Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New World Intellectual Property Organization members are engaged in a critical weeklong meeting that will determine the fate of a proposed WIPO treaty on broadcasters’ rights. At the end of a second slow day, it was unclear which…
By William New Members of a World Intellectual Property Organization committee addressing proposals for a WIPO Development Agenda last week potentially rewrote the UN body’s mandate, pending approval. Negotiators concluded a weeklong meeting with agreements on a wide range of…
By William New with Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) committee negotiating proposals this week for a stronger development focus at WIPO appeared to be on track to finishing work by meeting’s end Friday, though some…
By William New The United States and China last week failed to resolve differences raised by the US dispute at the World Trade Organization over China’s intellectual property protection and market access for US copyrighted material, according to the Chinese…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The Group of Eight (G8) final declaration on “growth and responsibility” in Africa is being met with initial reactions from observers that it contains a weaker approach to address patents and medicines to ensure “universal…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch, and Tove Gerhardsen The strengthening of intellectual property rights protection in “a new dialogue” between Group of 8 and emerging economies moderated by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Broad new support emerged this week for a proposal to amend World Trade Organization rules on intellectual property to better protect countries’ biological resources, while efforts to increase discussions on intellectual property protection remain unresolved.…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A ruling by the Helsinki, Finland, District Court could have far-reaching implications for the use of technical protection measures (TPMs) in Europe, according to legal experts. The 25 May decision held that the…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Next week’s meeting of the World Trade Organization’s intellectual property committee is expected to be “business as usual,” continuing work on difficult topics, including the committee’s role in the enforcement of intellectual property rights. On…
By Steve Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
As more and more commerce crosses national borders, so do more and more items seen as infringing on patents. And patent holders are making a case for stronger international rules on enforcement to protect themselves.
International intellectual property treaties enable an inventor to file one patent application and obtain patent rights in multiple countries, but the treaties do not provide similar mechanisms for multinational enforcement. A patentee can sue in each country where infringement occurs, but this is often prohibitively expensive, they say.