Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New The World Trade Organization committee on intellectual property rights issues this week is expected to discuss biodiversity and traditional knowledge, enforcement, geographical indications, and public health, according to participants. While no significant breakthroughs are predicted, the issues…
By William New There is more to the story of enforcing intellectual property rights than one typically reads in the media, and developing country governments should defend themselves against unfair enforcement practices, officials and activists said recently. Speakers gave their…
By Bruce Gain for Intellectual Property Watch
The European Commission's recent approval of a €120-million state aid package granted to a German research project called Theseus for the development of "Web 3.0" drew a lot of media attention. However, the grant's sum is but a fraction of the R&D budgets of the world's leading consumer Internet technology firms.
According to the project's spokesman, Thomas Huber, the project's aim is nothing less than "fundamentally transforming the existing Internet." A reinvention of the Internet and the intellectual property rights associated with such a feat would require billion-dollar annual research and development budgets, according to Rob Enderle, president and founder of the California-based Enderle Group analyst firm.
By William New United States Ambassador to the United Nations Warren Tichenor on Thursday reiterated a call for answers to allegations surrounding the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization, who the US and others are pushing to resign out…
By Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch NAIROBI – One of Kenya’s most prestigious research institutions, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), has begun an extensive intellectual property audit to try and identify any discoveries that should be protected. The audit…
By William New Hundreds of employees at the World Intellectual Property Organization, a prominent United Nations agency, have signed a petition calling on WIPO Director General Kamil Idris to put the organisation’s interests before his own in addressing allegations that…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch
Obtaining a Europe-wide patent should become easier next year when an accord reducing the translation requirements for protecting an innovation comes into effect.
Under the London Agreement, countries that recognise English, French or German as one of their official languages will no longer stipulate that a full description of a patent be translated into their most commonly-used language. English, French and German are also the three official languages of the European Patent Office in Munich. The change was aimed at reducing the administrative and financial burden on patent filers but has raised concerns.
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch Canada has become the first country to notify the World Trade Organisation that it has allowed a drugs firm to use an international scheme for manufacturing generic versions of patented medicines introduced four…
OTTAWA – The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Paris-based club of 30 of the world’s largest economies, is moving fast to keep up with the newest trend on the Internet: user-generated content. Referred to generally as ‘Web 2.0’,…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch The United States has decided to step up its challenge to China’s restrictions on copyright-protected books, music and films by asking the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel. During June…
By Alicia Martin-Santos and Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
European Union countries are imposing copyright levies on a whole new range of digital media, including digital music players, USB flash sticks, hard drives and, potentially, mobile phones and wireless connections, as efforts to harmonise Europe's heterogeneous copyright landscape continue to languish.
Copyright levies are imposed on blank material (such as blank CDs, DVDs or paper) or digital recording media (used to store digital content) in order to compensate authors for end-users' private copying. They first appeared in the 1960s and were charged on paper, photocopying equipment and tapes. New recording media, such as mp3 players (like iPods) or even mobile phones are being examined for potential levying.
By Paul Garwood Next month’s round of negotiations on a United Nations plan to boost access to medicines for the world’s poor are set for a rough ride, with countries and regions split on contentious issues such as intellectual property…