Original news and analysis on international IP policy
China is expected to implement changes that will allow foreign distributors to import audiovisual entertainment products in China without trade being narrowed by state-owned channels after it lost its dispute case against the United States at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The recommendations of the dispute settlement panel and the Appellate Body were adopted today by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.
The intellectual property system seems to be tight at the seams with a global overload of work for national IP offices and a backlog in patent requests. Further international cooperation and some adjustments are necessary to keep an efficient high quality IP system, according to speakers at a private-sector meeting in Geneva on 14-15 January.
The World Health Organization today declared it will launch a review of the global – including its own - response to the H1N1 swine influenza epidemic, as questions swirl around whether the UN agency trumped up the importance of H1N1. The WHO also faces charges this week that it has acted without transparency and inclusiveness in leading a process to find alternative financing for research and development into medicines for diseases occurring predominately in developing countries.
The full text of a report by an expert working group under the auspices of the World Health Organization tasked with finding innovative ways to finance research and development for neglected diseases is now available from the WHO website here.…
The future design of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the role of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in internet governance and the ability of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to resolve issues from new generic top-level domains to further internationalisation - these are the top policy issues in internet governance in 2010 and they are all linked to the question about how many governments and how much “multi-stakeholderism“ effective internet governance needs.
The cultures of indigenous peoples have frequently been ignored when global standards on intellectual property were being set, a new United Nations report has stated.
Finding financing to develop medicines for under-researched diseases, regulatory harmonisation, and pandemic influenza preparedness will top the agenda at next week’s World Health Organization Executive Board meeting.
Il s’agit d’une utilisation peu conventionnelle de la loi sur le droit d’auteur, mais si Omega SA gagne son procès devant la Cour suprême des États-Unis, le célèbre horloger suisse aura conçu une nouvelle arme puissante contre l’importation de produits du marché gris sur le sol américain.
2010 could be a big year for intellectual property law in the United States. Five cases now working their way through the courts may bring major changes to the country’s patent and copyright laws, affect hundreds billions of dollars in commerce, and enable a revolutionary new use for the internet.
Plus de 95 pour cent des œuvres publiées ne sont pas adaptées aux personnes déficientes visuelles, ont indiqué leurs représentants la semaine dernière, à l’Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OMPI). Ils soutiennent qu’un accord prévoyant des exceptions au droit d’auteur pourrait remédier à cette pénurie de livres, en levant les restrictions portées par le droit d’auteur à la traduction d’œuvres protégées dans des formats adaptés, et en partageant ces traductions au-delà des frontières nationales.
联合援助国际药品采购机制（UNITAID，以下简称「联合援助」）执行理事会在十二月通过一项专利药品库的实施计划，藉以刺激开发中国家对重要药品之研究，并增加取得管道。根据联合援助表示，这个专利药品库将在2010年中开始运作；该组织并已选定十九种产品可望纳入药品库，同时还继续跟药厂协商，期能达成协议，让仿制药厂得以生产比较廉价的版本。
Two separate trade associations this week announced leadership changes to kick off the New Year. The International Trademark Association (INTA) named its 2010 president on 1 January. Heather Steinmeyer, lead counsel for intellectual property at WellPoint Inc, a US Fortune…