Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New Intellectual property issues may not be ‘make-or-break’ for the current round of trade-liberalisation negotiations at the World Trade Organization, but they continue to be a factor. At last week’s opening to the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), WTO…
By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization may be the biggest United Nations agency in Geneva working on IP issues, but another body also has taken up the effort. And in a recent conference held by the UN Economic…
By William New The growing problem of intellectual property rights piracy and counterfeiting requires global cooperation, and the European Union has elevated its focus on the issue at every policy level, an EU official told a recent intergovernmental gathering discussing…
By William New Advanced European countries are increasingly looking for channels to school their neighbours and worldwide free-trade agreement partners on the enforcement of western-style intellectual property rights. And in order to get them to bite, officials are promoting the…
By William New The Intellectual Property Owners’ Association, a Washington, DC industry association, has posted on its website a side-by-side comparison of the two bills to reform US patent law currently advancing in the US Congress. Both bills moved at…
Par Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Après d’intenses négociations de dernière minute, un comité de l’Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI) a décidé de renouveler son mandat actuel, en accordant davantage d’importance à la direction qu’il souhaite donner à ses…
Ethiopia is an active participant at the 3-12 July World Intellectual Property Organization meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). Ethiopia is among the developing countries eager to see an international…
By William New A prevailing attitude among employees at the World Intellectual Property Organization is a “lack of pride” in the United Nations body and an acceptance of needed change to the organisational culture, according to a new report. The…
By William New World Intellectual Property Organization members on Friday recommended to move talks on a proposed broadcasters’ and cablecasters’ treaty back to committee level for further consideration, a day after rejecting a proposal to elevate the issue to formal…
After a one-year hiatus, the World Intellectual Property Organization likely will renew its agenda on patent policy issues in 2008 following members' informal approval Friday of a study on patents to be conducted by the WIPO secretariat in autumn, according to officials.
By William New World Intellectual Property Organization negotiations for a treaty on rights for broadcasters broke down at the eleventh hour, according to participating government officials. A high-level final treaty negotiation scheduled for November will not take place, they said.…
By William New The United States is proposing a patent fee cut at the World Intellectual Property Organization in light of a sizeable financial surplus at the United Nations organization. The proposal is included in materials for the 25-28 June…