Original news and analysis on international IP policy
As virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies emerge, so do legal questions arising from their use. While the issues are still mostly hypothetical, they implicate, among other areas, intellectual property rights, lawyers say.
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Electronic commerce should be the realm of young people under 30 and of small enterprises, according to Alibaba founder Jack Ma, speaking at an event on digital trade in Geneva this week. He also pressed countries to just get on the e-commerce train, and worry about regulations later. Meanwhile, World Trade Organization Director General Roberto Azevêdo said at the same event that without help small companies would no better survive the competition of large companies online than they did in the real world.
Antony Taubman, director of the World Trade Organization Intellectual Property Division, has been in a good position to view the world and intellectual property for some time. Today, designated as World IP Day, we caught up with him to ask his views on the theme this year.
Inventions to contribute to the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have been rewarded. A reactor which converts carbon dioxide into ethanol, a method for the detection of pesticides and contaminants in food, and renewable leather created from bacteria won the heart of the jury.
For World Intellectual Property Day this year, the World Intellectual Property Organization held a discussion on “Innovation in Communication: A State of Mind,” with a creator designer, a brand consultant and a writer as the panel.
Electronic commerce is booming but mostly for high income economies, speakers said at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which is holding a weeklong event on digital trade. Technical assistance is needed for developing countries to hop on the e-commerce train, they said, as UNCTAD launched a platform designed to help developing countries navigate the arcane of electronic trade.
A global survey on internet security and trust found users are worried about privacy, and in particularly wary of cybercriminals, internet companies, and governments. This lack of trust is hurting the potential of electronic commerce, the survey revealed.
A group of ministers from developing countries today released a roadmap for global digital commerce discussions, aimed at paving the way to discussions on electronic commerce at the World Trade Organization ministerial conference in December.
The participation of small-scale farmers at the table of international negotiations and the protection of agricultural biodiversity are key to food security, according to the Quaker United Nations Office, which published last month two policy briefs with a list of recommendations.
A private sector project to identify and compile all geographical indications in the world in a database is expected to be completed in the fall. The compilation is aimed at helping intellectual property professionals, trademark owners, and other users in their decision-making, and will be freely available, according to the organization for an international Geographical Indications Network (oriGIn). There is currently no international register of GIs.
The protection of geographical indications could impede the ability of long-term producers to continue using what they consider as being generic names, according to several speakers at an event last month at the World Intellectual Property Organization. The discussion is also ongoing at the World Trade Organization in the context of barriers to trade. The side event focused on the case of danbo cheese, a Danish cheese manufactured in several countries, particularly in Uruguay.