Original news and analysis on international IP policy
More than two years after construction was begun and 13 years since its approval, a large new World Intellectual Property Organization office building quietly opened doors in March and the exodus from across the street and several other locations in Geneva began for some 500 employees of the United Nations organisation.
Mandated efforts to create an international register of geographical indications have risen in importance at the World Trade Organization in recent weeks. And as the pressure to produce negotiating texts for the Doha Round discussions climaxed this week, some dissonant notes were heard in the main negotiating group of countries on GIs.
Two civil society groups said the recent World Health Organization agreement on influenza pandemic strategy is an improvement on the present situation but has key shortcomings.
Free culture leader and Harvard University law professor Larry Lessig was at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) yesterday to talk about access to scientific knowledge on internet. In the symbolic place where the World Wide Web was invented and where scientists are now trying to unravel the creation of the universe, Lessig praised CERN’s open access initiative and in this temple of reasoning, said the copyright architecture was on the edge of absurdity.
A new book published by GTZ, the German federal agency for international development, looks at the synergies between intellectual property rights and biodiversity, gathering analysis from Latin America, southern Africa and Asia experts.
After a week of discussions, a good part of which centred around intellectual property issues, World Health Organization members agreed to a framework aimed at better addressing future influenza pandemics and facilitating vaccines access for developing country populations, with industry contributions.
Biodiversity and climate change issues are coming together under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), according to a new working paper from the University of Edinburgh.
World Health Organization members trying this week to agree on elements of a framework for helping the world address the next influenza pandemic headed into the final night of the meeting in intensive negotiations. At press time, negotiations were focused on specifics of standard agreements for the transfer of genetic materials related to flu virus strains.
In its slick new office building in Geneva, the World Intellectual Property Organization this week celebrated the 2 millionth patent filing under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which it manages. In the foyer with white clad windows, a crowd was assembled to hear the praise of the international patent filing system.
The European Patent Office (EPO) announced today that patent applications reached an all-time record in 2010, with an increase of 11 percent over 2009. According to a press release, 235,000 patent filings were received by the EPO in 2010.