Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Harmonisation of copyright regulation in recent years has overly “focussed on securing rightsholders’ ability to benefit from new modes of exploitation and business models” and has primarily served “the interests of copyright exporting…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Despite earlier statements by European negotiators that the planned Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) would need time for fine-tuning, nations seem to accept a fast track movement now. ACTA has been mentioned as an…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Despite issues like the current food, energy and climate crises having taken centre stage at this week’s Group of 8 summit in Japan, governments did not lose sight of earlier plans to promote…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch PARIS – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced the “biggest extension of the DNS [domain name system] in 40 years” after its decision last week to finish implementation of…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Regulating convergence, finding solutions to foster creativity and answering consumer fears about identity theft, fraud and the invasion of their privacy were central questions at the recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch PARIS – Some think the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers should have moved much faster to introduce new names in the internet to join the likes of .com and .org. Others…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Government representatives from developed nations and strategic developing nation partners met at the US mission in Geneva on 3-4 June to discuss proposals for an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Parties at the negotiation…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Formal negotiations on an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) are expected to commence next week in Geneva, according to a European Commission official, even as a leaked United States trade office paper is drawing…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch
The German Parliament last Friday passed changes in copyright, patent and other intellectual property-related laws with the aim of better enforcement of IP violations in civil rights cases.
The changes transpose the much-debated European Union IP Enforcement Directive (IPRED) into German law. IPRED contains general obligations, precautionary and corrective measures, damages and extended information rights for rights owners in civil law complaints aimed at third parties like internet service providers (ISPs).
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Cybersquatting is on the rise, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which published statistics last week on case filings under its international Internet domain name dispute settlement system. The WIPO Arbitration…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch MUNICH – Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court this week decided that infiltration of personal computers, laptops or other information technology devices of possible suspects by law enforcement violates the basic right of “confidentiality and…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch
Two large licensing deals were announced during the recent 42nd edition of the world's largest music fair, Midem, which may help pave the way to smoother operations for online platforms in the digital music business. But while the more proactive licensing strategies of rights owners - both labels and collecting rights societies - were welcomed by many experts at Midem, the calls for more radical changes to the licensing regimes for the digital era are growing ever louder.