Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Development is to be a lead priority in the World Intellectual Property Organization, with the 2007 Development Agenda under implementation. But what a development-friendly intellectual property programme will look like in practice is not yet entirely clear. On 13-14 October at WIPO, stakeholders are gathered to discuss examples of development and IP and projects implementing the agenda.
One of the features of the multi-faceted United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization is its arbitration and mediation of disputes over internet domain names. At a conference at WIPO today, supporters and lawyers who use the system said it is working but suggested some further improvements and a fear of more new domains being introduced.
BANGKOK – Humanity may be facing the single greatest threat to its future in history, yet significant political disagreements still stand in the way of common action needed to combat what will be a common crisis. One potential blocking point appears to be whether compulsory licensing may be encouraged for poor countries needing climate technologies.
BANGKOK – Delegates gathered in Thailand to try and pull together a slow-moving UN negotiation on a plan to fight climate change have yet to bridge fundamental conceptual differences on key issues, including intellectual property. The vast majority of consensus found so far at the two-week informal gathering has been textual rather than political, said several participants.
The 2009 edition of the United Nations telecommunications agency annual summit opened its doors yesterday, bringing together government, industry leaders, and other stakeholders in a networking effort to address global challenges in the information society. Meanwhile, the head of the UN intellectual property agency took a shot at internet service providers and the need for stronger copyright protection.
The new work plan for negotiations for the coming months at the World Trade Organization includes intellectual property issues that some members say are critical to any outcome in the current round of trade negotiations.
BANGKOK – Protection of intellectual property should not be a barrier in transferring technology needed by developing countries in helping them cope with the effects of climate change as most of the technology is currently publicly available, a key negotiator of the issue has said.
Anti-counterfeiting initiatives might have a negative impact on access to medicines while not addressing the problem of fake medicines, particularly in developing countries, according to panellists at a recent event organised by the Open Society Institute.
After a year of stalled deliberations on the issue of protecting traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and traditional cultural expressions, delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies on Thursday found a compromise text that gives the committee its strongest mandate yet.
Just days after the French Parliament adopted a bill aiming to protect literary and artistic intellectual property rights online on 25 September; the law is being challenged on constitutionality grounds.