Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Collective management organisations need to embrace online trading platforms, so as to increase earnings for economies and creators. That was the call made during a recent regional workshop on digital licensing and documentation in Harare, Zimbabwe for music collective management organisations (CMOs) by the member states of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).
The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on copyright agreed on its work for its spring session, which is expected to advance work towards a treaty protecting broadcasting organisations. Discussions on limitations and exceptions to copyright for libraries, archives, education, and research will remain on the agenda. Although some delegations remarked that the agenda is already heavy, they agreed to continue work on resale right for visual artists and copyright in the digital age.
Q. Todd Dickinson is a shareholder at Polsinelli law firm, and was director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) under President Clinton, a former lead IP counsel for two Fortune 50 corporations, and most recently executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). In an interview with Intellectual Property Watch on 18 November in the margins of the IP Dealmakers conference in New York, Dickinson discussed US prospects for national and international IP policy after the presidential election, changes in Geneva, reform of US IP law, and repairing relationships.
Part of the decision whether to file a patent in a particular country rests on how likely it is the patent can be effectively enforced, but until recently the information needed to answer that question was mostly anecdotal, Nikolaos Papageorgiadis, University of Liverpool Management School (UK) international business lecturer, said at a webinar. To remedy that, he and Cranfield School of Management Economic Policy, Sustainability and Performance Reader Konstantinos Alexiou created the Index Of Patent Systems Strength, which ranks the effectiveness and efficiency of the patent systems of 49 countries.
A recent multinational crackdown on illegal activity in the anonymous channels of the so-called Darknet resulting in multiple arrests around the world was intended to thwart rampant online intellectual property theft. But how much the dragnet will help to thwart cybercrime in the future remains in question.
Intellectual property in Russia will become a subject of antitrust regulation starting next year, according to recent statements of an official spokesman of the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS).
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Patent protection is a challenge to many an inventor in developing countries. Inventors in most African countries, for instance, are compelled to surmount huge obstacles to protect their inventions. In order to remedy the situation, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum has launched an Inventor Assistance Programme (IAP). Now, the local inventor community in Kenya has a few words for WIPO on how to expand the programme to make it more effective on the ground. Trust is one of them.
A new international alliance to support the United Nations Resolution on Antimicrobial Resistance was launched this week. The Conscience of Antimicrobial Resistance Accountability (CARA) aims to bring together organisations committing to reporting on mutually agreed upon indicators in countries around the world, and to hold the UN and other stakeholders accountable to their commitments.
Now in her final weeks in office [Update: she has continued in the role under President Trump], United States Patent and Trademark Office Director Michelle Lee today looked back over the Obama administration's work on patents and made predictions for the next administration due to take over in January. She hailed the outgoing administration's successes and said to expect a continued focus on a strong IP system, legislative changes on hot button issues but not right away, and continued engagement around the world.
World Intellectual Property Organization members this week are expected to move toward common ground on a treaty protecting broadcasters against piracy. Some members are showing signs of impatience and are pushing for a swift resolution of issues to convene a high-level negotiating meeting in 2018. The WIPO copyright committee will also continue discussing exceptions to copyrights for archives, libraries, and research institutions. New WIPO Deputy Director General for copyright Sylvie Forbin opened the meeting today.
Trade secrets have gained the favour of a growing number of companies, according to speakers at a side event held in the margins of last week’s World Trade Organization intellectual property committee meeting. Organised by the European Union, Japan, and the United States, the side event explored the reasons why companies choose to protect their innovations through trade secrets.
European Union trade politicians in several meetings this week in Brussels reflected on the future of trade policy, also impacted by the US elections. “It is a changed world, period,” Iuliu Winkler, vice-chair of the parliamentary International Trade (INTA) Committee (European People's Party) said at the opening of the EU Trade Policy Day, expressing the general sentiment. While many members of INTA committee underlined the need of Europe to press ahead with their trade negotiations internationally, those critical of an aggressive trade agenda were eager to have their arguments not to be mixed with what was criticised as populist fear-mongering against globalisation.