Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The UN World Health Organization Executive Board today approved a set of proposals for reform put forward by WHO Director General Margaret Chan and member states, authorising her to take immediate action. The WHO is undergoing a major reform process fueled by a funding shortage and changes in the global public health structure.
Trade associations from various copyright-intensive industries have released a report showing they account for nearly $1 trillion in value to the United States economy, and provide some 5 million jobs.
Robert Stoll, the Commissioner for Patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has announced his retirement on 31 December 2011. Deputy Commissioner for Patents Margaret "Peggy" Focarino will be nominated to replace him, USPTO said today.
India has stirred some discussion with its recent proposal to create a new United Nations body for global internet-related policies. The proposal comes within the context of efforts by developed countries to build support for an open internet and by the UN to address gaps in global internet governance and increased unilateral moves to block content online.
World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan today made a strident pitch to WHO member governments to invest in the well-known United Nations agency, citing several unique and essential aspects of the organisation. The WHO Executive Board is meeting this week to address major reform of the WHO, in part due to a severe funding shortage but reaching into its place in the global public health spectrum.
The United States Copyright Office has released a preliminary analysis and discussion document on the intersection of copyright law and the mass digitization of books.
Trade associations representing US technology industry interests this week attacked a new House of Representatives bill aimed at fighting so-called "rogue" websites, calling it "an alarming step backwards in internet policy" that would create "a thicket of internet regulations containing 16 new legal definitions for evolving internet technology."
Members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today approved Palestine as a member state, a move expected to force the United States to choose between withdrawal from UN agencies including the World Intellectual Property Organization, or removing a national law preventing the US from funding and participating in any organization with Palestine as a member.
The top members of the United States Congress for international trade policy have put intellectual property rights and information technology market access at the top of demands for Russia's impending accession to the World Trade Organization.
A company has filed a patent infringement complaint in the Eastern District of Texas that names 30 defendants, including some of the largest US technology companies, a case that reflects a change in US law as passed last month.
Legislation giving new powers to the government and copyright holders in the United States to unilaterally block payments to or take down websites deemed by US courts to be infringing intellectual property rights has been introduced into the House of Representatives. Now the policy fight begins.
A patent for a conventionally bred form of the common household vegetable broccoli appears to be on its way to acceptance by the European Patent Office following a change to the patent by the company filing it, according to sources. The decision not to revoke the patent, which has been the subject of protests and now calls for action in national courts, could clear the way for hundreds of other vegetable patents to follow, a source said.