Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The UN International Telecommunication Union will publish the draft document for the future International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) and open a website for public comments on the much-debated document. But some hoped for more.
Theft of trade secrets, or “confidential business information,” has reached such an appalling level that legislative action is needed, industry groups say. They're pushing the European Union and United States to get involved, and may be making headway.
The Mexican Intellectual Property Office (IMPI) last week announced that the Mexican Ambassador in Japan had signed the much debated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Now it thinks it can persuade the country's new Senate to pass it.
The World Intellectual Property Organization committee addressing protection of traditional cultural expressions (folklore) concluded a weeklong meeting today with progress on a draft text but doubts about moving to a high-level diplomatic conference in 2013, according to participants. The issue now moves to the annual WIPO General Assembly in October, where some said the debate may become more heated.
At a little-publicised annual meeting of the Transatlantic Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Working Group in Brussels this week representatives of the European Commission, several United States agencies and rights holder agreed that there might be tough times ahead for IPRs and rights holders. Meanwhile, the Commission is under pressure on copyright exceptions for visually impaired readers on the eve of a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting. And the Commission this week introduced new rules on collective societies aimed at easing user access to content.
After a late start, delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization today are trying to make up for lost time in an attempt to draft a potential treaty text to protect traditional cultural expressions on the last day of a weeklong meeting. The first revision of draft articles was issued yesterday at the end of the afternoon. The status of Indigenous Peoples was also examined by delegates the day before without much interest.
An unconventional proposal to solve the international fight around internet governance has been put forward that would create multi-stakeholder working groups to tackle tough issues.
By September of this year, Russia is expected to become the 154th member of the World Trade Organization - 19 years after the accession application was received and the Working Party on the Accession of the Russian Federation established in June 1993. In advance of the accession, the Russian intellectual property rights law is being amended to meet the WTO accession requirements.
The recent rejection of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement by the European Parliament was “fundamental” from the perspective of some negotiating partners, and may have proved fatal for the agreement in Mexico, according to an observer.
Delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization today finally adopted the agenda of the 22nd session of the Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), and started work. But not before being sharply reminded of their duty in representing the public.
The European Commission yesterday announced its largest research budget ever, allocating €10.8 billion towards innovative research aimed at generating job growth for 2013. It issued a call for proposals that includes €1.5 billion targeted toward information and communications technologies.
NEW DELHI - The “Nagoya Protocol,” an international agreement struck in the Japanese town of Nagoya in October 2010, has nearly 100 signatory countries, and is a major talking point in the international discourse on biodiversity. But ratification by the governments of these countries remains painfully slow, and the process towards it fraught with daunting challenges, as was evident last week during a key inter-governmental meeting in the Indian capital New Delhi. In an interview with Intellectual Property Watch, the new head of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity had much to say about intellectual property rights.