Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Argentine Intellectual Property Act No. 11.723, which dates back to 1933, contains only one exception to copyright holders’ absolute power: the “droit de citation”, with an absolute maximum length of 1000 words or 8 bars for musical compositions, it must take into account the extension of the original work and is limited to certain non-profit uses only (education, research and the like).
All is fair in love and (patent) war, but apparently not when it comes to awarding damages in patent litigation, writes South Africa's Cobus Jooste.
World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry set the tone at the 18 September opening of a WIPO committee on industrial designs, calling on countries to keep the treaty-signing momentum built up last June with the adoption of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. However, developing countries have been reluctant to engage in an international treaty on industrial designs and this week delegates will have to agree on how to pursue discussions on the subject.
NEW DELHI - In this month, there have been two court orders in India that underscore the complexities underlying the country’s intellectual property regime. Last Friday (14 September), the Chennai-based Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) which is responsible for hearing appeals on patent applications, rejected a petition by German pharma major Bayer AG, seeking a stay on an order of India’s Controller of Patents granting a compulsory licence (CL) to Indian generic drug maker Natco Pharma Limited, for a drug used to treat liver and kidney cancer.
The International Telecommunication Union in a press briefing Monday evening tried to dispel what it is describing as "myths and misinformation" about the upcoming World Conference on International Communication (WCIT, December 3-14 in Dubai). "Although there are many important issues before the conference, unfortunately they are not receiving the media attention they deserve due to a paranoia created by claims that ITU wants to take over the internet," Standardization Bureau Director Malcolm Johnson said.
The responsibility of internet intermediaries in cases of intellectual property rights infringement has long been debated. Wedged between rights holders and internet users, intermediaries are asked to provide surveillance from the first and to preserve an open internet by the second. An information meeting organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization tried to gather different points of view on the role and responsibility of internet intermediaries in the area of trademarks.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced that designated CEO Fadi Chehadé has assumed his new position.
Another phase of historic patent reform goes into effect next week in the United States, as officials from the US Patent and Trademark Office tour the country, answering questions from stakeholders about forthcoming changes in patent law, thanks to the America Invents Act (AIA). The next batch of rules the USPTO is implementing for the AIA go into effect 16 September.
The European Parliament today passed a “directive on certain permitted uses of orphan works” with 531 in favour versus 65 opposed (11 abstentions). The directive will be a good first step toward allowing the digitisation and making available to the public of older copyrighted works that are buried in the archives and libraries of the Union because no rights holder can be located, the lead rapporteur Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg (S&D) and many supportive MEPs said.
A quiet and little-publicised ratification process might be the last hope for those pushing for international adoption of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). But while the Japanese legislature managed to finalise their ratification recently, processes in several ACTA signatory states seem to be stalled. Some may ask whether ACTA will ever become an international treaty.
United States Ambassador Betty King told a gathering of journalists at the US mission yesterday of the important work being done at the international institutions under her responsibility in Geneva, including the World Intellectual Property Organization and World Health Organization.
A new report commissioned by international pharmaceutical industry released yesterday offers findings and recommendations based on study of 200 global health partnerships aimed at low- and middle-income countries. The report was released at a panel discussion of a range of health experts who highlighted work to date and upcoming needs in the area of global health partnerships.