Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Members of an international treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization protecting appellations of origin last week worked on a draft treaty revision, which now includes geographical indications. Treaty signatories aim to hold a high-level negotiation in 2015 to approve the revision. Meanwhile, countries which do not use geographical indications have voiced concerns about the proposed revision.
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.
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 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.
As countries party to the treaty protecting appellations of origin at the World Intellectual Property Organization are working on a revision of the treaty to include geographical indications, some countries which are not members of the treaty, such as the United States and Australia, are raising concerns about potential implications of the revision.
The importance of cooperation among developing and least-developed countries in the field of intellectual property is rising, and is a key vector of technology-sharing, according to speakers at a conference on the subject at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Developing countries are strongly in favour of further work in this area, while WIPO will soon launch a dedicated webpage on South-South cooperation.
World Intellectual Property Organization delegates could not find agreement on how to carry out an independent review of the implementation of how the 2007 WIPO Development Agenda Recommendations have been implemented in the organisation.
A study emphasising the positive effect of the patent system on the public domain was presented this week by two of its co-authors as a side event to the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on development.
While the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on development is evaluating results and taking decisions on a number of development-related projects this week, discussions on more substantial matters reveal that member states do not share the same perception of the role of the committee.
An event held today alongside the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on development gathered several cinema professionals working in emerging or developing countries and said that film makers in those countries need to better understand the functioning of the intellectual property system to be able to be part of the global film industry.