Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New As the senior staff of the World Intellectual Property Organization gathered outside its headquarters Friday to set the foundation stone of a new office building, WIPO member governments were struggling inside to agree on the foundation for…
By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
Compared with other countries, the United States has had a much more expansive view of what inventions can be patented. Late last week, however, the US took one big step closer to international norms.
It happened on 30 October, when the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals - often called the country's "patent court" - issued its decision in In re Bilski.
بقلم كايتلين مارا في وقت متأخر مساء الجمعة اضطر مسؤولون حكوميون مرهقون إلى الاعتراف بأنهم قد انتهوا إلى مأزق في مفاوضاتهم حول الحماية الدولية للمعارف التقليدية والفولكلور في المنظمة العالمية للملكية الفكرية. “لا اتفاق”. هذا ما قاله رئيس الاجتماع، السيد…
بقلم وغدي سواهل لمنظمة رصد الملكية الفكرية أعلنت الدول الإسلامية سنة 2009 “العام التجديد والإبداع” وستستهل مشروعا لإعداد خريطة تاريخية للعلوم والتكنولوجيا والإبداع للنهوض بالاستثمار في مجال العلم والتكنولوجيا وبالتعاون التقني في داخل العالم الإسلامي وبين العالم الإسلامي وأوروبا وكذلك…
By William New World Intellectual Property Organization members gather in Geneva next week to take up old and new agenda items targeting international policy on copyright and related rights. Emerging agenda items are limitations and exceptions to copyright – including…
The various aspects of the application of copyright and neighbouring rights in the digital age have been discussed under the aegis of World Trade Organization (WTO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).…
By William New A few weeks after its new director general took office, the World Intellectual Property Organization has announced a programme of strategic realignment in the secretariat aimed at opening up the organisation and improving the focus on customer…
Francis Gurry became the fourth director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization on 1 October. Gurry, an Australian, is a 23-year veteran of WIPO, most recently deputy director general in charge patents, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre and global IP issues. His full biography is here.
Intellectual Property Watch sat down with Gurry in his office this month to ask about changes at the organisation and the future of the IP system, differences from predecessors, development, open source, and his personal management style.
Last call for surveys! We value your views – this is the final reminder about our reader survey. Please click on the link included in this email and tell us what you think about the Intellectual Property Watch website and…
By William New In an unusual policy for an international organisation, the World Customs Organization imposes copyright over every document its bodies produce, even agendas, which means that no document can be reproduced without the organisation’s express consent. But now…