Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A new report from the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) proposes solutions to advancing the global technology transfer debate to better bridge the development gap between developed countries and the global South.
No exclusive “.baby” top-level domain (TLD) for Johnson and Johnson, no exclusive “.blog” for Google, nor “.antivir” for Symantec or “.epost” for the German Postal Service. Of 242 government early warning notices to applicants for new generic top-level domains posted last night by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the majority target “quasi-monopolies” over generic names or lack of protective measures with regard to defensive registrations.
A new proposal by European Union governments could signal the end of a years-long struggle for a unified European patent and patent court. The compromise, which has the support of the European Commission (EC), appears likely to make it through the European Parliament despite pockets of resistance.
The World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body yesterday heard arguments by parties in a dispute about Australia's new public health law requiring tobacco imports to be in plain packaging as a way to discourage tobacco use. Honduras presented a challenge to the Australian law, saying it is not in line with WTO rules on intellectual property rights, while Australia said it is a "sound, well-considered" action in the name of public health.
The first results of the World Intellectual Property Organization negotiations on the draft text of a treaty to facilitate visually impaired persons’ access to books in special formats were presented this morning. Progress was reported by the WIPO secretariat, but some countries asked that more delegates be allowed to participate in the small group drafting discussions.
Visually impaired and print-disabled persons have high expectations for the results of this week's negotiations on copyright exceptions and limitations at the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry told the opening of a committee meeting today.
World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan today issued a statement attempting to clarify the UN agency's relationship with the industries - like producers of junk food and soda - in line to be regulated as the UN moves to battle globally rising noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The recent Internet Governance Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan was used as a stage for some very targeted messages on the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunication, it saw yet another round of exchanges on some of the tough questions of digital society from privacy and security to future copyright, and had the most intensive discussions on human rights in cyberspace so far.
The director of the Library of Alexandria, Egypt, invited to speak about innovation and food security at the World Intellectual Property Organization last week, said science should reach small farmers in order face the challenge of global food security and increase agricultural yields. He also called for the IP regime to be tailored to serve that purpose.
Richard Elliott writes: Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) was a unanimous pledge by Parliament to help people dying in developing countries because they lack access to affordable medicines. So far, it has delivered only one medicine to one country since Parliament created it more than 8 years ago (in May 2004). CAMR is clearly not working; it needs to be reformed to address the unnecessary deficiencies and limitations that have rendered it cumbersome and user-unfriendly for both developing countries and the manufacturers of lower-cost, generic medicines - the two parties that need to make use of CAMR if patients are to get the medicines they need.
Delegates meeting this week to assess how the World Intellectual Property Organization is instilling a development dimension in its activity had to tackle a marathon session with a large agenda, many projects to assess, and some issues regarding the mandate of the committee. Divergence remained on the agenda of the week but countries agreed on some items, including the convening of a conference on intellectual property and development in 2013.
A study compiling the results of two surveys on the need for reform of United Nations development activities was presented this week in the presence of US and Indian ambassadors who agreed on needed improvements, though with a North and South perspective.