Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Electronic Frontier Foundation yesterday submitted a petition to the United States Federal Communications Commission demanding the FCC fill a loophole in its internet regulations that could allow for internet filtering of allegedly copyright infringing content. The petition accompanies a…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch The German Constitutional Court today declared German data retention legislation a violation of the fundamental right to privacy of correspondence and telecommunication (Article 10 of the German constitution). The law that is a…
A new document on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) under negotiation has been circulated online. While it is unclear who it was leaked to, a copy of it is available here [pdf]. Apparently a working document from the General Secretariat…
The Administrative Council of the Munich-based European Patent Organisation on 1 March elected Benoît Battistelli of France as next president of the European Patent Office (EPO), starting on 1 July. Battistelli is director general of the French National Institute of…
Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, formerly an economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Directorate for Science, Technology, and Industry, has joined the World Intellectual Property Organization as a senior economic officer under its chief economist Carsten Fink. Wunsch-Vincent has…
The European Patent Office will hold another extraordinary meeting on Monday to try and elect a replacement for outgoing president Alison Brimelow. The 1 March election will be the fourth attempt for one of the candidates to get the required…
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vermont) today announced at an “executive business meeting” that a “tentative agreement” had been reached on patent reform legislation. The original intent of the reform, Leahy said, was to “improve patent quality” and…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch In a written declaration presented 24 February, members of the Liberal Party Group (ALDE), the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and the European People’s Party (EPP) requested the European Commission immediately…
A new leaked document from the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations confirms earlier statements by officials that the agreement does not include mandatory internet cut-off for accused copyright infringers. Yet versions of the so-called “three strikes and you’re out” model…
Whether a settlement offered to authors whose works are being scanned into a Google database will be accepted or not must wait for the presiding judge, Denny Chin, to sort through volumes of material whose presentation began Thursday, according to…
A new United States Department of Justice task force casts enforcement against IP violations as a matter of public protection, and will be dedicated to opposing these IP “crimes.” “The rise in intellectual property crime in the United States and…
India this week placed a moratorium on the release of Bt-brinjal, a genetically modified eggplant, until independent scientific studies can establish the long-term impact on human health, environment, and biodiversity. According to the 9 February decision [pdf] by Indian Environment…