Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The 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 February edition is now available for subscribers.
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).
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.
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.
By William New
Alicia Greenidge represents a change for the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, but as she grows into her role as the head of the industry's international trade association, it is unclear whether there will be substantive changes on policy relating to intellectual property and public health. Key policy areas include counterfeit medicines and funding for research and development into diseases afflicting poor populations in ways that echo past industry approaches, but Greenidge brings a new focus on networking and negotiation.
The Intellectual Property Watch Monthly Reporter features the most important news on international IP policymaking, the latest on who is coming and going in the IP community at the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Geneva missions, regional and national IP…
By Kaitlin Mara
A draft document on climate change and intellectual property, prepared for informal consultations by the World Intellectual Property Organization and obtained by Intellectual Property Watch, shows WIPO poised to take a role in technical matters of IP and the global climate crisis.
The World Intellectual Property Organization secretariat has circulated a draft programme for a funders' meeting for IP and development in 2009 that includes proposed panels on IP projects in developing countries; science and innovation for development; WIPO-World Trade Organization cooperation; digital content in developing countries; work with indigenous communities; and reading access for the blind and visually impaired. The secretariat is expected to begin consultations on the proposed programme this week. Also released at the recent WIPO General Assembly was the statement by the WIPO Audit Committee chair, and the report by the Swiss Federal Audit Office of WIPO's 2006-2007 budget.
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
Before a packed audience, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Friday tackled the highly controversial dispute between the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and much of the patent bar over rules capping the number of continuation requests and claims patent seekers can submit without incurring additional expenses and paperwork.
By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch
A pilot patent peer review system in the United States could serve as a model for patent offices around the globe.
New York Law School, in cooperation with the US Patent and Trademark Office, is in its second year of Peer To Patent, an innovative initiative that opens the patent examination process to public participation. The online system allows the public to supply prior art to assess the claims of pending patent applications. The goal is to provide patent examiners with as much information as possible, and ultimately increase the quality of approved patents.