Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Europe’s copyright rules are ill-suited to an age when millions of music files can be accessed at the click of a mouse, a Brussels conference has been told. About eight million…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch
BRUSSELS - Computer firms may be required to divulge details of patents they hold before technology standards are set, a senior European Commission official has said.
More than a year after the European Court of Justice ruled that Microsoft was abusing its dominant position in order to prevent its products being compatible with programmes developed by rivals, Brussels policymakers are continuing to assess what implications the judgment has for intellectual property and antitrust law.
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Uncertainty surrounds the application of European Union copyright rules to material uploaded onto the internet by private individuals, a new study has found. Recent years have seen a proliferation of websites…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Exceptions to European Union copyright rules designed to allow blind people access to publications should be made legally binding, according to disability rights organisations. In July, the European Commission opened a…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – The ‘fragmented’ nature of Europe’s patent application system is harming small firms, a Brussels event has been told amid new efforts to harmonise it. Ever since the early 1970s, the European…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – The European Commission has recommended that a forum involving creative artists and the consumer industry should be established to determine the future of private copying levies. Twenty-one of the European Union’s…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – The European Parliament looks set to take Brussels’ top trade official to task over his latest attempt to persuade Thailand that it should revise its policy on pharmaceutical patents. Shortly after…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Developing countries this week clashed with senior officials in the World Customs Organisation over an initiative designed to ensure that intellectual property rights are upheld at border posts, according to participants.…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch
BRUSSELS - Changes to intellectual property rules may be needed to facilitate the use of technology aimed at addressing climate change, the head of the European Patent Office (EPO) has suggested.
Next month, the 34-country EPO will host what it claims is the first major international conference to examine the patenting issues raised by global warming.
Alison Brimelow, the EPO's president, said the European Patent Forum in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana will give an opportunity to exchange ideas on whether the international system for regulating intellectual property should be modified.
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – A formal complaint has been lodged with the European Parliament over how its information technology systems rely almost exclusively on software manufactured by Microsoft. Advocates of open standard software, which is…