Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Intellectual Property Organization is working on an extension to its patent search systems to include specific searches for chemical compounds. The system is expected to be operational by July 2016.
NAIROBI, Kenya- Ahead of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Summit in Nairobi, Kenya’s intellectual property laws are coming under scrutiny over what experts see as their inability to protect economic projects and inspire innovations.
BERLIN - Big rights holders and their attorneys do not yearn for a reform of European Union copyright. Participants in last week‘s Pan-European Intellectual Property Summit in Berlin discussed concerns about the potential extension of the rules of origin to the internet, the CabSat directive and successful litigation against intermediaries in enforcing copyright.
Two days of informal consultations last week did not bring World Intellectual Property Organization members to agreement on a work programme for the next session of its committee on the law of patents. Developed and developing countries have different views on the work of the committee, with developing countries seeking work on patent on health, and limitations and exceptions to patent rights, while developed countries are more interested in work-sharing between patent offices and protecting the confidentiality of information between patent advisers and their clients.
The habit of patenting innovative products is being challenged by ever faster innovation cycles, the growing need for collaboration and co-invention, and what some classical patentees see as a “virus” of open source licensing. The tenth edition of the IP Summit, hosted in Berlin this year, heard some interesting stories from the smart home and smart car business.
The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on patent law is meeting this week, including a half-day seminar on the relationship between patent systems and the availability of medicines in developing countries and least-developed countries.
The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on enforcement concluded yesterday with an agreement on the future work of the committee. The adoption of this programme was heavily discussed during the week, reflecting the different approaches on enforcement of intellectual property rights among countries.
Authors will receive more for their inventions in Russia, as the local government has changed a scheme on the distribution of authors’ royalties. In addition, the government is setting up a new body to draw together the two dozen agencies that deal with aspects of the intellectual property system.
The enforcement of intellectual property rights is a challenge in particular because of the lack of awareness of the consequences of infringement, said several speakers at the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on enforcement this week.
A shorter than usual World Intellectual Property Organization meeting of its committee on trademarks, designs and geographical indications closed yesterday with the prospect of keeping all items on the agenda for the next session.
The draft text of a treaty to help international designers apply for protection has been on the table at the World Intellectual Property Organization for some time, and has been under discussion again this week. Two questions have prevented its completion. One is whether technical assistance for developing countries should be part of the text, and the other is how to accommodate a request for a provision allowing countries to ask for disclosure of the origin of the design, to prevent misappropriation.
European reproduction schemes for compensating authors don't cover publishers, the European Court of Justice said in a 12 November judgment in Hewlett-Packard Belgium SPRL v. Reprobel SCRL and Epson Europe BV.