Category Inside Views

The US-Cotton Case — The Truth Behind Brazil’s Cross-Retaliation Against US Intellectual Property

In a recent speech at the Export-Import Bank's annual conference, US President Obama said the US Trade Representative will use its "full arsenal" to combat "practices that blatantly harm" US businesses, and that includes "enforcing existing [US] agreements." The question is: will the US comply with its multilateral obligations under the WTO agreement in the US-Brazil cotton case, says Brazilian academic Pedro Paranaguá.

Interview With Bill Pollock, Founder Of No Starch Press

Bill Pollock is the president and founder of No Starch Press, which publishes books on computing. Known to offer the “finest in geek entertainment,” the publishing house has released such titles as “Steal This Computer Book,” “How Linux Works,” “Hacking: The Art of Exploitation,” “The Cult of Mac,” and “The Unofficial LEGO Builder's Guide.” Its books are largely about hacking, open source, security, programming, and non-Windows-based operating systems, such as Linux. Mr. Pollock shared his thoughts with Intellectual Property Watch about hacking, piracy, and future of the book publishing business.

Bruce Gain
March 10, 2010
1 Comment

Copyright Law Reform in Brazil — Anteprojeto or Anti-project?

A balancing of the rights of authors and consumers, the re-introduction of a private copying exception, a remixing permission and a new regulatory agency for copyright issues are among the core points the Brazilian Ministry of Culture has planned for the new copyright law. But at the Third Conference on Copyright and the Public Interest in São Paulo a month ago, the Ministry emphasised that the bits and pieces shown to the audience were not from an actual law draft ("anteprojeto") but only a preliminary proposal for formulating such a draft. The bill still has not been published to date. The delay in releasing the bill for public consultation now threatens the work of more than two years on the reform.

Take Two — China’s Proposed Regulations For Patent-Involving National Standards

The Standards Administration of China patent policy proposal fails to strike the desired balance and undervalues the intellectual property included in a standard. If implemented as worded, it will discourage the contribution of innovative technologies for use in national standards and the participation of patent holders, writes George Willingmyre.

Intellectual Property Watch
December 21, 2009

China’s Standards And Patent Innovation Proposals — Problems For IPR And Global Trade?

Although the Standardization Administration of China is trying to balance the requirements of society, which include the rights of individuals, owners of IP and institutional investors to invest in innovation by earning a reasonable fair return on their patented products with the right of all members of society to benefit from innovation and new technologies; the balance by all accounts has not been made with its recently proposed legislation, writes Dr Ruth Taplin.

Metaphors And Folk Devils — Google’s William Patry Talks About His New Book

Google's William Patry discusses copyright myths, misleading metaphors, fear of new technologies and outdated business models in a video interview.

Intellectual Property Watch
December 17, 2009

International Policy Network — Fake Scare About Fake Drugs

Recent customs seizures by some European Union members of Indian-made generic drugs en route to Latin America have caused uproar amongst development NGOs. But their claims are not only wide of the mark but dangerous, say Philip Stevens and Julian Harris.

HIV/AIDS Treatment Access Policies: Emerging Incentives for Pro-Poor Changes to IP?

dionisio-daniele1 Daniele Dionisio argues some perspectives on health and IP might change now that controversial practices at the WTO, World Bank and IMF are increasingly under pressure, and that new government policy choices and actors on the world chessboard are emerging.

Intellectual Property Watch
December 8, 2009

Interview with Martin Khor, South Centre

khor-1 Martin Khor, executive director of the intergovernmental South Centre on critical issues facing the global South related to intellectual property - such as climate change, and the challenge of global IP infrastructure - and what the South Centre’s plans are to address them.

How The “Machine-Or-Transformation” Test In Bilski Is Failing

Charles Macedo and Norajean McCaffrey write that in the upcoming Supreme Court case on the Bilksi “machine-or-transformation” test, the Federal Circuit departed from Supreme Court precedent, and they suggest how to put the law of patent-eligible subject matter back on track.

Third Revision of Patent Law in China (Part II)

wenting-cheng The third amendment of Chinese Patent Law enters into force from 1 October, 2009. This article by Wenting Cheng explores the major changes in substantive requirements for patent grant, post-grant enforcement and adaptation of Chinese Patent Law to international norms on the protection of intellectual property.

Intellectual Property Is Driving Agricultural Innovation, Says CropLife

Javier Fernandez of CropLife Latin America argues the importance of protection of regulatory data and its relevance to the bid for food security.