US Ambassador: WIPO Needs More Balance Toward Rightsholders
This week, US Ambassador to the UN Betty King told Intellectual Property Watch that WIPO is still out of balance – against intellectual property rights holders.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Year 2013
Swift Start On WIPO General Assembly Agenda But Sticky Issues Kept For Later
Agenda items appeared to move swiftly in the first days of this week’s World Intellectual Property Organization annual assembly, but tricky issues are being left for later and actively discussed in informal consultations. Examples of ongoing discussions are the programme and budget discussion, governance of the organisation, and the definition of development expenditures under the budget.
WIPO Approves 15 New Observers, Including DNDi, COHRED; Pirate Parties Rejected
Member governments of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization today approved 15 new observers to the organisation, including three international organisations, and a range of nongovernmental organisations such as two significant public health-oriented groups. But two groups were rejected, including the high-profile Pirate Parties International. Separately, the member governments of the important WIPO Program and Budget Committee were also announced today.
Innovators Take Centre Stage At WIPO Members’ Annual Assembly
In the context of a parallel event to the World Intellectual Property Organization annual General Assemblies, innovators from developed and developing countries shared their thoughts on how to foster a creative environment that encourages ground-breaking innovations.
Urgent Need To Shift Away From Industrial Agriculture, Says UN Agency
A recent report by a United Nations agency calls for an urgent shift of paradigm in agricultural development.
Brazilian President Warns US On Surveillance, Calls For UN Reform
Brazilian President Dilma Roussef yesterday sent a stern warning to the United States over ongoing revelations of state espionage during the opening of the 68th United Nations General Assembly in New York and at the same time called for a multilateral framework for internet governance.
UN Office of Human Rights Commissioner Seminar On Right To Enjoy Benefits Of Scientific Progress
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will hold a seminar on the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications in Geneva next week.
WIPO General Assembly Opens With Loaded Agenda
The World Intellectual Property Organization annual General Assembly opened today with an unusual number of issues for delegates to solve, in particular those inherited from the committee in charge of approving the budget and the programmes of the organisation earlier in the month. Among pressing issues are WIPO external offices and decisions to be made on potential treaties such as on industrial designs, the protection of broadcasting organisations, and the protection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
Indonesia Becomes Fifth To File WTO Case Against Australia Tobacco Plain-Packaging
Indonesia has become the fifth country to initiate dispute settlement procedures at the World Trade Organization challenging an Australian public health law requiring tobacco products to be sold in plain packages as a way to discourage their use.
Civil Society Groups Launch Human Rights Principles Related To Mass Surveillance
A coalition of civil society organisations yesterday officially launched a set of 13 principles on the application of human rights to communication surveillance during a side event at the 24th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Negotiators, Stakeholders Tell Tale Of WIPO Marrakesh Treaty Negotiation, Look To Implementation
Several negotiators and other stakeholders participating in last June’s successful negotiation of an international treaty to ease access to reading material for blind and visually impaired people recently gathered in Washington, DC to look back on the remarkable and at-times bitter talks. Months later, not all agree on certain historical details, such as the US position, but all agree it was a significant accomplishment.
Members Of US Congress Urge US To Oppose Re-Election Of WIPO Director Gurry
A handful of influential members of the United States Congress have sent a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry, urging the Obama administration not to support the re-election of World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry.