Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Medicines Patent Pool, which aims to increase access to affordable, high-quality medicines for HIV/AIDS patients in low and middle income countries, has issued a response to concerns about its recent deal with a large pharmaceutical company.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is undertaking to explain the apparent contradiction in the strong enforcement of intellectual property rights and efforts to ensure freedom of expression on the internet. And she said the State Department will keep saying it in the future.
The UN World Health Organization Executive Board today approved a set of proposals for reform put forward by WHO Director General Margaret Chan and member states, authorising her to take immediate action. The WHO is undergoing a major reform process fueled by a funding shortage and changes in the global public health structure.
Trade associations from various copyright-intensive industries have released a report showing they account for nearly $1 trillion in value to the United States economy, and provide some 5 million jobs.
The United States Copyright Office has released a preliminary analysis and discussion document on the intersection of copyright law and the mass digitization of books.
Trade associations representing US technology industry interests this week attacked a new House of Representatives bill aimed at fighting so-called "rogue" websites, calling it "an alarming step backwards in internet policy" that would create "a thicket of internet regulations containing 16 new legal definitions for evolving internet technology."
The top members of the United States Congress for international trade policy have put intellectual property rights and information technology market access at the top of demands for Russia's impending accession to the World Trade Organization.
A company has filed a patent infringement complaint in the Eastern District of Texas that names 30 defendants, including some of the largest US technology companies, a case that reflects a change in US law as passed last month.
An unusual sight met passers-by at the World Intellectual Property Organization around lunchtime today. The street was crowded with several fire trucks and yellow security tape kept people away from the entrance to the main building. A number of WIPO staff were outside waiting to know if they could go back to their work stations after a fire started in the WIPO basement around 11:30, according to a security source. According to another source on the site, the fire was rapidly under control but smoke had spread and the electricity was down.
The webpage of the new Re:Search IP licensing database project at the World Intellectual Property Organization partnered with the BIO Ventures for Global Health foundation is now live, and shows a range of corporate, foundation and academic cosponsors lined up for tomorrow's launch.
It is often said the internet was created in the United States, though techies around at the time are quick to point out the international efforts that were involved. Since its creation, US management of the internet domain name system has been internationalised through the creation and gradual independence of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). But the US has always kept its hand on one critical aspect of the internet - and is now putting it up for bid.
The World Trade Organization today concluded a four-day training session to help officials from developing countries better understand the flexibilities to intellectual property rights built into international trade rules on IP.