Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Key players in the biotechnology industry are leading an effort to obtain global approval processes for generic biological medicines, which experts say could provide cheaper access to costly but widely prescribed and promising treatments.
French legislators are putting the final touches on controversial legislation that will likely lead to the most governmentally-proactive law intended to curb illegal file sharing among any other European Union member state.
With patent reform expected to be introduced sooner rather than later in this 111th United States Congress, calculating damages for infringement remains one of the main sticking points.
This year could be a transitional one for global internet governance policy, as the internet’s technical oversight body may finally lose its ties to the United States, the next generation internet comes into its own, the UN Internet Governance Forum will be reviewed, and the world could see the rapid spread of new internet domains.
Constant vigilance is needed to protect intellectual property rights in sports from creative efforts by “ambush marketers” and others seeking to take unauthorised advantage of sports events, event organisers say.
The World Health Organization global strategy on public health, innovation and intellectual property calls for the exploration of alternative mechanisms to incentivise research and development, including the use of prize funds. A diverse group of non-governmental agencies, government and pharmaceutical industry representatives recently looked at prize funds in detail, to determine different possible approaches and where they might best be applied to medical innovations.
The Year Ahead: Copyright has taken centre stage again this year as the battle over internet service provider (ISP) responsibility for digital piracy intensifies and spreads around the world. 2009 will also feature growing global pressure for a more harmonised system of copyright limitations and exceptions, and continuing controversy over the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
James Boyle is a leading thinker on copyright and knowledge access, and is author of a new book called The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind (available at thepublicdomain.org or here as a PDF).
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch CANNES – Giving licences to digital music providers has been on top of the agenda of the world’s largest music fair, Midem, and its technology forum Midemnet for about a decade now. But…
By Catherine Saez Publicly funded research institutions are major players in the area of life sciences and policies on the management of intellectual property emanating from this research have to be defined, according to speakers at a recent symposium in…
By William New In what might be seen as a victory for defenders of flexibilities for poor nations in international trade rules, the World Customs Organization in December recommended the discontinuance of a working group on intellectual property enforcement standards…
By William New Developing nations increasingly are receiving tools to help them participate in and benefit from the global intellectual property system, according to a group of experts who met recently on IP strategies. And now is a critical time…