Category IP Policies

US Presidential Candidates Prioritise IP Issues But Diverge On Details

By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
The presidential election in the United States is getting down to the wire, with Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama being officially chosen as their parties' nominees.

The intellectual property community is taking particular note of what positions the candidates are taking on patent reform, copyright enforcement, internet neutrality, and a host of other issues. Both campaigns have a plethora of expertise in the form of law professors, patent lawyers, and others advising them, either informally or formally.

India’s Section 3(d) Conundrum

Editor’s Note: This submission refers to the 2005 patent law in India, which amended India’s 1970 patent law and implemented the 1994 World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). India allowed proposed patent applications to…

La justice américaine reconnaît le caractère exécutoire des licences open source : impact majeur en perspective sur le droit d’auteur aux Etats-Unis

Steven Seidenberg pour Intellectual Property Watch La décision ne fera pas jurisprudence. Néanmoins, selon certains spécialistes de la propriété intellectuelle, le récent jugement de l’affaire Jacobsen contre Katzer aura des conséquences majeures sur le droit d’auteur aux États-Unis. L’affaire Jacobsen…

US Court Finds Open Source Licences Enforceable; Big Impact Seen On US Copyright Law

By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
The ruling has no precedential value. Nevertheless, the recent decision in Jacobsen v. Katzer will have a major impact on US copyright law, according to IP experts.

Jacobsen held that open source licences can be enforced under US copyright law. "It is first time that a US court of appeals has directly addressed issues about the enforceability of open source licences," said Jim Thatcher, Of Counsel in the Seattle office of Woodcock Washburn. "There isn't anywhere else for [US] courts to turn for guidance on this issue, so they will turn to this case and its logic for the enforceability of open source licensing terms."

"[T]rust me, this is huge," Lawrence Lessig, a copyright expert at Stanford Law School, wrote in his online blog.