Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Protection of traditional knowledge under intellectual property rights may have a time limit, though determining duration of protection measures will be more difficult than it is with Western scientific innovation, World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry said yesterday.
World Health Organization members this week offered views on the global system for virus- and benefit-sharing for pandemic influenza following recently proposed solutions by Director General Margaret Chan aimed at changing the current, ad-hoc model to a more predictable, sustainably-funded system.
A forum called the Intellectual Property Colloquium has posted an open-access podcast of a discussion about online business models with Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel, Scott Martin, executive vice president of Paramount Pictures, and Dan Cooper, vice president of business…
As the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food prepares to present his report today at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, a global appeal is being filed by farmers and environmental organisations against patents on plants and animals derived from conventional breeding.
The European Commission on 19 October published a communication on copyright in the knowledge economy that sets out the plan for changes in European copyright over the coming month and in 2010. Three issues the Directorate General Internal Market and…
Can a patent-holder ask for royalties from third-party purchasers? The United States Supreme Court said ‘no’ in the 2008 landmark case Quanta Computer Inc. v. LG Electronics Inc. (IPW, US Policy, 25 June 2008). But what does this decision mean…
Director General Pascal Lamy of the World Trade Organization reported today to member states on his most recent consultations on outstanding issues of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). He was speaking in his capacity as…
A pilot project intended to counter the challenge of counterfeit medicines entering the legitimate supply chain has been launched this week in Sweden by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. The project involves individually identifying packs of medicine…
Greater awareness of the existence of open access information resources for innovation and making the information easily accessible and relevant to developing country users could help spur innovation in these countries, according to top technical assistance providers and local innovators.
In a “turn back the clock” action, the German Liberal Party (FDP) – which is negotiating with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU) on the programme of the coalition government – is pushing a suspension of the blocking bill…
BANGKOK - Normal negotiation strategy is unlikely to result in an impact on climate change, since the most important stakeholders in fighting it - not yet born - have no seat at the negotiating tables, said a panel last week in Bangkok. An ethical approach is a better way to achieve results, speakers said, and an ethical take on intellectual property rights and alternative forms of innovation may have a place in new climate-friendly economic models.
Charles Macedo and Norajean McCaffrey write that in the upcoming Supreme Court case on the Bilksi “machine-or-transformation” test, the Federal Circuit departed from Supreme Court precedent, and they suggest how to put the law of patent-eligible subject matter back on track.