Category Patents/Designs/Trade Secrets

Whistleblowers Detail Accountability Problems At The Top Of WIPO; US Congressional Members Prepare Actions

WASHINGTON, DC -- A set of senior former employees of the World Intellectual Property Organization and their representatives yesterday gave detailed sworn testimony to US lawmakers on what they termed extremely serious misconduct and retaliation at the United Nations agency. A congressional subcommittee chairman told Intellectual Property Watch afterward that based on all they have heard, they believe WIPO Director General Francis Gurry has “gone rogue” and that action against him will begin immediately. The US State Department will be pressed to demand a copy of a newly completed UN investigation of Gurry that apparently has been shared with the Colombian Ambassador in Geneva, Gabriel Duque, who is chair of the WIPO General Assembly this year.

Despite US Efforts, Patent Litigation Grows Apace

The United States worked hard over the last five years to reduce patent infringement suits. Congress enacted patent reform, the courts handed down important anti-patentee rulings, and the US Patent and Trademark Office began a campaign of energetically rejecting patents and patent claims. Despite all this, from 2014 to 2015, new patent infringement suits increased 18 percent and the number of defendants sued for patent infringement increased 21 percent. What went wrong?

US Congressional Hearing On WIPO Accountability This Week

Several subcommittees of the United States Congress have scheduled a joint hearing this week on accountability and possible mistreatment of staff and whistleblowers at the UN World Intellectual Property Organization. The witness list for the hearing includes several high-level critics of the current WIPO director general who used to work for him. Meanwhile, observers are questioning what has happened to the report from an official UN investigation of WIPO.

Status Quo For WIPO Committee On Genetic Resources; Dialogue Ongoing To Unlock It

The amiable mood which prevailed at the outset of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on genetic resources and traditional knowledge meeting did not hold as negotiations on language of a potential treaty text to prevent misappropriation of genetic resources unearthed vivid divisions on the way to achieve such prevention. In addition, the participation of indigenous peoples is jeopardised by lack of funds, and the committee called for governments to help.

TTIP: Alternative ISDS No Real Alternative, NGOs Warn

Just days before the restart of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on 22 February in Brussels, a large coalition of non-governmental organisations led by the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) published a critical report on new proposals for the highly debated investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms. The activists called the Investment Court System (ICS) prepared by EU Commissioner Malmstroem as an alternative a mere “ISDS zombie.”

Climate Change Panel Seeks To Improve Communication, Open Doors To Private Sector

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change seeks to improve its communication to promote its reports, its chair said at a briefing yesterday. Working on its next assessment report expected to be released in five or six years, the IPCC seeks to increase participation of the private sector as a major stakeholders upon which depends the investment to find solutions to climate change he said.