Would US Senate Patent Reform Bill Harmonise US Law With The World?
The bill to reform United States patent law recently passed by the Senate purports to bring US law closer to laws of other major patent-filing nations. But how close would it come?
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
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White House Issues Proposals For IP Legislation
The Obama administration today issued a series of recommended legislative changes to further beef up domestic intellectual property rights protection, including boosting criminal punishment of pharmaceutical counterfeiters and those engaged in "economic espionage," increasing wiretapping, making infringing online streaming a felony, and giving more powers to customs officials.
WHO Opens Expert R&D Financing Group To Public Scrutiny
The 5-7 April meeting of the Consultative Expert Working Group on research and development: financing and coordination (CEWG) will partly be open to the public to enhance transparency, the World Health Organization said today. The expert group is part of…
UN Agencies Encourage Use Of WTO Measures To Lower HIV Medicines Costs
Three United Nations agencies have joined together to explain to their member countries the little-understood but hard-won flexibilities to applying stiff international intellectual property rules. The focus of the new policy brief is on improving access to HIV treatment, and it offers a series of actions for governments and international organisations.
Copyright System Must “Adapt Or Perish,” WIPO Director Says
The traditional copyright system’s balance for encouraging yet controlling access to copyrighted works in order to extract value for them has met with a destructive force in the internet that it cannot overcome without changing itself, the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization said recently in a landmark speech. And he proposed several elements for the way forward.
New Leadership At Brazil’s Copyright Office Raises Questions
The head of the Brazilian intellectual property office was recently removed by the new Culture minister, replaced by an official who has some wondering if a swing toward stronger copyright protection is in the works for the government.
Draft Review Finds No WHO Malfeasance On Pandemics
The draft report of the committee reviewing the World Health Organization's actions in response to the 2009 spread of H1N1, or swine flu, has been issued. Looks like the WHO may be cleared.
International Seed Treaty Hears Concerns Of Corporate Concentration, DNA Patenting
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is holding the fourth regular session of its Governing Body this week in Bali, Indonesia.
IP Enforcement Permeates ICANN, US Internet Policy
The push for ever more far-reaching intellectual property enforcement in the domain name system was heavily criticised at a conference of the Non-Commercial Users' Constituency (NCUC) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Friday. The NCUC conference on "Internet Governance and the Global Public Interest" took place one day before the first constituency meetings of the 40th ICANN meeting in San Francisco (13-18 March).
EU Takes Actions On Patent Law; ACTA May See Legal Fight
In a flurry of patent-related developments in Europe this week, plans for a single European patent moved a step closer, efforts to create a European-wide patent court faltered, the United Kingdom sought guidance in a case with implications for medicinal research, and the EU high court may be asked to review the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
Caribbean IP: Establishing An Arbitral Tribunal For The Region
The use of arbitration across the Caribbean has been largely within the context of trade union disputes and is still something of a novelty in resolving commercial and private disputes in the region, Abiola Inniss writes.
World Blind Union Won’t Be Sidetracked In Quest For Treaty On Reading Access
In a significant development for ongoing copyright negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Blind Union has distanced itself from initiatives it sees as distractions from a primary goal at the international level: To get agreement on a treaty promoting better access to reading material for visually impaired readers.