Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New ATHENS – Participants in this week’s Internet Governance Forum here saw strong support for ensuring public access to knowledge as tough questions were put to technology corporations for their apparent support of restrictive government practices. But representatives…
By William New ATHENS – As hundreds of Internet practitioners and visionaries gathered here for a forum on governance of the Internet, two long-time stakeholders have issued an updated proposal aimed at defusing the biggest policy tensions by moving governance…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen There may be a market advantage for small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises (SMEs) in focusing on diseases prevalent in developing countries that are neglected by larger companies, according to a recent seminar. The seminar was…
By William New ATHENS – The four-day Internet Governance Forum opened on 30 October by addressing many topics, among them the availability of content online. Content on the Internet will be addressed in a variety of ways this week, including…
[Editor’s Note: This story was modified shortly after publication to reflect the WHO reply on meeting participation.] By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the dates for online consultations on the working group on public…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A meeting of the World Trade Organization committee responsible for intellectual property rights this week erupted in disagreement over how to address enforcement of those rights in the committee. The debate in the 25-26 October…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Participants at a recent United Nations seminar on developing country production of essential medicines agreed that such a scenario should be possible but they disagreed on the means to get there. While there was disagreement…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The European Union has received support from Japan, Switzerland and the United States in its push to raise enforcement of intellectual property rights higher on the agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO). On the…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen As part of its greater focus on accountability and transparency, the global pharmaceutical industry will launch a new code of marketing ethics next year, it announced at its recent biennial meeting in Geneva. Meanwhile, its…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Following the rejection of a patent application for one of its medicines, Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has taken the “unprecedented action” of challenging India’s patent law in a high court, arguing that it is unconstitutional…
The Intellectual Property Watch Monthly Reporter features unique summaries of events, the latest on who is coming and going at the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Geneva missions, IP offices, industry and non-governmental organisations, plus briefs on reports and events…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The European Parliament yesterday agreed by a large majority to the European Commission’s plan of going forward with talks on patent reform in Europe, but with a number of amendments to the current plan aimed…