Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The US Performance Rights Act got support from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California) and Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D, Illinois) last week. The Performance Rights Act seeks to equalise the rights to compensation between performers of sound…
Fifteen new Assistant US Attorneys and 20 new Special Agents at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation dedicated to combatting “domestic and international IP crimes” were announced yesterday. The new attorneys are a part of the US Justice Departments Computer…
On 20 April, Brazil and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing a fund that “will transfer resources to benefit the cotton sector in Brazil,” according to a Brazilian government press release. The MOU is “part of…
United States Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (Democrat, Montana) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa) this week requested a US government investigation of the effect of China’s IP rights infringement on American jobs. They allege China’s infringement is…
The Obama administration supports changes to the United States patent reform bill, said US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke in a letter sent late yesterday to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The amendments in question would allow the US…
Patent reform in America will spur high-paying job creation and economic growth, claims a new paper by senior economic officials at the US Department of Commerce and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Issued as the US Congress weighs patent…
A prepared-for-the-public version of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement under negotiation by leading economies has now been released online. The release comes after increased public and civil society outcry over a non-transparent negotiating process and fears that the treaty would lead…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch
ACTA will be public. During the eighth round of negotiations for an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Wellington, New Zealand that ended Friday, the negotiating countries decided to give in to persistent calls for greater transparency.
Neelie Kroes, European Commission vice president and commissioner for the Digital Agenda spoke today about the future of the internet. In Valencia, Spain for a conference, she emphasised the importance of public-private partnerships, characterised innovation as “the only way to…
The US Government Accountability Office, an agency that works as a “congressional watchdog” investigating how taxpayer money is spent, has released a new report on intellectual property. The report [pdf] reviews the economic effects of counterfeiting and piracy. It finds…