Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Sinfah Tunsarawuth for Intellectual Property Watch BANGKOK – Thai and foreign public health campaigners on Friday urged governments to exercise their right over patent owners to provide access to cheaper essential medicines for the poor. They also called for…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch
European Union governments on Thursday agreed the main components of a patent litigation system that will apply throughout the 27-country bloc.
EU ministers for industrial competitiveness gave their broad approval on 22 November to a blueprint for having a single judicial body to assess legal actions which contest the validity of a patent.
In the ongoing WHO debate over the sharing of virus strains and benefits accruing from that sharing (including potential patenting), Indonesia has been facing off against much of the developed world and its industry in seeking new strong measures to…
Par Monika Ermert pour Intellectual Property Watch RIO DE JANEIRO – Les questions liées à la propriété intellectuelle ont été parmi les sujets que les gouvernements avaient évité d’aborder pendant le sommet sur la société de l’information en 2003-2005, qui…
Por Monika Ermert para Intellectual Property Watch RÍO DE JANEIRO- El de las cuestiones relacionadas con la propiedad intelectual fue un tema que los gobiernos evitaron tocar durante la Cumbre Mundial sobre la Sociedad de la Información en 2003 y…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – South Korea has been urged to strengthen its intellectual property rules in order to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union. Talks are underway between the EU and the…
By William New The politically explosive issue of ensuring everyone benefits from vaccines in the event of an influenza pandemic is the subject of a negotiation underway at the World Health Organization this week. The work of the member governments…
By William New The World Health Organization, which has intensively debated intellectual property rights issues in recent years, has restructured its management of the issues, elevating IP to the director general’s office. “[The restructuring] shows the importance that the director…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch RIO DE JANEIRO – Intellectual property-related issues were a topic avoided by governments during the 2003-2005 World Summit on the Information Society, which gave way to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). But at…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
Makers and distributors of digital storage products and audiovisual media last week urged France's highest administrative court to kill private copy levies on technologies for transferring data such as USB keys, external hard disks and memory cards.
The challenges, filed 9 November in the Conseil d'Etat by e-merchant Rue du Commerce and the Syndicat des Industries de Mat�riels Audiovisuels Electroniques (SIMAVELEC), contend that the lack of harmonised levies among European Union countries violates EU law and hurts online sellers.
The legal action came one day after the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) argued that non-payment of levies should be made a criminal offence.