Category Features

US, WIPO Officials Assess Patent Reform, PCT, Copyright Priorities

NEW YORK - Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the United States are “hotlining” colleagues to ascertain if there is any objection to moving patent reform quickly through the US Senate, a representative of a major stakeholder in the debate said here Friday. Meanwhile, the US Copyright Office is working to get its priorities through a restructured Congress, and a World Intellectual Property Organization official warned of a possible divide in WIPO's norm-setting activities.

Global IP Enforcement Push Impacting Consumer Access, 2010 IP Watchlist Finds

The second edition of the Consumers International IP Watchlist has been published, with the conclusion that consumers are bearing collateral damage to the enforcement push by entertainment and media lobby groups encouraging stringent national legislations. Copyright laws and enforcement are changing, but mostly for the benefit of right holders, said the advocate group which encourages copyright exceptions.

《国家标准涉及专利的处置规则》最新稿：是不是向前一步？

2010年一月21日，中国标准化研究院1发布了《国家标准涉及专利的处置规则2（征求意见稿）》（简称《处置规则》)，向有利益关系的参与者征求意见。此《处置规则》为国家标准化管理委员会《涉及专利的国家标准制修订管理规定（暂行）（征求意见稿）》（简称《修订管理规定》)重要成分之一。3

Medicrime: Another Anti-Counterfeiting Convention Emerges In Europe

While the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is getting a lot of attention with its draft consolidated version just published, there is another convention dealing with one major aspect it was always said ACTA would tackle. The Medicrime Convention of the Council of Europe sets the first international standard for criminalising the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeited medicine risking public health. And Medicrime will overtake ACTA, as the draft convention text is ready to be signed by the Committee of Ministers in May and be opened for signature in November.

Shareholders In 3G Mobile Patent Company Seek US Investigation Of Nokia, Ericsson

Two shareholders in a Pennsylvania company with patents key to third generation (3G) mobile communications want the US Department of Justice to investigate European mobile phone manufacturers Nokia and Ericsson and others for failing to pay royalties for use of the technology. Antitrust scrutiny is needed to prevent the same thing from happening as the next generation of mobile phones rolls out, Richard Monahan and Kent Greene say.

Biodiversity: Bountiful Source For Cosmetics, But Needs Respect, Group Says

PARIS- The cosmetics industry is about beauty, but it is also increasingly about biodiversity as consumers show a growing awareness of environmental issues and the loss of biodiversity. As a wishful wink to the 10th meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya in October 2010, the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) held a conference at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris on 15 April.