Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The groundbreaking Copyright Alert System set up a year ago by internet service providers and copyright holders to stop unauthorised music and film downloads, saw 1.3 million alerts sent out in it its first 10 months, according to a new report. And it expects to double in size this year.
The European Council today agreed on an approach for establishing a new legal framework for protecting trade secrets.
At the World Health Organization 135th Executive Board meeting this week, member states discussed improvements to cut down on lengthy World Health Assemblies, and adopted two reports for further discussion on surgical care and anaesthesia, and the health impact of air pollution.
A new document on efforts to find innovative financing for neglected diseases has been made available today at the World Health Assembly.
According to sources, members of the Independent Advisory Oversight Committee, an external member state body at the World Intellectual Property Organization, are meeting this week to discuss a possible investigation into allegations made involving the WIPO director general.
“Governments have few sources of leverage over increasingly globalised food systems - but public procurement is one of them,” the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to adequate food states in a new report. The right to food should be included in public food purchasing according to five principles in order to make food systems fairer and more sustainable, he said.
The World Intellectual Property Organization recently published a paper entitled, “Documenting Traditional Medical Knowledge.” Withthe growing use of traditional and alternative medicines in developed countries, their importance in developing countries' health systems and the multi-billion dollar potential of benefits for companies, “documenting and protecting these medicines is becoming a greater priority,” the document states.
A recent book, “The Moral Dimensions of Intellectual Property Rights,” by Seven Ang of the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, explores the philosophical implications of moral terms included in IP rights statutes.
A new analysis shows that while the United States government suggests intellectual property enforcement efforts at the border are largely aimed at protecting Americans from health and safety risks of counterfeit goods, the real story is different.
Today at the World Intellectual Property Organization, Ecuador signed the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, which is administered by WIPO.