Category Enforcement

UKIPO: Copyright Owners And Internet Providers, Please Regulate Yourselves!

The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office on Monday published a proposal for a “rights agency” that would tackle problems related to digital copyright. The envisioned agency that would be managed and funded by rights owners and take up a two-fold task by facilitating the creation of a digital market and preventing and reducing online piracy.

World Health Organization Issues Statement On Generic Drug Seizures

The World Health Organization on Friday issued a statement on a high-profile debate over Dutch customs authorities’ delays of shipments of legitimate generic pharmaceuticals passing through the European country on their way to patients in developing countries. The goods were apparently believed to be counterfeit medicines.

WIPO Faces Possible Negative Annual Income Despite Record Trademark Filings

The World Intellectual Property Organization is facing the possibility of negative income for the first time in its history, the United Nations agency’s director general said Monday. Director General Francis Gurry made the remarks during a press conference on its annual report on trademark filings at WIPO in 2008 that showed a new record high for trademark registrations but signs of a slowdown late in the year.

Alarm Escalates Over Delayed Generic Drug Shipments As Action Sought

Health advocates on Friday escalated their alarm over recent seizures by the Dutch government of shipments of legitimate generic pharmaceuticals passing through Europe on their way to developing countries. The European Commission has defended its actions as permissible under its own and international rules, but is being asked to look more carefully at those rules.

Innovation Policy: The Balance Between Standards and Patent Regulation

greveBy Georg Greve

Interconnectivity, commoditisation and increased reuse and recombination are key trends within the maturing information and communication technologies (ICT) industry that drive innovation and development. Harnessing the innovative and economic potential of the ICT sector depends on a variety of factors, including open innovation models, such as free software.

Enforcement, Creative R&D Financing Priority Issues For Public Health in 2009

The number and intensity of debates over the role of intellectual property rights in public health is set to increase in 2009.

New leadership and new mandates for key intergovernmental organisations implemented last year have created opportunity for change. And while old debates over the balance between IP rights and access to health products are not going away, this year will see more exploration at the intergovernmental level of different systems to stimulate innovation.