Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Rapporteurs for three committees of the European Parliament (Legal, Industry and Trade, and International Trade) have tabled reports or announced what they will propose on the plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). And the Group of 8 may have signalled a shift to a narrower approach on intellectual property rights at its meeting last week.
The UN World Intellectual Property Organization has responded to a question about its provision of technical assistance to North Korea, saying it is standard procedure as authorised by its member states hoping to bring developing countries on board the global IP system.
Today, a US appellate court released its decision in a key case in which rights holders asserted that online video site YouTube should be liable for copyright infringing content appearing on its site. According to a preliminary reading, the appeals court reversed the earlier decision, signalling that YouTube, owned by Google, could have known about infringing content and therefore may not fit under the safe harbor clause of the US Digital Millenniumn Copyright Act limiting the liability of online service providers.
A recently published book by Harvard Law School Professor John Palfrey offers a thoughtful and useful handbook for executives or just about anyone else to better understand and use intellectual property, in ways that encourage sharing and openness.
A new treaty protocol against illicit trade in tobacco products struck today at the World Health Organization saw a late-stage decision to strip out references to “counterfeit” products from the text, according to sources.
Honduras announced today it has requested formal consultations with Australia under the World Trade Organization dispute settlement procedures, charging that Australia's public health law requiring tobacco to be sold in plain packaging violates the WTO intellectual property agreement.
Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization are quietly but heatedly discussing how to address an external review of WIPO technical assistance in the lead-up to the next Committee on Development and IP (CDIP) meeting, according to sources. And some are watchful that there not be an effort to bury the substantive and at-times critical review, even as WIPO has issued a lengthy response to it.
The annual US list of barriers to trade in other countries was published today, with profiles of dozens of trading partners from very large to very small.
The second annual report of the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) Victoria Espinel paints a picture of the United States' multifaceted and ever-expanding war on IP infringement, at home and abroad.
Using on-the-ground research in Africa and the Netherlands, the authors of a recent book looked at the impact of intellectual property on agriculture and health in developing countries. The study made some surprise findings in relation to IP and development, such as IP-related obstacles to knowledge and technology transfer.
The Indian Supreme Court today postponed hearing the high-profile case involving Swiss pharmaceutical producer Novartis' challenge of India's patent law until July, according to sources.
The United States Supreme Court yesterday threw out a high-profile case that had allowed a private company's patents on two human genes associated with cancer.