Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity is this week undertaking what it said could be the most important negotiation in its history. The CBD is negotiating details of a fair and equitable access and benefit sharing (ABS) regime – in…
BARCELONA - Weeklong climate negotiations came to an end today, and despite the assurance from most delegations that everything is still possible in the Copenhagen climate change conference in December, many issues remain in doubt. Among them are finance, emissions reduction, technology transfer, and the nature of the agreement to be built in Copenhagen.
World Trade Organization members reached agreement today to recommend extension of a moratorium on customs duties on electronic commerce, and a moratorium on challenging other WTO members under intellectual property rules for actions not in violation of the WTO, according to a WTO official.
Developing countries this week increased their proactive involvement in the enforcement agenda at the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to participants at the 2-4 November Advisory Committee on Enforcement meeting.
BARCELONA – At this week’s global climate talks, efforts are being made to trim references to intellectual property rights in relation to technology transfer from the body of a non-paper and relegate much of it to an appendix. But developing countries have asked that those measures be brought back into the main text. An updated non-paper should be issued on Friday.
This week’s ratification of the European Union Lisbon Treaty by the Czech Republic put in place the treaty and and with it a new Parliament member from the Swedish Pirate Party. The second Pirate Party seat will be occupied by…
As governments negotiating the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) meet in Seoul this week, public interest concern has surfaced over leaked information on internet enforcement.
BARCELONA - After only a short break from the Bangkok climate talks, some 30 days before the Copenhagen climate change conference in December, delegates are back at the negotiating table for the last stretch of intense discussions. Among the issues discussed by delegates from 181 countries, technology appears preponderant, including the way to encourage environmentally sound technology (EST) innovation, and to transfer that technology to developing countries. Meanwhile, civil society is warning of possible new technology-related risks, and the issue of emission reductions is also being hotly discussed.
A bipartisan group of 42 of the 100 United States senators sent a letter to US negotiators in global climate talks in Barcelona this week urging the protection of intellectual property rights over any technologies developed to address climate change.…
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) this week urged the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “to make the protection of creative content online a core and guiding principle" of its new National Broadband Plan. But its view suggests it would support stronger regulation over the internet, an approach it has strongly opposed in other areas.
A struggle over the power and reach of the World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda may be looming as members of the UN agency begin to take control of implementation with differing views. Key developing countries say members must not only focus on specific projects but also on the broader agenda for change at WIPO. Developed countries want simple coordination with other committees without the heavy hand of fundamental change.
US federal district court ruled yesterday that patents on human genes can be challenged in court. This unlocks a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT). The lawsuit was filed against the…