Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization this week set in motion negotiations that could lead to international treaties or other instruments on exceptions and limitations to copyright, the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore, and harmonisation of industrial design laws. Negotiations won’t be without difficulty, however.
The adoption of 1997 landmark environmental agreement the Kyoto Protocol caused a surge in environmental innovation, but the countries which are innovating and the licensees of this technology are limited, finds a newly released study making use of patent data to track where technological responses to climate change are coming from as well as the licensing practices of the technology owners.
"Never did I see a shred of evidence that financial profits for industry, as opposed to epidemiological and virological data, influenced WHO decisions" on a recent influenza pandemic, World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan said today in opening remarks to the International Health Regulations Review Committee.
Can the digital environment be used in a way that promotes real human rights? A group of activists speaking yesterday alongside the ongoing UN Human Rights Council believes that it can, and provided several examples of work they are doing to make that happen.
Countries negotiating a semi-secret trade agreement against piracy and counterfeiting this week in Tokyo are still aiming to reach agreement by the end of this year, a negotiator told Intellectual Property Watch today. The negotiator also did not reject outright the notion that patents might still be included in the draft treaty text, instead saying it is still a matter for discussion.
More than a dozen ambassadors to the World Trade Organization met today at the New Zealand mission in Geneva to discuss the state of negotiations related to intellectual property rights and trade.
A new rival to the World Intellectual Property Organization is being created away from the tempering effect of public scrutiny, which could result in limits on the free movement of knowledge or products subject to IP rights, a civil society representative said yesterday.
Patent offices around the world must work together to combat the inefficiencies in patent processing that threaten to stifle innovation and as a result slow needed growth of the global economy, David Kappos, director of the US Patent and Trademark Office said today.
Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter and UN Messenger of Peace Stevie Wonder today called on the governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization to create a system for copyright law to assist those with disabilities in getting access to education and reading materials. It is time to "declare a state of emergency and end the information deprivation that continues to keep the visually impaired in the dark," he told assembled delegates.
The second global symposium of intellectual property authorities met last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva to discuss global IP infrastructure and collaboration between IP offices, particularly in ways that might bring greater benefit to small offices.