Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The decision-making bodies of the World Intellectual Property Organization are meeting this week with the hope of advancing discussions of pending potential treaties to protect broadcasting organisations, and simplifying the international applications for industrial designs. Meanwhile, Director General Francis Gurry opened the annual WIPO General Assemblies with a look at the past year and challenges for the future.
The World Intellectual Property Organization treaty on copyright exceptions for print-disabled readers entered into effect on 30 September, and trading in accessible format works began immediately. This week, the treaty will be a highlight of the annual WIPO General Assemblies, and is expected to come up at the parallel UN Social Forum taking place next door.
“The federal court in Galveston, Texas denied the plaintiffs' application for declaratory and injunctive relief. As of 1 October 2016, the IANA functions contract has expired.” This two-sentence statement from Assistant US Commerce Secretary for Communications and Information and National Telecommunication and Information Administration Administrator Lawrence Strickling ended an era of direct United States oversight over changes to the authoritative root zone of the internet domain name system, and as a contractor for a set of core internet databases.
Heading into next week’s annual UN World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies, WIPO member states are considering a report from the United Nations investigations office regarding allegations of wrongdoing made involving WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. And for first time since the allegations arose, Gurry has offered his defence. Spoiler alert: he neither confirmed nor denied it but raised questions about the legality of sharing the report with member states.
Now is the time for those who want to bring new voices to the digital trade and general trade debate involving the World Trade Organization, says an adviser to a leading security think tank in Switzerland.
A lot of skepticism about global trade has arisen just at a time when there is the potential to involve large swaths of the population who were previously not able to access the international exchange of commerce.
Although the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation has raised significant concerns from civil society during negotiations, including about the intellectual property chapter, speakers on a panel during the World Trade Organization Public Forum yesterday said the agreement actually includes a positive provision on copyright, while some other free trade agreements under discussion still include stringent proposals on IP.
The 15th World Trade Organization Public Forum, an annual event that brings together stakeholders and members of the public to discuss trade issues, opened today. This year, the focus is on inclusive trade. During the opening session, participants underlined the need for support of micro enterprises, in particular in developing countries. Also today, the WTO released its trade statistics and outlook for 2016, which announced the slowest pace of trade and output growth since the 2009 financial crisis.
World Intellectual Property Organization delegates today agreed on a text compiling divergent views on how traditional knowledge should be protected in the intellectual property system to be forwarded to the next session of its committee on the protection of traditional knowledge. Some clear dividing lines remain, such as traditional knowledge which is widely known and could have been placed in the public domain, or if conditions of eligibility should be part of a potential treaty.
European Union trade ministers at an informal meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia today agreed on the final steps to enact CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU. There will be no other reopening of the text, assured EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem after the meeting. But ministers have agreed, according to Slovak Minister of Economy Peter Ziga, that some sensitive issues have to be straightened out in an additional annex to the CETA text.
Members of indigenous communities this week shared their experiences in negotiating for their rights at the World Intellectual Property Organization and gave their advice on negotiations for potential treaties on genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore.
Greenpeace, European Digital Rights, Public Services International and the International Transport Worker's Federation today presented a collection of leaked papers on the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA). As negotiators from a dozen countries currently gathered in Geneva for officially the 20th round to close the deal on better trans-border service trading, the civil rights activists and trade union representatives warned that TISA partners would commit to give up their options to regulate in the public interest through a secret deal.