Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A training programme on intellectual property organised by the United States with several partners to be held in Africa in April has been postponed under pressure to make the programme more transparent and representative of all stakeholders.
High-level policymakers, industry leaders, law professors and other stakeholders came together in Geneva recently to discuss the how the role of intellectual property is evolving when it comes to developing, protecting, and providing medicines.
The European Union's progress of adopting the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiated last year has been suspended pending a ruling by Europe's highest court, the European Trade Commissioner announced yesterday.
Precious little is known publicly about the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement being negotiated by the United States and other Pacific-bordering nations, but some sources say the agreement could contain some of the strongest language on intellectual property rights that has come under attack in other agreements. US trade negotiators, meanwhile, say they are consulting stakeholders widely.
From advancing public-private partnerships and increasing international collaboration to promoting innovation in neglected therapy areas and developing new research and development models, policymakers have set a steady pace as they advance the 2012 global health agenda.
Europeans came out by the thousands this week to protest the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), as it goes before the parliament and the remaining governments that have not yet signed on. But a large number of industry associations sent a letter pushing officials to carefully consider the agreement before dismissing it under popular pressure.
Changes continue at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as the director of communications announced today that he is stepping down immediately after nearly a decade.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has embarked on a programme of allowing new generic top-level domains on the internet (like .com), an initiative that has worried trademark holders and international organisations. Now the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center is offering services for trademark holders who wish to challenge proposals for new gTLDs later this year.
A new paper from the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) offers ideas on addressing misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge at the World Intellectual Property Organization.
For years, some developing countries have insisted that developed countries – which own the vast majority of intellectual property rights – take a singular focus when it comes to offering technical assistance on IP rights: the protection of “northern” property. In recent years, negotiations in venues like the World Intellectual Property Organization have sought to ensure that such assistance also highlight the creation of local IP rights as well as the availability of flexibilities developing countries have under international rules for IP.