Year 2012

A Closer Look Into A WIPO Regional Workshop: Making An Instant IP Whiz

Manila, Philippines – Another destructive typhoon was battering southern Philippines last week, but this did not stop the majority of the delegates coming from the provinces near the affected areas from flying to the capital to attend what organisers touted as a trailblazing programme that has the potential to raise awareness of sophisticated intellectual property tools and policies at the grassroots level in developing countries.

Industrial Design On The Spot In WIPO Committee This Week

Delegates to the World Intellectual Property Organization this week are expected to have a focussed session on the protection of industrial designs. The last meeting of the committee in charge of this issue ended disappointingly for proponents of a quick path to a treaty on industrial design, but the committee was mandated by the October WIPO General Assembly to expedite work on the matter.

A Week Into WCIT, Few Compromises In Fragile Discussions

More broadband rollout and better access to networks everywhere – that’s a position shared by participants at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which started last week in Dubai. And this is where the consensus ends, according to a more sceptical reading on progress made in negotiations to review the future International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR).

Single European Patent Dominates IP Summit As European Parliament Vote Nears

Brussels, Belgium - As the value of intellectual property reaches unprecedented heights, policymakers, business leaders, and legal experts discussed the need for international patent harmonisation during a two-day patent conference in Brussels last week. With the vote on the European unitary patent and common litigation system just days away from parliamentary vote, participants focussed on what the new system may mean to business.

Chair Of Stalled WTO Talks On GIs May Take Another Tack

World Trade Organization negotiations to establish a multilateral register of geographical indications continue to be stalled over whether talks should apply only to wines and spirits as mandated, or can extend to other products and include talks on disclosure of origin in genetic material, the negotiations chair reported to the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) today. He suggested a slightly different approach in the coming year.

Libraries, NGOs Warn EU Commissioners Against Restrictive Copyright Licensing

A diverse group of more than two dozen groups representing libraries, digital civil liberties, free software and an open, user-friendly internet has called on European commissioners to refrain from overly restrictive copyright licensing policies and to consider flexibilities to copyright to encourage knowledge access. The commissioners were expected to meet today to discuss possible changes to EU copyright law.

Survey On IP: Policymakers Believe Junk Statistics; North-South Divide Dissolving

Preliminary findings of a survey aimed at mapping the current prevailing ideas on intellectual property confirmed recognised trends that academics and intergovernmental IP professionals look more favourably on weaker IP protection, and traditional North-South differences toward IP rights are becoming less clear cut. It also found that policymakers tend to rely heavily on statistics from industry to help them with their decisions, whether reliable or not.

World Conference On International Telecom Kicks Off In Political Style

The World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) has affirmed the right to freedom of information online, the secretariat of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said in a press release on day two in Dubai, Qatar, where over 160 country delegations since yesterday are talking about the future global telecommunications rules.