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European Commission Floats Proposal To Stop Theft Of Trade Secrets

The rise of cybercrime and industrial espionage, including alleged economic spying by the US National Security Agency, calls for a pan-European system to protect trade secrets, the European Commission said on 27 November. A recent survey showed that one in five European companies has suffered at least one attempt to steal its trade secrets in the past 10 years, the EC said, and the numbers are rising. It proposed legislation to safeguard undisclosed know-how and business information against unlawful theft and abuse. Industry generally hailed the proposal, though one law firm said it lacks some enforcement teeth.

BRICS Launch Their Own Plan For IP Cooperation; India Defends Itself

Developing countries have been under pressure for years to join the global intellectual property system established by developed countries, and they have been doing so gradually. But now the leading emerging economies have taken matters into their own hands and signed an IP cooperation roadmap among themselves that will boost their uptake of IP in a way that is most favourable to them.

US Supreme Court Questions America’s Power To Carry Out Treaties

On 5 November, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could undermine America’s ability to carry out its treaty obligations. The case casts a shadow over the country’s power to implement a wide variety of international agreements, including trade and intellectual property agreements.

Global Patent Harmonisation Proceeding Outside WIPO – And Gently Within

For years, the developed countries that own the vast majority of the world’s patents - and therefore pay the majority of the revenues of the World Intellectual Property Organization – have looked unsuccessfully for a way to increase harmonisation of the global patent system through the UN agency. Developed countries have moved forward on their own, while WIPO is taking a gentle approach, encouraging member states “look below the headline issue” to a more “granular” level.

Health Diplomacy Spreading, Competent Health Diplomats Needed, Geneva Speakers Say

Global health diplomacy was the subject of a symposium organised by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute this week. The symposium explored the crossing lines between health diplomacy and science diplomacy, in particular how can diplomacy facilitate international scientific cooperation in health. This week was also the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization protocol against illicit trade in tobacco products.

“Licences For Europe” Stakeholder Dialogue Ends With Some Agreement, Some Criticism

Licences for Europe, a European Commission-launched stakeholder dialogue intended to make more copyright-protected content available online, ended today with some concrete proposals but also some criticism. The exercise - which focussed on cross-border access and portability of services, user-generated content and micro-licensing, audiovisual cultural heritage, and text and data mining - brought applause from book publishers and commercial broadcasters, but complaints from civil society groups and internet companies.