Category Features

Internet Governance Forum: ACTA A Possible Show-Stopper For IP Progress

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch The third annual United Nations-led Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad, India this month addressed a range of topics related to intellectual property rights and the free flow of information, and provided a venue…

US Technology, IP Industries Offer Policy Wish Lists For Obama

By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch The United States Chamber of Commerce is calling on President-Elect Barack Obama to fill key intellectual property enforcement posts within the first 100 days of taking office. Meanwhile, other trade associations also…

An Alternative Proposal For Enhancing Developing Country Access To Patented Medicines

By Wagdy Sawahel for Intellectual Property Watch An intellectual property model intended to preserve the structure of patent protection while adding balance for developing countries has been proposed to provide incentives for innovators to contribute toward the alleviation of suffering…

Rapid Rise In African Anti-Counterfeiting Efforts Led By Developed Nations

By Nick Wadhams for Intellectual Property Watch NAIROBI, KENYA – Amid fears that huge quantities of counterfeit medicines and pesticides are pouring into Africa, the international law enforcement agency INTERPOL is leading the way to invest more effort and money…

Brazilian Draft Law Would Curb Expanded Patents On Pharmaceuticals

[Update from the author: Brazil announced on 19 December adoption of the resolution against the extension of patent rights to second-use drugs and polymorphs. Such patents were seen as subterfuges from the pharmaceutical companies to expand their patent rights. The…

IP And Genetically Modified Organisms: A Fateful Combination, Activists Say

By Catherine Saez With the expanding scope of patents on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the implementation of such crops in most countries, farmers’ rights and biodiversity are at risk, and food security has become dependent on a few transnational…

Librarians Take The Copyright Battleground In Developing Countries

By William New CHISINAU, MOLDOVA – Creativity may not be the first thing that comes to mind when travelling through the kilometres of mostly grey, Soviet-era cement-block buildings outlying the capital of Moldova, often referred to as Europe’s poorest state.…

Questions Raised About Google Library Project’s Impact On Knowledge Access

By William New What has been heralded as a breakthrough in the digitisation of human knowledge is also raising questions about how most humans will access that knowledge, according to an expert in copyright and the public interest. Fred von…