Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The final fairness hearing of a class action lawsuit against Google related to its book-scanning project will likely be adjourned at the request of the plaintiffs, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers. A memorandum in support of…
The World Intellectual Property Organization will need the help of national intellectual property offices - and need to listen to their needs as well - if Development Agenda implementation is to be effective outside of Geneva, participants on a panel said last week.
America’s “economic growth has rested for too long on an unstable foundation,” and it is now necessary to “redouble our efforts to give our world-leading innovators every chance to succeed,” reads the text of a White House innovation strategy that…
The World Intellectual Property Organization must be able to set norms for innovation, from the latest development in technology to traditional knowledge systems, if it is to retain its relevance in policymaking, said its director general at the opening of the UN agency's annual General Assemblies today.
A key decision on WIPO’s agenda this week is the future of its committee on the protection of traditional knowledge and genetic resources, where agreement has proved unreachable over the last year.
Improved searches and application quality and a focus on backlog reduction are necessary to improve the patent system, patent authorities concluded at a World Intellectual Property Organization symposium last week. This will require patent offices around the world to work together, and the WIPO Patent Cooperation Treaty, most speakers said, is the path forward for global patent coordination.
Several strategy papers laying out a plan to aid European Union member states in responding to the pandemic outbreak of H1N1 influenza were published last week by the European Commission, as Europe enters its fall flu season. Meanwhile, a partnership between the Commission and the European pharmaceutical industry announced a second call for proposals, aimed at increasing research and development of medicines for cancer as well as infectious disease.
The European Patent Office today announced four people in the running to replace its current president, Alison Brimelow, who is not seeking another term after hers expires on 30 June 2010.
The way the patent system is currently structured rewards slowness and low quality, but the needed changes will have to include a new revenue model, a top European patent official said today.
With 15 scheduled negotiating days left before a meeting in Copenhagen meant to set the global sustainability agenda for the next several years, the head of the United Nations agency tasked with coordinating the global effort to fight climate change has issued an urgent call for more speed toward convergence on all parts of the upcoming climate change agreement, especially on IP-related text - lest the entire thing fall through.
A United States publisher of open source college textbooks – licensed under Creative Commons and fully remixable – has seen interest in its service increase more than 30-fold in the past several months, according to a press release [pdf] by…
Ongoing concerns in India that their legitimate generic drug shipments are being delayed as potential counterfeits while in transit through Europe may reach the dispute settlement body at the World Trade Organization, according to sources.
Indian generics manufacturer Cipla can get marketing approval for its generic cancer treatment Soranib, the Delhi High Court ruled Tuesday, and the Indian drug regulatory authority does not have to check its patent status first. The court this week rejected a complaint by drug multinational Bayer against the Union of India, the Drug Controller General of India and generic drug producer Cipla.
Bayer sought a court order requiring DCGI to consider the patent status of kidney cancer drug, sorafenib tosylate (sold under the brand name Nexavar), before granting marketing approval for a generic version of the drug.
At issue was whether it is legitimate to link a potential violation of IP rights to processes regulating a drug’s entry onto the market that are generally based on drug quality, efficacy and safety.