Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Today, the European Commission adopted two communications on intellectual property rights enforcement, one within the single market, the other in relation to third countries. Focusing on commercial scale infringement activities, the Commission will consider other measures later, including legislative ones.
Recent months have seen a few interesting intellectual property symposia in the Caribbean, in particular the WIPO–JIPO Regional Conference on IP and creative industries which was held in Jamaica from February 10-12 2014. It is quite interesting that in spite of the intention that it should be regional as indicated in the title of the conference, there seems to have been little participation from the fifteen member countries of Caricom and that most of the sessions focused on Jamaica and its situation, perhaps a natural outcome of the WIPO–JIPO collaboration. Progressive Caribbean intellectuals in the area of intellectual property were also notably absent from the forum, writes Abiola Inniss.
An amendment to elevate the status of geographical indications at the World Intellectual Property Organization appears to be on track for a high-level final negotiation in 2015 after a meeting last week.
In a widely publicised case last month, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) applied the “right to be forgotten,” requesting that internet search engines, under certain circumstances, delist links to personal data upon request. The court’s decision establishes a contentious balance between the right to privacy and the public’s right to access to information. The ECJ left this balance to search engines to implement on a case-by-case basis. While some argue in favour of these decisions, others fear the larger worldwide implications that cases are leading to.
Jovan Kubalija writes: Trust (or the lack thereof) is a frequent theme in public debates. It is often seen as a monolithic concept. However, we trust different people for different reasons, and in different ways. Sometimes we trust that people can do something (competences). In other situations our trust focuses on their intentions. This text is about trust in online space. It is inspired by discussions at the WSIS+10 high level dialogue on cybersecurity and trust.
The United Nations Office in Geneva today announced the official arrival of the new ambassador of the United States to the UN in Geneva, Pamela Hamamoto.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could compete with national currencies in the long term, but still face many challenges, according to panellists at a recent event in Geneva. Furthermore, the blockchain technology – the open source software which underpins those cryptocurrencies – could have innovative applications in other sectors, including intellectual property protection, they said.
The tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda again had strong words today for the United States’ seeming incalcitrant refusal to change its law or pay up in a World Trade Organization case it lost for blocking the island’s online gambling business. But Antigua stopped short of any direct threat to use the weapon it was given by the WTO dispute settlement panel: to stop protecting US intellectual property rights in the amount of the damages.
Over 70 organisations globally have called on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to urgently finalise South Africa’s National Intellectual Property (IP) Policy in an open letter delivered yesterday.
Consultant Richard Hill writes: The WSIS+10 High Level Event (HLE) last week unanimously adopted two documents (a Statement and a Vision), consisting of some 37 pages of text. What can be learned from this event regarding the evolution of the Internet and its governance? Some of what can be learned confirms what was learned from Netmundial. This short note covers only such items (that is, those that overlap Netmundial), and it may not cover all such items. The HLE output contains many items that were not covered by Netmundial, and Netmundial covered some items that were not covered by the HLE (in particular mass surveillance and the transition of the IANA function).
As the global internet governance landscape started without states in the foreground, the multistakeholder model and the participation of governments in it is still evolving, a recent panel of experts said.
The chair of the World Intellectual Property Organization traditional knowledge and genetic resources committee has circulated a draft paper on common issues in the negotiations, in hopes of bringing parties closer together ahead of the next committee meeting in July.