Original news and analysis on international IP policy
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay today said at the outset of a meeting with World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee that human rights must always be at the heart of discussions about the Web, as it affects so many aspects of society.
The European Commission today announced the launch of a public consultation on modernisation of European Union copyright rules.
The European Union Office of Harmonization for the Internal Market (OHIM) has released a study showing that most EU citizens are aware of and value intellectual property, but about a third of them find infringement acceptable in certain circumstances.
The World Intellectual Property Organization today launched WIPO Green, a database and network aimed at boosting licensing of environmental technologies.
The regions of the World Health Organization earlier this month submitted their proposals for projects to boost research and development of health technologies for diseases disproportionately affecting developing countries and lacking a market incentive. A shortlist of projects will be selected by a group of WHO-chosen experts at a 3-5 December meeting in Geneva.
US Patent Commissioner Margaret A. (Peggy) Focarino today took over the duties as head of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), after Acting Director Teresa Rea's resignation took effect on 21 November, the USPTO said in a release.
A day after the stunning release of a recent draft of the intellectual property chapter of the highly secret Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, United States Trade Representative Michael Froman promoted the potential benefits of the trade deal for companies doing business in Japan - including for IP rights protection.
CNET News reports: A federal judge has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit that an author group brought against Google, concluding that books are like Web pages when it comes to indexing them and displaying small excerpts in search results.
An event being held in Durban, South Africa next week will bring the expertise of global and local businesses, governments, academics and others to the issues of harnessing foreign intellectual property rights as well as creating local IP rights.
US Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner at a hearing today of the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Committee on mass surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence services asked the EU politicians "to work pragmatically with the United States to continue balanced efforts to protection our nations" and "rebuild trust while defending civil liberties and national security on both sides of the Atlantic."
The United States today lost its right to vote in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) General Conference for failing to pay its dues. The US withheld its dues after UNESCO members voted to grant Palestinian membership in 2011. The US has legislation against Palestinian membership as a state in organisations.
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) today issued a warning about the rise of Rockstar, a consortium of large companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Sony, formed to assert former Nortel patents. The consortium recently sued Google and other companies for infringement of several of those patents.