Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee ended its meeting this week with status quo on all issues, after lively deliberations and new proposals but with all discussions left for further debate in 2012.
Two European-based organisations working in agriculture and development will launch a joint publication next week that will provide a guide for developing countries to consider geographical indications. The guide comes as the World Trade Organization and World Intellectual Property Organization hold meetings next week.
The Council of Europe today alerted its 47 member states “to the gravity of violations of Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights which might result from politically motivated pressure exerted on privately operated Internet platforms and online service providers, and of other attacks against websites of independent media, human rights defenders, dissidents, whistleblowers and new media actors.”
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) should at least pursue a slow start with new top-level domains (TLDs), members of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology asked at a hearing in Washington DC, today. ICANN is on track to opening the application phase for an unlimited number of new TLDs, to allow competition with the existing .com, .org, and .info for brand owners, but also communities around the world.
WASHINGTON, DC - Officials and workers at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are working day and night, as well as weekends, to meet forthcoming deadlines outlined in the America Invents Act (AIA). And some legal experts warn that they are now experiencing the calm before the storm as those deadlines approach.
The right of people to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress, the subject of an article in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, has received little attention and needs new attention in UN agencies, according to panellists yesterday at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Human rights need to enter the arena in fora where scientific progress and its application are being discussed, they said in a public consultation on the ideas.
Self-regulation and its potential pitfalls when it comes to circumvention of due process by pushing enforcement to intermediaries was the subject of a seminar held in Brussels today (7 December).
The World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee this week is discussing a range of issues with a UN-style sensitivity to all levels of development and patent ownership. Issues on the agenda range from patent quality, public health, exceptions and limitations, client-attorney confidentiality, and technology transfer.
WASHINGTON, DC - The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is charging full-steam ahead in implementing the American Invents Act (AIA), but some are warning that the trademark first-to-file provision and other elements may do more harm than good to the patent system.
A “clatch” is another word for “brood”, which is a not inappropriate word in the present circumstances – considering that Canada’s highest court will hear five (yes, five!) cases on December 6 and 7, 2011 that all emanate from Canada’s Copyright Board, writes Howard Knopf.
In what was termed a “marathon” session at the outset, World Intellectual Property Organization members took up a large number of copyright-related topics over the past two weeks with varying results. By the late-night end, an audiovisual treaty was on track, exceptions for libraries and a draft broadcasters’ treaty had new life, IP enforcement was going strong, but a draft treaty for print-disabled readers was unravelled.
Leading debates surrounding global efforts to stop counterfeiting and piracy of intellectual property rights-protected goods and services came into full view at the recent meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization enforcement committee. In that debate, a long list of civil society groups has raised concern about WIPO enforcement activities.