Category Trademarks/Geographical Indications/Domains

Old (former IPR-Thieving) Napster v New (IPR-Thieving) Napster.fm?

The World Intellectual Property Organization this week released the decision in an internet domain name dispute in which the current incarnation of the once-wildly successful Napster music-sharing website successfully forced a website called napster.fm to shut down over intellectual property rights violations. Is Napster still cool?

The Perfect Package: A Checklist To Avoid Legal Challenges

By William Rava and Jason Howell, Perkins Coie Product packaging is an increasingly important marketing opportunity.  Well-executed product packaging can support and strengthen your brand identity, differentiate your product on the shelf, and convey important, and often required, information to…

India’s IP Policy On Stage As Modi Heads To US

Will India’s new government bring in radical changes in the country’s intellectual property rights regime? That question has generated enormous buzz but no definitive answer ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power with a decisive mandate in May this year.

[Update: the Indian government has announced that it has begun a process for a comprehensive IPR policy over the next six months, including a government think tank. See report here. The government website is here.]

IP-Watch Celebrates 10 Years With An Update!

At Intellectual Property Watch, www.ip-watch.org, we're celebrating our 10th anniversary by innovating to bring you the best independent coverage of international intellectual property policy possible. We are excited to announce our new website design, aimed at making our content easier to read, navigate and organize, with a simpler layout, clear text, more images, and new features like the From the Regions section.

WIPO Members Work To Strengthen Oversight Of UN Agency

World Intellectual Property Organization member governments are hard at work this week trying to improve auditing and oversight of the UN agency, coming after a successful year financially but a year of questions about governance and transparency. Proposed changes include a number of measures on conflicts of interest and investigations even at the highest levels of the organization.