Original news and analysis on international IP policy
On the side of a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting last week working to revise a treaty protecting appellations of origin and soon to include geographical indication, a private-sector seminar was organised in the hope of generating economic interest in non-agricultural geographical indications.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Some 350 experts from around the world are gathering here this week to discuss intellectual property rights and innovation as they relate to the public interest.
A group of experts summoned to select projects presenting innovative ways to foster research and development of medical products for diseases primarily affecting developing countries at the World Health Organization this week finished their work and selected eight projects out of 22. Civil society was quick to express concern that the selected projects do not propose a new way forward. Now WHO member states must narrow the list down further.
The names are in: four candidates will compete to be the next director general of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization. In addition to Australia’s nomination of incumbent Francis Gurry to lead for a second term, Nigeria, Panama, and at the last minute, Estonia, submitted names.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced today that the largest scientific open access initiative ever will begin on 1 January 2014.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay today said at the outset of a meeting with World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee that human rights must always be at the heart of discussions about the Web, as it affects so many aspects of society.
The European Commission today announced the launch of a public consultation on modernisation of European Union copyright rules.
Intellectual Property Watch has been working to make more information public about US government involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement under negotiation with 11 other countries.
At the World Trade Organization Ministerial in Bali, Indonesia today, Yemen was accepted as a new least-developed country member. Its terms for joining included adoption of full intellectual property trade rules by 2016, which more than 160 civil society groups worldwide said is in contravention of last summer's agreement to extend the period for LDCs to adopt such rules to 2021 or later.
The European Union Office of Harmonization for the Internal Market (OHIM) has released a study showing that most EU citizens are aware of and value intellectual property, but about a third of them find infringement acceptable in certain circumstances.
World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry continues to receive criticism from some quarters in the United States technology and intellectual property sector who say he should not be re-elected for a second six-year term next year.
Even for the “low-hanging fruit,” the 125 ministers gathered in Bali at this week’s World Trade Organization Ninth Ministerial Conference will have to work hard. After talks on food security and subsidisation broke down last week in Geneva, the WTO has rearranged the agenda to allow more space for ministers to engage in direct negotiations, WTO Spokesman Keith Rockwell said at a briefing on the eve of the event.