Original news and analysis on international IP policy
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.
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.
The roles of governments, civil society and industry in ruling the internet - and other spaces - seems to be in a profound change. With governments in cross-border law enforcement situations increasingly unable to protect fundamental rights, as European Parliament Member Marietje Schaake said during a session of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) in Stockholm last week, it seems to be civil society that can do something about it.
The Broadband Commission for Digital Development, a mixed public-private sector leaders group aimed at boosting high-speed internet availability in the developing world, today issued an open letter to the leaders of the Group of 20 urging action which the commission says will lead to greater socio-economic growth.
It is not .sex (or .sexy) anymore, it is .app that companies investing in new domains on the internet think most desirable: 13 applications to operate a future .app registry have been filed with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which revealed a complete list of 1,930 new top level domain (TLD) applications at a press conference in London today.
Informa has announced a range of upcoming events and courses on the essential aspects of intellectual property and technology of interest to Intellectual Property Watch readers. Here is the list:
Events:
IP Dispute Resolution - 28 - 29 June 2012, Grange City Hotel, London, UK
European Trademarks 2012 – 3rd July 2012, Grange City Hotel, London, UK
Protecting Corporate Information – 5th July 2012, One Drummond Gate, London, UK
IT Law Summer School 2012 – 30 July - 3 August 2012, Downing College, Cambridge, UK
IP Summer School - 13 - 17 August 2012, Downing College, Cambridge, UK
Distance Learning Courses:
Computer and Communications Law LLM, PgDip - from Queen Mary, University of London
UK, EU & US Copyright Law LLM, PgDip - from King's College London
All seems to come down to the numbers on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: how many protesters will turn up at the ACTA Action Day in Europe tomorrow and how many members of the European Parliament (EP) will vote for it in plenary on 3 July. Without the EP agreement, ACTA will fail, at least in Europe, observers say.
On the eve of the 9 June Europe-wide protests against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), journalist Jennifer Baker of IDG met with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Christian Engström (Pirate Party) & Niccolo Rinaldi (ALDE) to discuss the current state of affairs with regard to the ACTA. Watch the video.
Intellectual property enforcement was discussed at yesterday’s session of the World Trade Organization council on IP-related issues in two different contexts, both involving the United States. Cuba complained about the US failure to comply with a 10-year-old ruling on a Cuban rum brand name, and the US added an agenda item on enforcement against counterfeit goods, both of which created some stir.
The UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) today announced it would start publishing briefing papers on the issues surrounding the revision of the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) and explain the "processes as well participation rights and opportunities to comment."
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the domain name system technical oversight body, will shortly make public the list of applied for new domains.
The United States stands united in its opposition to any international proposal to regulate the internet or to expand the jurisdiction of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) over the Web, US officials said on 31 May.