Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The United Kingdom government has done a “considerable amount” of high-grade policy development work in the year since publication of a key report on the health of its intellectual property regime but must move faster, the Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee said on 27 June. It strongly criticised Britain's approach to the controversial proposal for a unified EU patents.
It’s been called a patent war, and it’s raging over much of the globe. In at least ten countries - including the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and South Korea - Apple is locked in ferocious legal battles against Google, Samsung and HTC over whose smartphones and tablets infringe whose patents.
There’s a lot a stake: Damages could run into billions of dollars. Even worse, the loser could wind up being forbidden to sell its products in various markets.
This costly, high-stakes global patent war may seem unprecedented. But according to many experts, that’s only partly true. In many ways, this patent war is similar to major patent disputes in the past. And it is likely a foretaste of more patent wars in the future.
RIO DE JANEIRO - Many of the technologies that can make the world more sustainable are available today. But how to transfer such green technologies to those most in need of them remains a question on which there are starkly divergent views - even after last week’s much-anticipated Rio+20 leaders’ summit.
At its annual meeting this week in Boston, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), put its name to a report promoting the advantages of intellectual property rights for the industry.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) yesterday released an interim report with the European Union on ways to expand transatlantic trade and investment. But apparently this would not including trying to bridge differences on intellectual property rights.
In an unprecedented move, the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA) today in Brussels passed a report recommending the rejection of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Never before has INTA voted to reject a trade agreement negotiated by the Union.
A new pharmaceutical industry initiative aimed at improving access to HIV treatments in least-developed countries is raising questions as to how it will fit with the Medicines Patent Pool, an existing group with a similar mandate. As an informal meeting on the new initiative kicks off this week in New Delhi, scrutiny will be paid to whether the initiative’s drivers are several companies that have declined to negotiate with the patent pool and whether it is a good-faith effort to help the greatest number of patients.
According to local press reports, the former director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Kamil Idris, was arrested by security forces last week in Sudan on unknown charges.
A draft of the outcome document for this week’s Rio+20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said to be close to the final version, shows where governments have placed their focus. It appears that technology transfer is well-recognised, intellectual property rights to a lesser extent, but firm actions in these areas may still be to come.
A complex trade negotiation among several countries bordering the Pacific Ocean just got more weighted toward the west as Canada and Mexico joined their North American partner the United States in the talks. They may also infuse new energy into the talks, which are about to enter their 13th round, but may make intellectual property demands tougher to achieve.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and a leading US rights holder group have entered a case involving rights over prior art submitted in patent applications, arguing that it falls under fair use.
A World Trade Organization review of China’s trade policy includes assessments of the country’s progress on adopting - and becoming a leader of - the global intellectual property rights system.