Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A Washington intellectual property lawyer and private sector representative has been named deputy director at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Her area of expertise is pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other life science issues.
An influential private sector trademark defender is proposing to the World Intellectual Property Organization to undertake creation of an international “notice and takedown” system for alleged online trademark infringers.
And he told Intellectual Property Watch that this will be followed in a few months by a separate proposal for a “notice-and-trackdown” article requiring internet service providers to divulge information about online counterfeiters so they can be gone after.
A respected US law professor has been named senior advisor to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for consumer protection and competition issues that affect the internet and mobile markets.
Shortly after passage last year of the US healthcare reform act called for a regulatory pathway to bring follow-on biologic drugs, or biosimilars, to market with 12 years of data exclusivity for brand-name producers, the Obama administration has proposed to reduce that time to its original 7 years, according to sources. The move, contained in the 2012 budget proposal, is expected to allow lower priced generic versions of drugs to enter the market sooner, a benefit to consumers.
Watchdog organisation Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) yesterday filed a complaint at the European General Court against the European Commission's denial of access to information on the EU-India bilateral trade talks.
A United Nations independent expert yesterday issued a statement on Australia's aid programmes for countries in need, praising some of the country's work but warning that it not use such aid to pressure regional governments to enter into free trade agreements with it.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office yesterday submitted a request to the US Congress for a budget increase in 2012 on expectations of a rise in patent and trademark applications and promises of reductions in application processing times.
A new study finds that publicly funded research has had a greater positive impact on public health than previously believed.
The United States Chamber of Commerce, the industry lobbying giant in Washington, has issued its 2011 intellectual property agenda. The list of suggested legislative changes to be made by the Obama administration and the US Congress aim at further increasing resources and support for IP enforcement, including legislation to block websites deemed to infringe on IP rights.
Developed country pharmaceutical companies today announced their support for an extension of the deadline for poor countries to comply with a global trade agreement on intellectual property rights that would significantly raise their obligations to protect IP. The extension idea has been proposed by the United Kingdom government in a new trade strategy document.
US President Barack Obama this week used an executive order to create two government advisory committees on intellectual property rights enforcement. The committees put IP rights at the highest interagency level possible and have the stated aim of promoting innovation through the protection of such rights.
The recently completed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), negotiated by the countries that own most of the world's intellectual property rights, is aimed at developing countries they hope will give value to those rights by protecting them, leaked documents show, according to French group La Quadrature du Net.