Original news and analysis on international IP policy
During the most recent negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Seoul, Korea on 4-6 November, about which no information is available, US industry and public interest groups issued statements taking widely divergent positions on progress of the talks.
Intellectual property rights enforcement has risen on the global trade and IP agenda, but greater transparency in the evaluation of piracy and counterfeiting and assessments of broader social implications may be needed, according to speakers at a side event last week.
World Trade Organization members reached agreement today to recommend extension of a moratorium on customs duties on electronic commerce, and a moratorium on challenging other WTO members under intellectual property rules for actions not in violation of the WTO, according to a WTO official.
Developing countries this week increased their proactive involvement in the enforcement agenda at the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to participants at the 2-4 November Advisory Committee on Enforcement meeting.
As governments negotiating the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) meet in Seoul this week, public interest concern has surfaced over leaked information on internet enforcement.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) this week urged the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “to make the protection of creative content online a core and guiding principle" of its new National Broadband Plan. But its view suggests it would support stronger regulation over the internet, an approach it has strongly opposed in other areas.
A struggle over the power and reach of the World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda may be looming as members of the UN agency begin to take control of implementation with differing views. Key developing countries say members must not only focus on specific projects but also on the broader agenda for change at WIPO. Developed countries want simple coordination with other committees without the heavy hand of fundamental change.
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group VI [security interests] is meeting in Vienna this week to work on the draft annex to the Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions, which focuses on intellectual property rights.
A United States health department advisory group this month produced a new draft report on gene patenting and licensing with recommendations suggesting that excessive patenting can limit patients’ access to gene testing and might not foster genetic research. The recommendations were supported by a variety of health professionals but put the biotechnology industry on edge.
The French Constitutional Council yesterday gave its ruling about the constitutionality of a French bill aiming to protect literary and artistic intellectual property rights online, and decided that the bill was in conformity with the French Constitution, asking only for…