Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The United Nations has established a “technology bank” for least-developed countries that aims to strengthen the science, technology and innovation capacity of LDCs that includes better management of intellectual property rights.
Hundreds of thousands of people visited articles on Intellectual Property Watch last year, and we published nearly 1,000 original articles. The year’s most-visited articles reflected a mix of new ideas and policies worldwide and some recurring issues, with especially heavy attention on stories involving India.
The United States Trade Representative’s office today released its annual “notorious markets” for intellectual property-infringing goods, with a list of 21 online and 12 physical markets worldwide. Many of the online sites are based across Europe, including several in Switzerland, but also in Russia and China as in the past. A big feature is China's Taobao, and new methods like stream ripping.
A major shift is underway in Washington that is expected to have ramifications for global trade, innovation, and intellectual property enforcement, as Donald Trump steps into the United States presidency. IP-Watch caught up with Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation to get his view on what's to come. Among the predictions: the Washington Consensus on trade gets turned on its head, enforcement will rise including at multilateral level, the US will have many new ideas but iPhones will not be made in the US, and a much-needed "reset" of the US policy on China will bring greater mutual respect - if done right.
BANGKOK – Countries in Southeast Asia have launched a 10-year action plan to strengthen their intellectual property rights cooperation, with the European Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization providing financial and technical assistance in helping the countries to achieve their goals.
The European Union and Canada held an informal meeting in Geneva this week to present a project for a multilateral investment court to handle global investor-state disputes, hoping to draw interest and questions by other country delegates, according to sources. Time will be needed to gain acceptance of the idea, they said, and the next opportunity will be at the January World Economic Forum in Davos.
A wide array of music industry groups, from Christian to classical, rhythm & blues to movie soundtracks, and everything in between sent a letter to United States President-Elect Donald Trump urging him to take their intellectual property rights into consideration…
The International Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business organisation, today was granted observer status at the United Nations General Assembly, given business a direct voice in the UN system for the first time ever, the ICC announced.
The European Commission and the Canadian government today and tomorrow are hosting a first meeting for talks on a new multilateral investment court. Such a court could, the European Commission explained in an announcement, become the follow-up mechanism for the existing investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions that are part of 3,200 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements around the world.
A new study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) finds that geographical indications could open the way to lucrative export markets for least-developed countries. The study calls for UN agencies to support those countries in their effort to develop GIs and diversify their exports, but warns about the need for capacity building and financial help, and raises biodiversity concerns of GI intensification.
The United States Supreme Court yesterday provided a big victory for Samsung – and common sense, according to many experts. The high court ruled that Samsung need not pay $399 million in damages – all the company’s profits from 11 models of smartphones – simply because one or two tiny components of those phones infringed design patents owned by Apple. But Samsung isn’t out of the woods yet. Because despite the importance of today’s Supreme Court decision, the high court left an even more important issue unresolved.
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