Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization has negotiated cooperation agreements with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and is seeking approval of its member countries at this week’s annual General Assembly.…
By Frederick Noronha for Intellectual Property Watch NEW DELHI – What do seeds have in common with software? Or age-old medicines with copyright lawyers? And, what’s the link between ayurvedic medicines and techies talking free software in Bangalore? Such issues…
Brazil has published a list of more than 5,000 generic terms from the Portuguese language related to Brazilian plant biological diversity to raise awareness and prevent further misuse of trademarks that hinder Brazilian exports. The Brazilian government has been, and…
After some five years of negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) free-trade talks were halted today as ministers of key countries left the negotiating table. But key intellectual property issues will be kept on the table for whenever they return,…
With eight recently confirmed cases of avian influenza, Indonesia is scrambling to build up its stockpile of medicines. The preferred product to fight bird flu in humans is not under patent in Indonesia, which raises questions as to why production…
Developing countries should use international law on plant breeding but not necessarily sign up to binding conventions as they could have a negative impact, argues a new World Bank-commissioned report presented at a joint event on 20 June at the…
The European Union got little support for its proposal to add further enforcement measures into international trade law on intellectual property at a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting on 15 June, according to participants. This was the last day of…
Two new proposals on the relationship of international agreements on the protection of biodiversity were discussed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) yesterday, one of which supports a developing country view. But member states still disagree as to whether there…
Por Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Brasil cuenta probablemente con la fuente de biodiversidad más rica del mundo, y lucha por obtener apoyo a nivel internacional para proteger estos recursos naturales de lo que considera una explotación injusta a través del…
The world’s largest developing countries are seeking an amendment to international trade rules to provide more protection for genetic resources and traditional knowledge used in patent applications, and have presented the amendment proposal to other governments with mixed results. Brazil,…