Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Recent news about the United States National Security Agency (NSA)'s secret programmes to collect the records of domestic telephone calls in the US and international internet activity has dominated headlines. The revelation has spurred countless conversations about the ability of government agencies and companies to monitor private communications of individuals.
To what extent can global intellectual property rules address in an effective manner the needs of the most vulnerable members of society? This is the key question with which member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are faced as they prepare to meet next week for a diplomatic conference, in Marrakesh, that should result in the adoption of a treaty to facilitate access to copyrighted works by visually impaired persons and persons with print disabilities.
Ten years after applying for membership, Croatia is finally joining the European Union on 1 July 2013. Tanja Rajić, senior associate at PETOSEVIC, explains how six years of accession negotiations and the adoption of the acquis communautaire have affected intellectual property protection in Croatia and prepared it for becoming a member state.
The failure to reach agreement in Dubai in December 2012 at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT-12) resulted in a refusal to sign the treaty that was approved at the conference. Various reasons have been given to justify not signing the treaty (IPW, ITU/ICANN, 13 December 2012). A new article explaining the outcome was published today by a former senior ITU official, and made freely available by special arrangement for IP-Watch readers.
Daniela Bagozzi writes: Ten years of efforts in treatment for priority diseases has yielded impressive results both in terms of lives and dollars saved. To maintain progress in a volatile and financially tight environment countries and the international community will need to increase pressure on quality and healthy generic competition.
"Bad Science" adversary and journalist, Dr Ben Goldacre, this week challenged WHO Director of Ethics and Social Determinants of Health, Dr Rüdiger Krech, on his understanding of published evidence.
Prof. Sean Flynn asks whether US sanctions of Ukraine under the US Special 301 program violates World Trade Organization rules. He also asks whether the operation of watch lists threatening sanctions for intellectual property matters could be challenged under the WTO even prior to any sanction going into effect.
Benny Spiewak writes on the intellectual property system and a Brazilian as head of the WTO. How an emerging economy national may affect the rules of the game.
Sangeeta Shashikant writes: "Developed countries, particularly the United States and the European Union, have offered a poor and impractical deal of an incredibly short extension of 5 years with restrictive conditions to least developed countries that are entitled to be exempted from implementing the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Particularly problematic is their demand that the LDCs agree to a 'no-roll-back' clause, a TRIPS plus condition that will prevent LDCs from rolling back (i.e. providing a reduced degree of IP protection) their current laws, even if they adversely impact their development concerns."
Twenty years ago the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) put its WorldWideWeb technology in the public domain.