Category English

US Patent Reform Bills And Jobs: Critical Timing, Critical Differences

The United States patent reform bills offered up Tuesday fall well short of what is needed to protect innovation and intellectual property rights, say myriad small tech companies, large-cap manufacturers, pharmaceutical firms and inventors. In fact, they say, it even threatens jobs at a time when the economy is in desperate need of them.

But proponents argue that it is precisely the type of measure needed to promote jobs, reduce lawsuits and poor patent quality that put a drag on innovation and the economy.

In Biotech Industry, Cash Flow Fears And Patent Questions

Patent reform, universal health care, and intellectual property rights protection of new health and environmental technologies are critical not only for the biotechnology industry but for improvements in public health, the president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) said Thursday.

Innovation Policy: The Balance Between Standards and Patent Regulation

greveBy Georg Greve

Interconnectivity, commoditisation and increased reuse and recombination are key trends within the maturing information and communication technologies (ICT) industry that drive innovation and development. Harnessing the innovative and economic potential of the ICT sector depends on a variety of factors, including open innovation models, such as free software.

Path Forward For UN-Led Internet Governance Forum Discussed

That there will be a future for the international Internet Governance Forum seems likely, though the form its future incarnation will take is not. Delegates to an open consultation on internet governance this week began to sort out some base modalities on how to evaluate the progress of the United Nations-led discussion venue, as a deadline approaches to decide whether and how the group will continue.

Enforcement, Creative R&D Financing Priority Issues For Public Health in 2009

The number and intensity of debates over the role of intellectual property rights in public health is set to increase in 2009.

New leadership and new mandates for key intergovernmental organisations implemented last year have created opportunity for change. And while old debates over the balance between IP rights and access to health products are not going away, this year will see more exploration at the intergovernmental level of different systems to stimulate innovation.

IP Policy Issues May See Progress In A Changed US Landscape This Year

As the United States battles an economic meltdown, items like economic stimulus and home foreclosure relief are taking centre stage. Congress also is still working to confirm President Obama's nominees. But once those items are dealt with, issues such as patent reform and intellectual property enforcement are expected to be hot-button items once again.

International Health Groups Warn WHO, WTO On Medicines Seizures

Leading international public health advocates have sent letters to the heads of the World Health Organization and World Trade Organization calling on them to act to prevent possible circumvention of international trade rules for intellectual property rights relating to shipments of legal generic drugs bound for developing countries.