Category Trademarks/Geographical Indications/Domains

G8 Highlights Internet, IP Rights, Innovation, WIPO

Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised countries today concluded their annual meeting, this year held in Deauville, France, with a communiqué bearing extensive discussion of the internet, intellectual property rights, and innovation - and a call for the World Intellectual Property Organization to step up work. In fact, it had a lot more to say about these issues than it did about the global economy or trade.

New “Final” ACTA Text Published, Open For Signature

A new "final" text of the secretive but potent Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been published by the European Commission, according to the Foundation for Free Information Infrastructure (FFII).

IT Industry Sends Mixed Message To The Group Of 8 In Deauville

It was a mixed message going out from the eG8 Forum - the first “Internet G8 meeting“ - that ended in Paris this week and passed its results to the heads of state of the Group of 8 most industrialised countries meeting now in Deauville, France.

WHO Set On Reform Path With Concerns; Pandemic Plan Agreed, Counterfeits Not

After ten days of discussions, country delegates closed the annual World Health Assembly today with the adoption of a set of decisions, one of which is a drastic programme of reforms that is intended to restore the World Health Organization’s central place in public health governance.

EU Commission Flexes Enforcement Muscles With New IPR Strategy

The European Commission today published a strategy intended to boost the economy by analysing and applying polish to European Union rules on intellectual property rights, including increased attention to enforcement with a crackdown on small shipments from internet purchases.

US Promotes Multilateral System Of Internet Governance In Geneva

Betty King, United States Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, has declared US support for a multilateral system of internet governance and an open internet.

WHO Needs Another Year To Solve Differences On Fake Medicines, Committee Decides

Country delegates gathered Saturday at the World Health Assembly decided to give another year to a working group in charge of making recommendations on falsified medicines. Unanimously, countries decided that more time is needed to reach consensual recommendations, in particular on the prickly issue of intellectual property rights.

US ITC Report On China Piracy Shows Billions In Losses: Senators Demand Action

China's violations of United States intellectual property rights costs the US tens of billions of dollars in economic activity and millions of jobs, according to a report released today from the US International Trade Commission.

WIPO Goes To Bat For Trademark Owners At ICANN

The World Intellectual Property Organization has urged the organisation responsible for the internet domain name system to step back from revising its procedures for judging disputes about cybersquatting. WIPO said a 6 May letter that ICANN has not sufficiently taken trademark owners' concerns into account.