Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Representatives of industry and the public as well as intellectual property law experts are puzzled by the ongoing secrecy under which negotiations on the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) are being held. The…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch The Bush administration has no intention of giving up United States oversight role of the management of the central root zone of the internet domain name system (DNS), the essential database storing information…
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…