Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New Development and Internet governance issues may have gotten a boost at the United Nations International Telecommunication Union today as members elected Hamadoun Touré of Mali to be the next Secretary-General. Touré has been director of the ITU…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen BRUSSELS – When the European Commission’s plan to include neglected diseases in its next research programme was debated at a conference here, intellectual property rights played a rather small role. This is a good sign,…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Margaret Chan of Hong Kong (China) has been elected the next director general of the World Health Organization by a large majority of member governments, according to sources. “It is not a surprise that Chan…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen and William New The report from a September meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) developed country group reveals its behind-the-scenes strategy for handling a proposed development agenda at WIPO. The WIPO General Assembly…
By William New and Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The wealthy members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have created a draft patent harmonisation treaty to be negotiated outside WIPO in the hope of removing basic differences in national and…
At the recent UN Internet Governance Forum in Athens, a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) representative said there is a “new emphasis on limitations and exceptions to copyright and user rights in areas such as freedom of expression and access…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a short list of five candidates for the post of director general, sources said. The list includes: China, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico and Spain. A number of sources have…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen With the United Nations negotiations on harmonising international patent law in deadlock, a group of developed countries has agreed on a basis for its internal discussion, according to a draft meeting report. The group’s plan…
By William New ATHENS – The World Summit on the Information Society told the world to build “dynamic” coalitions to address problems related to the Internet, and this week, the world responded. At the four-day Internet Governance Forum here ending…
The candidates for next week's election to succeed UN International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi are not following his platform of drawing international pressure to change the US-centric Internet domain name system.
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen At a recent World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting, Switzerland questioned an earlier proposal by Norway to link WTO intellectual property rules with the protection of biodiversity. But Peru, as one of the demanders of such…
By William New ATHENS – Whether intellectual property rights protection is inhibiting the free flow of information was hotly debated at the Internet Governance Forum on 31 October. “Just about every aspect of the free flow of information is now…