Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Negotiators at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week will address longstanding efforts by many WIPO members to begin in earnest text-based negotiations for a tool to better protect traditional knowledge and genetic resources.
A mechanism to watch the continuing implementation of development-oriented principles into the World Intellectual Property Organization’s work has now been found. For many, the Development Agenda is the most important agreement in WIPO’s recent past, and the mechanism - which will monitor, assess and report on its implementation - was a critical area of importance in ensuring it reaches its full potential.
An annual report from the Office of the United States Trade Representative on how well it considers other countries to be protecting and enforcing American intellectual property rights is now available. The so-called Special 301 report can be read here…
A coordination mechanism and a project on transfer of technology will dominate much of the last day of the World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property, but with two new projects approved the group has already made progress this week, according to sources.
Fifteen new Assistant US Attorneys and 20 new Special Agents at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation dedicated to combatting “domestic and international IP crimes” were announced yesterday. The new attorneys are a part of the US Justice Departments Computer…
Ongoing efforts to implement the 2007 Development Agenda at the World Intellectual Property Organization took another twist today as a new group was launched representing developing countries seeking full transformation of the United Nations body toward a development-oriented perspective on intellectual property issues.
The World Health Organization’s team on issues of intellectual property and innovation in public health is seeing changes in key personnel, as implementation of the UN health agency’s plan on IP and innovation hits its stride. Malebona Precious Matsoso has been named Director General of Health for South Africa.
Negotiations to protect and preserve biodiversity are in a delicate place, as proponents of stronger protection attempt to navigate parallel discussions at different intergovernmental agencies.
The Obama administration supports changes to the United States patent reform bill, said US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke in a letter sent late yesterday to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The amendments in question would allow the US…
The World Health Organization needs to streamline its functions and make more space for civil society, and international health systems must be strengthened in order to achieving public health goals, said panellists at this week’s Geneva Health Forum.