ratify it.
As some developed countries prepared to ink a secret plurilateral trade agreement against rampant global piracy and counterfeiting in recent days, leading emerging economies and non-governmental groups warned the World Intellectual Property Organization that such outside agreements need to respect broader societal impacts of IP rights enforcement or risk abuses of international rules on trade and development.
White & Case law firm is looking to hire two lawyers for its World Trade Organization (WTO) practice in Geneva, to work on trade areas including intellectual property rights.
In reaction to the recent IP-Watch Inside Views post “Health Impact Fund – Raising Issues of Distribution, IP Rights and Alliances,” by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and Proochista Ariana, the authors offer a response on behalf of Incentives for Global Health (IGH), the non-profit organization that is developing the Health Impact Fund (HIF) proposal.
A proposal for a new United Nations body for internet governance oversight did not please the majority of delegates, be it from governments, private sector or civil society, at the sixth Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi last week. But while India and Brazil sought to defend their proposal, forum stakeholders were unable to move to reshape the annual event.
Penye nia, pana njia. A Swahili proverb for “when there's a will, there's a way,” this might well be the motto for innovative entrepreneurs the world over. Whether they’re based in Nairobi, Brussels or Silicon Valley, what matters the most to entrepreneurs is the success of their businesses. Of course, what's "in the way" of that success can vary considerably, writes Jonathan Zuck.
World Intellectual Property Organization members yesterday agreed to attempt completion in 2012 of long-stalled negotiations on a treaty giving clearer protection to the rights of actors and others performing in audiovisual productions. The breakthrough is being seen as good for the multilateral system and, if successfully concluded, for actors and others in developing countries.
The United Nations-led Internet Governance Forum is in its usual dialogue-only mode again this week as it meets in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. But it is facing huge challenges at the beginning of its second five-year mandate.
The annual World Intellectual Property Organization meeting of member states kicked off yesterday with hope among participants that the next year could bring a return to positive revenues, a settling of internal dissension, and some of the first treaties at the UN agency in nearly 20 years.
Civil rights organisations last week launched a website to allow users to report violations of internet neutrality. If users become aware that their telecommunications operators block access to certain content or services, they are invited to list this on respectmynet.eu.
This piece raises several issues with the public health financing proposal called the Health Impact Fund. It questions the relative distribution of costs and benefits; the persistent issue of intellectual property rights; as well as a lack of alliance with existing efforts to increase innovation of and access to essential medicines for the poor.
Just a week after US patent reform was signed into law, the Symposium of Intellectual Property Authorities opened with an air of celebration on 22 September at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). During the opening session, several keynote speakers congratulated United States Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos for the long-awaited legislation helping to harmonise the American patent process with the rest of the world.