Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Weevil-infested flour, deadly methanol added to alcohol, borax to make products seem fresher, pesticide-laced shrimp, fake medicines. Global police organisation Interpol today detailed a multi-agency operation that dismantled nearly 50 criminal networks worldwide that provided fake and substandard food and drink that put people in danger and killed dozens.
A new private-sector survey of large companies making consumer products showed their greatest concerns are exposure to litigation, followed by protection of brand equity and privacy/data security issues.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has attachés around the world specialised in intellectual property issues, including but not limited to enforcement. The office today announced an opening for a new attaché to be located in New Delhi, India, a key post.
New technological designs, such as symbols, visual metaphors, and pointing devices are on the menu of this week’s meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on trademarks. The protection of country names against registration as trademarks and their use on the internet, and geographical indications are also prominent topics, and an information session will be held tomorrow. Discussions on a potential industrial design treaty will be kept for the WIPO General Assembly this fall.
Distributed ledger technology, commonly called a Blockchain, has recently become a highly popular term in many different industries for its cost-saving and operational risk reducing potential. In this interview with Intellectual Property Watch, Dominik Thor, the founder of IPCHAIN Database, a startup that focuses on IP protection through the use of Blockchain, explains about the ways this new technology can revolutionise the IP sector.
A number of African countries just joined the newly established African Continental Free Trade Area. However, e-commerce remains very marginal on the continent, which is struggling to keep up and reap the benefits of this booming business platform. During a panel of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development E-Commerce Week, an African entrepreneur gave his vision of what is hindering Africa's e-commerce development, including the lack of awareness of what Africa has to trade.
A group of Asian countries is working towards a regional agreement on electronic commerce. During the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development e-commerce week, less developed countries of this group explained the difficult catch-up they have to fully enter into e-commerce nationally and internationally, particularly because most of their companies are small. Transport businesses, meanwhile, called for special customs rules for small companies to ease their participation in global e-commerce.
The sharing economy is booming, disrupting conventional ways of doing business, creating new jobs, and new headaches for policymakers. China is promoting the sharing economy as a national strategy, as explained during the annual United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) electronic commerce event this week, and illustrated by DiDi Chuxing, a leading Chinese mobile-based transportation platform.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and its annual weeklong event focused on electronic commerce inspired a group of World Trade Organization members to launch a roadmap for e-commerce last year. This week, at the start of the fourth UNCTAD E-Commerce Week, a panel commented on the importance of e-commerce discussions at the World Trade Organization, even as some of the WTO membership disagrees on a new negotiating mandate.
Prof. Carlos Correa of Argentina, an influential academic whose analyses of patents and medicines access have informed debates and challenged the status quo for decades, has been named the next executive director of the South Centre. He will take over for Martin Khor, who will be retiring after nine years at the helm. Separately, former South African President Thabo Mbeki was named chair of the Board.