First Committee On WIPO Standards Ends In Vote For Suspension
Disagreement over the mandate of a newly-formed World Intellectual Property Organization committee resulted in a vote to suspend the meeting with no conclusions last Friday evening.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Kaitlin Mara
TRIPS Council Discusses Efficacy Of ACTA, Public Health Amendment
A substantive review of a rarely-used amendment to the World Trade Organization intellectual property rules and enforcement trends that may threaten multilateral trade system topped the agenda this week in the Council on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Food Security Rests On Wild Plant Genetic Diversity, Says UN
The world's future food security could ride on the ability to save the wild cousins of crops usually cultivated for human consumption, says a Food and Agriculture Organization report out today.
Change Coming To Quiet UN Plant Variety Protection Agency?
Two new civil society observers were admitted last week to the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) though whether that represents a cultural shift for the organisation or simply a procedure that has now been followed depends on who you ask. Meanwhile, a new vice secretary general prepared to take over for the first time in nearly 10 years.
IP And Competition Policy Can Help Each Other, Officials Say
Intellectual property and competition policy are sometimes seen as counterweights, but an efficient patent system and effective competition policy are ultimately complementary in nature, speakers said at an event today at the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Emerging Economies’ New Initiative On Falsified And Substandard Medicines
Several major generic-medicine producing nations last week held a discussion on the dangers of compromised medical products and joined together to urge new steps such as defining terms, focussing on public health and strengthening national regulatory capabilities beyond strictly enforcement actions that they say have been manipulated and at times counterproductive.
Draft Report Of Plant Variety Protection Council Now Available
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) held its Council meeting on 21 October, approving the participation of two public interest groups that were rejected at a previous meeting as observers to the Council (IPW,…
Minister: India Anticipates European Fix To Law Delaying Generics Shipments
Europe has promised at the "highest levels" to fix laws that caused generic medicine seizures in the Netherlands, the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry said today. The minister is in Geneva for meetings on the ongoing Doha Round trade liberalisation talks at the World Trade Organization.
Copyright Industry Makes Pitch For Economic Benefit Of Anti-Piracy In Developing Countries
Copyright law is not always a barrier to access to knowledge, but lack of adequate or predicable copyright enforcement in developing countries can prevent the evolution of their own local creative industries, said several representatives from such industries yesterday.
Medicines Patent Pool Seeks Business Director
The Medicines Patent Pool, recently established with the support of drug-purchasing mechanism UNITAID, is searching for a new business director to manage relationships with current and potential new licensors and licensees of medicine-related patents. The business development director will help…