Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The traditional copyright system’s balance for encouraging yet controlling access to copyrighted works in order to extract value for them has met with a destructive force in the internet that it cannot overcome without changing itself, the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization said recently in a landmark speech. And he proposed several elements for the way forward.
The head of the Brazilian intellectual property office was recently removed by the new Culture minister, replaced by an official who has some wondering if a swing toward stronger copyright protection is in the works for the government.
The draft report of the committee reviewing the World Health Organization's actions in response to the 2009 spread of H1N1, or swine flu, has been issued. Looks like the WHO may be cleared.
A large (440-page) new report on media piracy in emerging economies is stirring significant debate in internet copyright and open access circles, as it purports to turn rights owner assertions and the basis for developed country IP policy on their heads.
US President Obama today nominated current US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be ambassador to China. US intellectual property rights holders see it as a positive contribution to what they see as a fight against massive piracy and counterfeiting from China.
The Motion Picture Association of America, the influential US film industry group, has landed a highly regarded former US senator as its next chairman and chief executive officer.
In a week in which the United States Congress is fighting to avoid a government shutdown over budget disagreements and political posturing is high, technocrats and friends of innovative businesses are working to get passage of a bill to reform US patent law.
The high technology remains unconvinced by efforts in the United States Senate to reform US patent laws, a Washington tech industry association said today, as debate on the bill began on the Senate floor.
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.