Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New The prospect for an agreement to negotiate on three intellectual property issues at the World Trade Organization has dimmed considerably, with no further meetings with delegations likely on Sunday, according to officials. A possible proposal is circulating…
By William New The European Union on Saturday restated the necessity of including three intellectual property issues in any outcome of the World Trade Organization ministerial negotiations, even as the WTO director general signalled a need to prevent the IP…
[Update: Ministers reached a tentative deal Friday night on some aspects of agriculture and NAMA, and will take up services on Saturday, according to ministers.] By William New Word went out Friday evening that there may have been some progress…
By Itaru Nitta, Green Intellectual Property Project, Geneva, Switzerland In its Assembly 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property to squarely steer the global R&D [research…
By William New and Kaitlin Mara Intellectual property issues have been a topic of debate at the World Trade Organization ministerial negotiations since Friday and while there have been no changes in positions there has been some talk of looking…
A confidential text, dated 30 June and available here, and circulated recently among some World Trade Organization members reveals an attempt to consolidate separate proposals on the protection of geographical indications, biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization’s newest and potentially highest impact committee – aimed at ensuring all of the organisation’s activities are sufficiently development-friendly to fit its wide-ranging membership – completed its first year with some concrete progress…
By William New Members of the new World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) this week are negotiating implementation of agreed changes to WIPO practices intended to ensure they are development-friendly. Perhaps predictably, countries with the…
Chairman Trevor Clarke of the WIPO Committee on Development and IP on 10 July drafted a summary of the committee's second meeting, being held 7 to 11 July. Members will discuss the text on Friday, and send the agreed version to the September WIPO General Assembly for approval.
By Bennett Lincoff The music industry has been in a decade-long death-spiral. This predicament results primarily from insistence by those who benefited most from how the industry operated before the internet arose that the established relationships upon which their past…