Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The United States Department of Justice today announced it has reached a settlement with Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC, which does business as Macmillan, for allegedly conspiring with Apple Inc. to raise e-book prices.
At the end of a weeklong drafting exercise, World Intellectual Property Organization delegates have produced a text on the protection of genetic resources that appears to be headed to the organisation's annual General Assembly next September. And some members hope that a high-level meeting will be convened in the course of 2014 to agree on an international instrument or instruments protecting genetic resources against misappropriation.
Copyright for Librarians (CFL), an online open curriculum on copyright law, has launched a new textbook aimed at providing librarians in developing and transition countries with general information concerning copyright law in addition to the aspects of the law that most affect libraries.
The second revision of a text on the protection of genetic resources was provided to the World Intellectual Property Organization country delegates this morning. The document, which has been streamlined by facilitators, contains a number of bracketed text, showing divergences which will require further work, including resolving how to track origin of genetic material in patent applications.
Global food security lies in the capacity to access and contribute to a wide pool of genetic material, the chair of the United Nations treaty on plant genetic material said on the margin of this week’s World Intellectual Property Organization meeting on the protection of genetic resources. But the origin of this genetic material is often impossible to determine, particularly for crops, the treaty secretary said.
A few years ago, internet giant Google had the idea to digitise tens of millions of the world’s books and ran into legal trouble with the publishers and authors of some of them. The cases have moved through many stages, but the ultimate fate of the massive amounts of knowledge it could have made available to the public is still to come, says a Washington, DC lawyer who has followed the case closely for years.
From changes in policymaking leadership and staffing shake-ups to a flurry of hiring in law firms and new strategic alliances, the past few months have been an interesting time for IP people watching. With over 40 news items and over 80 names, here’s a substantial update on who’s who across governments, nonprofit organisations, and the private sector.
The first revision of what could become an international instrument on the protection of genetic resources was issued this morning and submitted for comments from World Intellectual Property Organization delegates.
The heads of state of the African Union (AU), the regional body working on African integration, have decided to proceed with the establishment of a Pan-African Intellectual Property Office (PAIPO), despite misgivings about the potential impact on their local economies.
The launch of a study co-edited by the World Trade Organization, World Health Organization, and World Intellectual Property Organization on the intersection between public health, intellectual property and trade drew a full attendance from a wide array of stakeholders on 5 February.
The European Commission has launched an initiative called “Licences for Europe” aimed at promoting copyright licences, as a next step in maintaining traditional copyright in light of new digital technologies.
Delegates attending the World Intellectual Property Organization's committee on genetic resources this week restated their long-held positions on the issue at the start of the meeting yesterday before letting a secluded expert group try to bridge gaps.