Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch
European Union governments on Thursday agreed the main components of a patent litigation system that will apply throughout the 27-country bloc.
EU ministers for industrial competitiveness gave their broad approval on 22 November to a blueprint for having a single judicial body to assess legal actions which contest the validity of a patent.
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – South Korea has been urged to strengthen its intellectual property rules in order to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union. Talks are underway between the EU and the…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – The European Union has pledged not to include any intellectual property provisions that would curb access to medicines in a series of free trade agreements it is negotiating with least-developed countries.…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch
Obtaining a Europe-wide patent should become easier next year when an accord reducing the translation requirements for protecting an innovation comes into effect.
Under the London Agreement, countries that recognise English, French or German as one of their official languages will no longer stipulate that a full description of a patent be translated into their most commonly-used language. English, French and German are also the three official languages of the European Patent Office in Munich. The change was aimed at reducing the administrative and financial burden on patent filers but has raised concerns.
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch Canada has become the first country to notify the World Trade Organisation that it has allowed a drugs firm to use an international scheme for manufacturing generic versions of patented medicines introduced four…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch The United States has decided to step up its challenge to China’s restrictions on copyright-protected books, music and films by asking the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel. During June…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Concern is growing in both Europe and developing countries about whether a series of free trade agreements slated for signature later this year will contain overly stringent rules on intellectual property.…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch A dispute has erupted between two of the European Union’s most powerful institutions over Thailand’s decision to circumvent pharmaceutical patents in order to boost its supply of cheap medicines. Peter Mandelson, who holds…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voted to delay approval of a World Trade Organization agreement on patents for medicines, pending European Union governments giving greater political and financial support to poor…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – The European Union should stop demanding that poor countries apply its intellectual property rules to medicines through trade negotiations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc, legal experts argued at…