Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The governing body of the international plant treaty is holding its annual meeting this week with a number of issues to go through, in particular the adoption of the next biennium budget, and the funding strategy of the treaty.
In a new report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights examines the implications of patent policy for the right to science and culture. She gives a number of recommendations calling for countries to refrain from granting stringent patent protection, and respect their human right obligations.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership should expressly include an international treaty on cultural diversity, public broadcasters and a coalition have said.
The World Intellectual Property Organization governing body started examining the work of its committees yesterday, with the hope of solving some issues that those committees were unable to solve during the year. This included the work programmes of the committees on copyright and on trademarks and geographical indications.
At the World Intellectual Property Organization annual General Assembly this week, the financing of the Lisbon system protecting appellations of origin is the subject of intensive discussions cutting across several agendas. Attempts are being made by non-Lisbon members to separate the Lisbon system’s funding from other agreements, and in the course of the debate the broader WIPO budgetary system came under analysis.
Two panel discussions held at the recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) Public Forum addressed the challenge of modernising global trade rules for the digital age and the role the WTO could play in this process.
The 1994 World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has been a landmark pact in the IP world and beyond. Now on the 20th anniversary of its entry into force, former TRIPS negotiators and other experts have come out with a book recounting the remarkable set of circumstances and compromises that took place to bring this agreement into being.
Access to medicines and innovations was the subject of a panel organised at the World Trade Organization Public Forum last week. After 20 years of the WTO intellectual property agreement, panellists looked at the impact of the agreement on access to medicines, and in particular the use of its flexibilities. In addition, a delegate of India detailed the legal-political aspects of an upcoming WTO decision on disputes for harmful actions that do not technically violate any WTO rules.
World Intellectual Property Organization members called for swift adoption of new treaties at the outset of the organisation's annual General Assemblies this week.
Reactions to yesterday's announcement that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is in the books quickly turned to “what's next?” with European Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem sending congratulations and expressing expectations that “with TPP done, we will be able to approach our TTIP negotiations with an even greater focus from both sides.” But considerable work remains for TPP to come into effect.
The fate of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee dedicated to finding solutions to protect traditional knowledge, generic resources, and folklore is being actively discussed informally at the organisation's general assembly.
It has been five months since Choi Donggyou assumed the role of KIPO Commissioner. During the 55th WIPO General Assemblies in Geneva this week, he took time to sit down with Intellectual Property Watch and in a mutually prepared Q&A gave his perspective on a wide array of issues, including the IP policies and projects he plans to focus on throughout his term, his intentions for maintaining close collaborative ties with WIPO, and his thoughts on last May's IP5 Heads of Office meeting in Suzhou, China.