Original news and analysis on international IP policy
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…
Newly confirmed United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke was asked some questions about patents during his nomination process in the Senate. The Commerce secretary oversees the US Patent and Trademark Office. Here are his responses [pdf], according to a Washington…
The academic Internet Governance Project reports that the World Intellectual Property Organization – a key arbitration body for global internet domain disputes – appears to have registered a domain name using a name trademarked by someone else three years earlier.…
Gary Locke was confirmed as the United States Commerce Secretary by a unanimous vote in the Senate Tuesday evening. Locke, a former Washington state governor and the first Chinese-American to hold the post, will inherit position shaped by the global…
United Kingdom pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday reported on its corporate responsibility activities in 2008 and 2009, including a commitment to cutting prices on patented medicines for poor countries. GSK’s recent public announcement on access to medicines has generated some…
United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown was not able to watch the classic American movies presented to him by President Barack Obama thanks to digital rights management technologies, reported the UK press. The technology used in this particular case restricts…
The United States Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the nomination of United States Trade Representative (USTR) designee Ron Kirk as the nation’s 16th trade representative, according to a USTR office release. As USTR, Kirk is member of President Obama’s Cabinet…
Outcry from concerned internet users over Australia’s attempts to censor ‘objectionable’ parts of the web has grown this week as internet-based depository for leaked documents Wikileaks reported that one of its pages is now banned in Australia. The page in…
The International Narcotics Control Board, which implements United Nations drug control conventions, has released a set of guidelines they say will help governments prevent the sale of controlled substances online. “Internet pharmacies can be accessed by anyone, anywhere who happens…