Category Biodiversity/Genetic Resources/Biotech

Biotech Legislative Agenda: Healthcare, Energy, Patents And Capital

The United States Congress and biotechnology industry are currently focused on healthcare reform, but biotech is also looking to the future at energy reform, patent reform and other intellectual property-related legislative priorities still on its agenda.

“Turning Point” At WIPO Pulls Traditional Knowledge Debate Out At Eleventh Hour

After a year of stalled deliberations on the issue of protecting traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and traditional cultural expressions, delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies on Thursday found a compromise text that gives the committee its strongest mandate yet.

Role Of WIPO On Traditional Knowledge In Question

Failure to resolve the deadlock over traditional knowledge at the World Intellectual Property Organization would call into question the organisation’s role, some member states said this week, as the chair of the General Assemblies tabled a text in an attempt to bridge major gaps that still remain. Meanwhile, the organisation adopted a commitment to approve the availability of documents in all its languages.

传统知识的命运——世界知识产权组织大会的一项关键决议

世界知识产权组织（World Intellectual Property Organization）总干事今天在该联合国机构的年度大会开幕式上说，如果世界知识产权组织要保持决策上的影响力，它就必须能够在无论是最新的技术开发还是传统知识体系领域为创新制定标准。

Assemblées de l’OMPI : le sort des savoirs traditionnels en jeu

Le problème, selon certains participants, est que ces ressources ont été allouées à des projets qui n'ont pas encore été approuvés. Le Comité du développement et de la propriété intellectuelle (CDIP) s’est réuni en novembre, puis en Avril, mais la prochaine réunion budgétaire n’aura pas lieu avant juillet, ce qui a amené de nombreux pays en développement à se demander comment des projets approuvés en novembre pouvaient être mis en œuvre rapidement alors même qu’ils ne disposent pas des ressources budgétaires nécessaires.

WIPO Approves CHF64 Million Conference Hall; Intensive Informals Held On Traditional Knowledge

How to handle the deadlocked negotiations on traditional knowledge remains a sticky decision at this year’s World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies, with four proposals on the table and informal meetings ongoing in advance of a formal discussion next week. Meanwhile, WIPO member governments this week agreed to fund a CHF64.2 million franc WIPO conference centre aimed for late 2012.

El destino de los conocimientos tradicionales: una decisión clave en las Asambleas de la OMPI

La Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual (OMPI) debe tener la capacidad de fijar normas para la innovación, desde los avances de la tecnología más recientes hasta los sistemas de conocimientos tradicionales, si desea conservar su reconocimiento en la formulación de políticas, expresó hoy el Director General en la apertura de la Asamblea General anual del organismo de las Naciones Unidas.

UN Conference Pushes Plant Breeding; Others See Food Security In Jeopardy

Participants at a recent United Nations conference on the role of new plant varieties and seeds in agriculture agreed that access to genetic resources and the protection of intellectual property rights are essential to sustain plant breeding. But key opponents not invited to the meeting claim that plant breeding will endanger biodiversity, sustainability and ultimately food security.

Fate Of Traditional Knowledge A Key Decision At WIPO Assemblies

The World Intellectual Property Organization must be able to set norms for innovation, from the latest development in technology to traditional knowledge systems, if it is to retain its relevance in policymaking, said its director general at the opening of the UN agency's annual General Assemblies today.

A key decision on WIPO’s agenda this week is the future of its committee on the protection of traditional knowledge and genetic resources, where agreement has proved unreachable over the last year.