Original news and analysis on international IP policy
China repeated its position to the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body Monday that it will “need a reasonable period of time” to implement the DSB ruling that called for changes to its enforcement of intellectual property rights. The United…
Music companies suing music downloader Joel Tenenbaum of Harvard University for copyright infringement won the right to block webcasts of the court proceedings, according to a copy of the opinion available here. The case has attracted national attention for its…
In an unexpected turn of events, the French HADOPI legislation on the diffusion and protection of works on the internet was rejected by the French National Assembly Thursday by a vote of 21 to 15. This was expected to be…
Specific topics being discussed under the secretive negotiating process of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement were revealed Monday when the office of US Trade Representative Ron Kirk released a summary of the key elements under discussion. The summary is available from…
Several recent Obama appointees selected to oversee different aspects of IP policy had immediately before their appointments represented copyright industries, says a letter signed by 19 US-based public interest groups sent to the president last week [pdf]. There is a…
Industry representatives sent a message to the Group of 20 leaders last week that intellectual property rights should be given more attention by governments and could bring benefit to the global economy if properly protected. A representative from the Confederation…
A blanket licence for non-commercial copies is the logical answer to the technology revolution brought on by the internet. This is the conclusion of a study by the Institute of European Media Law commissioned by the German Green Party and…
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has reported that Obama’s gift to the Queen of England, an iPod loaded with Broadway showtunes, may have come with some copyright questions. The issue is over where copyright law stands when music being gifted is…
The French National Assembly on 2 April gave initial approval without changes to a restrictive draft law on the diffusion and protection of works on the internet known by its French acronym HADOPI, (IPW, Access to Knowledge, 23 February 2009),…
Switzerland and the United States on Tuesday signed the first-ever bilateral agreement on scientific and technology cooperation in Washington, DC. The framework agreement covers basic and applied research, involves joint programmes and conferences as well as information sharing, and facilitates…
The China Patent & Trademark Office and the State Intellectual Property Office will be closed from 4 to 6 April for Tomb-sweeping Day, a celebration of ancestors, which falls this year on 4 April, according to an email from Hylands…
The Obama administration recently nominated Larry Strickling assistant secretary of Commerce for communications and information, a post which would make him head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The NTIA is responsible for the US government agreement overseeing…