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March/April IP-Watch Monthly Reporter Now Available

Intellectual Property Watch Monthly EditionThe Intellectual Property Watch Monthly Edition features top news on international IP policymaking, the latest on who is coming and going in the international IP community, news briefs and more. The March/April edition is now available for subscribers.

US Patent Reform Bills And Jobs: Critical Timing, Critical Differences

The United States patent reform bills offered up Tuesday fall well short of what is needed to protect innovation and intellectual property rights, say myriad small tech companies, large-cap manufacturers, pharmaceutical firms and inventors. In fact, they say, it even threatens jobs at a time when the economy is in desperate need of them.

But proponents argue that it is precisely the type of measure needed to promote jobs, reduce lawsuits and poor patent quality that put a drag on innovation and the economy.

Enforcement, Creative R&D Financing Priority Issues For Public Health in 2009

The number and intensity of debates over the role of intellectual property rights in public health is set to increase in 2009.

New leadership and new mandates for key intergovernmental organisations implemented last year have created opportunity for change. And while old debates over the balance between IP rights and access to health products are not going away, this year will see more exploration at the intergovernmental level of different systems to stimulate innovation.

IP Policy Issues May See Progress In A Changed US Landscape This Year

As the United States battles an economic meltdown, items like economic stimulus and home foreclosure relief are taking centre stage. Congress also is still working to confirm President Obama's nominees. But once those items are dealt with, issues such as patent reform and intellectual property enforcement are expected to be hot-button items once again.

Internet Governance Policy In 2009: Transition To New Digital Oversight

This year could be a transitional one for global internet governance policy, as the internet’s technical oversight body may finally lose its ties to the United States, the next generation internet comes into its own, the UN Internet Governance Forum will be reviewed, and the world could see the rapid spread of new internet domains.

ISP Liability, Limitations And Exceptions Top Global Copyright Issues In 2009

The Year Ahead: Copyright has taken centre stage again this year as the battle over internet service provider (ISP) responsibility for digital piracy intensifies and spreads around the world. 2009 will also feature growing global pressure for a more harmonised system of copyright limitations and exceptions, and continuing controversy over the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

IP Owners Face Tough Legal Issues In United States In 2009

By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
2009 could be a bad year for IP owners in the United States.

For patent owners, it may be particularly tough. The US courts are likely to continue their recent trend of cutting back on patent rights, according to many experts. The question is: what rights may be cut back and by how much?

Copyright and trademark owners in the United States face a different set of troubles. They are struggling to protect their rights in the digital world, and it is far from certain how they will fare.

Potential Names For Obama IP Team Swirl; WTO IP Chief “Imminent”

By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch and William New
Changes in several key international agencies and governments will bring a cadre of new faces to positions that address intellectual property policy, and some potential names for those spots have been circulating in recent weeks.

The naming of the new chief of the World Trade Organization IP Division is "imminent," according to sources close to the process. And as US President Barack Obama began his first weeks in office in late January, many IP-related positions also remain unfilled.