Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Health Organization this week is holding its first conference on health and climate change. The major objective of the conference is to raise awareness on the impact of climate change on health, according to the WHO, which said it aims to strengthen its voice in the debate.
WIPO Lex is a publicly available online database under the World Intellectual Property Organization providing streamlined access to the intellectual property systems of almost 200 jurisdictions. The database now features over 12,000 legal texts, some 600 treaties and is operational in six languages: English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish. Intellectual Property Watch takes a look at this resource.
Significant progress has been made in the implementation of the European regulation to establish a European unitary patent and an international treaty which sets up a unified patent court. Given the loaded agenda for the coming year, it seems that a lot of work remains to be done. Meanwhile, an ongoing proceeding before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) initiated by Spain could bring down the whole system, according to sources.
Microsoft, a strong advocate of intellectual property protection, has launched an online IP portal in Kenya with the aim of helping innovators better understand different means of protecting their software and reap the economic benefits of their innovations. The initiative is planned to spread to other African countries.
Unfertilised human eggs that can't develop into human beings are generally not “human embryos” within the meaning of the EU directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, a 17 July European Court of Justice Advocate General opinion said. The opinion is good news for researchers into stem cell therapies, said a member of the industry group IP Federation, who added he hopes it will be upheld by the ECJ. But one biotech civil society member said the ruling, if it stands, could be abused.
The World Intellectual Property Organization is currently engaged in an unprecedented process for the selection of the new top management team to serve under recently re-elected Director General Francis Gurry. The open call for applicants resulted in some 360 applications from around the world, including from the upper echelons of WIPO itself, according to sources.
At the recent University of Geneva summer course on internet law, one panel addressed challenges and strategies for internet intermediaries facing an increased burden of intellectual property rights protection online.
The last World Intellectual Property Organization meeting before the annual General Assembly in September ended today, meeting the same fate as many others this year. The committee addressing the protection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge could not agree on recommendations to be transmitted to the Assembly, leaving it to the full membership in September.
A new draft text on future work was issued this morning by a facilitator to the discussions of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee seeking to protect genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
After a day of informal discussions on a proposed treaty on protecting broadcasters’ intellectual property rights, the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee yesterday issued two informal discussion papers showing a narrowing of the issues to be addressed. In particular, webcasting has been cast aside in the discussions for the moment.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could compete with national currencies in the long term, but still face many challenges, according to panellists at a recent event in Geneva. Furthermore, the blockchain technology – the open source software which underpins those cryptocurrencies – could have innovative applications in other sectors, including intellectual property protection, they said.
Software patents have become a major problem in the United States. These patents are often so vague and broad, they are hindering innovation and economic growth, according to many businesses, economists, and patent experts. But thanks to a ruling yesterday by the United States Supreme Court,the ranks of software patents may soon be decimated.