Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Kaitlin Mara The body at the World Trade Organization tasked with negotiating a multilateral register for geographically-named wines and spirits began what could be several days of meetings Thursday with a question and answer session meant to find common…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch HYDERABAD, INDIA – The Internet Governance Forum of the United Nations is halfway through its first term and starting to think about its future after 2010. Gathering in Hyderabad, India this week, it…
By Kaitlin Mara The World Trade Organization body mandated to discuss a registry for geographical indications met Monday, with the only resulting agreement being to meet again later this week for further, more technical, discussions. Several ambassadors were present at…
By Kaitlin Mara Delegates are buckling down on key negotiating issues in the final days they have to decide whether or not there can be a high-level meeting of government ministers in December, and intellectual property-related issues appear still to…
By Wagdy Sawahel for Intellectual Property Watch An intellectual property “roadmap” for the Arab world has been proposed for facilitating technology transfer as well as the adaptation of acquired technologies to local needs and contributing to the evolution of new…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Europe’s copyright rules are ill-suited to an age when millions of music files can be accessed at the click of a mouse, a Brussels conference has been told. About eight million…
By Kaitlin Mara Proponents of amending the World Trade Organization intellectual property agreement to increase protection for biodiversity and for geographically-specific products are insisting Director General Pascal Lamy himself lead the process for resolving the issues. Meetings on intellectual property…
By Kaitlin Mara Ministers of health, science and technology, and social development met this week with scientific researchers and representatives from foundations, the private sector and civil society to discuss the future of research for health on diseases disproportionately affecting…
By Kaitlin Mara The World Health Organization has released a long-awaited list of high-level experts tasked with finding innovative funding mechanisms for needed medical research on neglected diseases. The list largely contains governmental and intergovernmental representatives, and first reactions to…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - The American Intellectual Property Law Association faces profound political, legislative and administrative challenges in coming months, new Executive Director Q. Todd Dickinson said in a 13 November interview in The Hague. Key among them are major changes at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the new Obama administration, the fate of patent reform in the new US Congress, and the impact, if any, of the global economic downturn on patents, he said.