Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A new paper by a Norwegian researcher finds that recent legislation efforts on plant variety protection in Africa go beyond the requirements of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).
Members of a World Intellectual Property Organization committee last week reached some tough agreements on issues relating to the next two years’ program and budget, but had to pass on unfinished work to the full WIPO membership, which will meet in two weeks.
After four years of talks, committee members at the World Intellectual Property Organization have agreed on a definition for what constitutes an expenditure on development in the UN agency.
Several leading public health groups have sent a letter to United States Trade Representative and US Patent and Trademark Office director asking for more transparency on the US position on a request by least-developed countries to indefinitely extend their World Trade Organization intellectual property waiver on pharmaceutical products.
In a communication today, the European Commission said it agrees to support a least developed country request at the World Trade Organization to prolong indefinitely a current exemption on the enforcement of IP on pharmaceutical products. Now the decision moves to the EU member states.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has announced that 27 African eco-enterprises were the winners of a contest based on business models bringing social and environmental benefits to local communities. Affordable light and electricity, reusable, fireproof bricks made from waste plastic, a mobile phone application used by health professionals for eye care, and the empowerment of waste pickers, are some of the examples of the winning initiatives.
Many developing countries lack enough human resources with the necessary skills to access patent information. Although patent documents are often unintelligible, strengthening the ability to search them in databases could help reduce information asymmetries in developing countries, Luis Gil Abinader writes.
The negotiating process to achieve post-2015 development goals has clarified the agenda that governments ought to follow until 2030. Unfortunately, due to vague terms and the lack of unequivocal definitions, a number of relevant issues still lie in uncertainty, writes Pietro Dionisio
A new book from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) paints a revealing picture of the impact on economies of intellectual property rights.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- Stakeholders from various positions of influence in the realm of intellectual property - including government - put a fine tooth comb through the South African Copyright Amendment Bill at a consultative conference called by the Department of Trade and Industry yesterday.