Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition has launched a Declaration on Patent Protection with the aim to “clarify some of the regulatory options states still retain under international law, in particular the TRIPS Agreement,” which turns 20 years old this year.
The African Regional Intellectual Property Office last week obtained a positive decision at the international level on its draft law to protect new varieties of plants. Amid protest from civil society, the regional office now has to adopt the draft law and has said it would convene a diplomatic conference (high-level negotiation) in 2014 in order to do so.
The 9th Circuit’s recent decision in Garcia v. Google has sparked outrage among many internet businesses, media organisations, civil rights groups, and copyright experts. They assert the ruling significantly alters US law in a manner that will greatly restrict free speech. But a minority of experts say there is nothing to fear.
The Geneva Health Forum (GHF), taking place on 15-17 April in Geneva, will discuss the theme “Global Health: Interconnected Challenges, Integrated Solutions.” This year’s forum aims to encourage an “integrative approach” to global health, “which better captures the underlying causes of ill-health and recognises the commonalities that underlie people’s health around the world,” says GHF.
KAMPALA - As the East African Community nears full revival, a bloc market covering five countries with a population of about 145 million people has emerged. But the member countries face another challenge: they have different levels of intellectual property rights protection.
ames Anaya, United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, today called on the owners of the Washington Redskins Football team to recognise that the name ‘Redskins’ constitutes a “hurtful reminder” of the “long history of mistreatment of Native American people in the United States.”
The perhaps underestimated list of goods or services that applicants file with their trademark applications play an essential role in defining the protection the trademark will have.
Registrars use this list to determine if an application should be refused and if it limits a trademark’s exclusive rights. The goods or services listed in an application can also motivate oppositions from competitors with prior rights or cause the future cancellation of the trademark.
A recent trademark case in the European Union calls into attention the need for authorities to establish clear, predictable rules to identify goods and services in trademark systems. Further, the case highlights why it is important for applicants to carefully consider which goods or services they wish to protect and clearly identify them in an application.
With yesterday’s launch of the new Geneva Internet Platform, global internet governance stakeholders have a new venue for neutral engagement.
Guidelines for the treatment of hepatitis C released by the World Health Organization today recommend revolutionary new drugs for the virus. However, the exorbitant price of these drugs means they will remain out of reach for most of the millions infected. The WHO guidelines themselves offer limited recommendation for reducing prices, but may help in creating the conditions for price reduction by accruing demand and giving countries official backing in price negotiations.
The explosive growth of technology in recent years has given governments, intelligence agencies and big businesses, like Google and Facebook, monitoring tools to create a new empire of Big Brother. People have never been more scrutinised at any other time in human history than they are today. This naturally begs the question: does the right to privacy still exist?
The recently published book “Chinese Intellectual Property and Technology Laws” provides the “first” overview of Chinese IP and technology law, supported by extensive legal, historical and socioeconomic background to developments in these areas.
Several committees of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) will meet this week. One of them is called to assess a draft legal framework on plant variety protection from the African Regional Intellectual Property Office (ARIPO). The draft legislation has drawn ire from civil society who charge that it is detrimental to small farmers and who argue that ARIPO does not have legitimacy to become a UPOV member.