Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Intellectual property issues may not be at the top of the post-Bali negotiations at the World Trade Organization, but there are many IP-related issues going on at the WTO. Below is an overview of some current and possible IP-related issues at the WTO.
The potential for big data to yield better outcomes in all aspects of health is tremendous, and tapping into it has only just begun, said speakers at a recent panel in Geneva.
The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee this week has sunk its teeth into the issue of exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries and archives. Some countries are pushing for a treaty to establish such exceptions while others find that the existing copyright system provides for it.
In a previous Inside Views article, 10 questions were raised with the hope that they would be answered in the "Global Multisectoral Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance,” also known as NETmundial. After the meeting, the author, Juan Fernández, looks at the answers.
An investment policy review undertaken by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) found that Bangladesh needs to attract foreign direct investment to sustain its development and suggests that the country loosen its grip on the pharmaceutical sector. Bangladesh said the review will be carefully considered.
A presentation of the Tunis Model Law this week at a World Intellectual Property Organization side event addressed how it could be updated and used as a tool to help developing countries implement new developments in international copyright-related law.
Nongovernmental organisations attending the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee meeting which this week sought to breach differences on what a treaty protecting broadcasters should cover, expressed their views with some unusual coherence.
The United States Supreme Court yesterday issued two rulings that were bad news for patent assertion entities, or "patent trolls". Thanks to these decisions, trolls and other patentees could be on the hook for millions in fees whenever they bring frivolous patent infringement suits.
NEW YORK – The annual Fordham Law School IP Law and Policy Conference held last week offered an intensive two days of in-depth legal issues in intellectual property, with a mix of perspectives from representatives of intergovernmental organisations, governments, courts, industry, and a smattering of public interest advocates.
World Intellectual Property Organization delegates next week are expected to pore over a draft treaty text offering protection to broadcasters. Some issues, such as what the protection should cover, remain in the way of consensual language, and a new proposal has been put forward by the United Kingdom. Also on the agenda of the copyright committee is exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, for which the nature of the instrument(s) that would provide such exceptions is not yet defined.
Another agenda item is a proposal on a copyright consortium for managing books for visually impaired persons.
Greg Perry has been executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for over a year now, since January 2013. Under his guidance, MPP shares that it has launched a “series of new licensing agreements and negotiations with key patent holders and generic medicines companies.” Intellectual Property Watch sat down with Perry recently to discuss why the MPP is so important as an alternative business model, the context of the MPP, changes in the global approach to the issue of access, and how the MPP fits within the Geneva context.
Consensus on the outcome document seemed elusive on day one of the NetMundial meeting that started in Sao Paulo yesterday. But ambitions are high for many.