Trading’s End: Is ACTA The Leading Edge Of A Protectionist Wave?
Government policymakers are stalling on trade liberalization while erecting new nontransparent trade barriers, writes Frederick Abbott.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Category Enforcement
TRIPS Amendments Needed To Restore Balance In IP, Researchers Say
Current global intellectual property obligations are seen by some as favouring rights holders to the detriment of the public interest, and a series of amendments to international rules on trade and IP could address this, says a new book from a respected European think tank.
Consumers’ Rights Still Not On Equal Footing With Copyright Owners’, Study Finds
The newly published third annual Consumers International IP Watchlist shows that most countries offer weak support for consumer interests in access to knowledge and the global copyright system seems ill-equipped to respond to the new consumer creativity evolving on internet. However, the study found that some countries are demonstrating good practices when it comes to consumers.
US Mission To Fund WIPO Work On Counterfeits
The United States mission in Geneva announced today a new international initiative to raise public awareness about protection of intellectual property rights. The initiative is a cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization and has support from the governments of Kenya, Morocco and the Philippines, US Ambassador Betty King said at a reception.
Countering The US Internet Domain Clampdown
A new technology purports to help users of websites taken down by the United States government to easily find the sites again when they resurface elsewhere.
WIPO Says Cybersquatting Filings Sharply Up, Watches ICANN’s Domain Name Expansion
Filing complaints about cybersquatting, which the World Intellectual Property Organization defines as the “abusive registration of trademarks as domain names,” is on an upward trend, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said today. Meanwhile, WIPO also launched a review of its dispute panellists.
Google, Authors, Will Need To Rethink Digital Book Settlement
Google’s efforts to resolve questions of copyright infringement in its digital library project did not yield the hoped-for result as a district court judge yesterday rejected the agreement. But the judge left open the possibility that the parties could come back again with revisions.
Pharma Industry Seeks To Bring A Fresh Face To Public Health Policy
The research-based pharmaceutical industry is working to bring a fresh face to the international public health policy arena in Geneva, most recently through a new initiative on technology transfer. Working through the industry’s Geneva-based trade association, the effort to be seen in a more positive light comes after years of doubts about the transparency of its involvement in these issues and could change the tenor of international negotiations.
Tech Industry Blasts Obama Administration, Says Legitimate Anti-Counterfeiting Efforts Being ‘Hijacked’
Legitimate efforts in the United States to address counterfeiting problems have been “hijacked” to benefit rights holders who should protect their own interests and change their business models, the Computer & Communications Industry Association has said.
US IP Enforcement Ambitions In Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement Stir Reactions
An alleged official document leaked last week showed that the United States is taking the lead in escalating intellectual property rights enforcement in negotiations for a regional trade agreement among countries bordering the Pacific Ocean. But there may be some concern about IP protection going beyond existing international trade obligations.
UN Agencies Encourage Use Of WTO Measures To Lower HIV Medicines Costs
Three United Nations agencies have joined together to explain to their member countries the little-understood but hard-won flexibilities to applying stiff international intellectual property rules. The focus of the new policy brief is on improving access to HIV treatment, and it offers a series of actions for governments and international organisations.
Copyright System Must “Adapt Or Perish,” WIPO Director Says
The traditional copyright system’s balance for encouraging yet controlling access to copyrighted works in order to extract value for them has met with a destructive force in the internet that it cannot overcome without changing itself, the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization said recently in a landmark speech. And he proposed several elements for the way forward.