Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body yesterday agreed to establish two more panels in a dispute against Australia's plain packaging for tobacco products, bringing the total to five. And it was agreed that a single panel will be appointed to study the five complaints.
Japan and the United States today announced their renewed commitment to an ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The statement from the bilateral leaders’ meeting followed reports that bilateral talks toward the TPP were stalling. The White House statement reads: “The…
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in a contentious copyright suit that could affect the continued viability of broadcast television, cable TV, and cloud-storage services like DropBox, Box and Apple’s iCloud. And it is far from clear how the court will rule in American Broadcasting Companies v. Aereo, Inc.
The Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition has launched a Declaration on Patent Protection with the aim to “clarify some of the regulatory options states still retain under international law, in particular the TRIPS Agreement,” which turns 20 years old this year.
The African Regional Intellectual Property Office last week obtained a positive decision at the international level on its draft law to protect new varieties of plants. Amid protest from civil society, the regional office now has to adopt the draft law and has said it would convene a diplomatic conference (high-level negotiation) in 2014 in order to do so.
The 9th Circuit’s recent decision in Garcia v. Google has sparked outrage among many internet businesses, media organisations, civil rights groups, and copyright experts. They assert the ruling significantly alters US law in a manner that will greatly restrict free speech. But a minority of experts say there is nothing to fear.
KAMPALA - As the East African Community nears full revival, a bloc market covering five countries with a population of about 145 million people has emerged. But the member countries face another challenge: they have different levels of intellectual property rights protection.
ames Anaya, United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, today called on the owners of the Washington Redskins Football team to recognise that the name ‘Redskins’ constitutes a “hurtful reminder” of the “long history of mistreatment of Native American people in the United States.”
The perhaps underestimated list of goods or services that applicants file with their trademark applications play an essential role in defining the protection the trademark will have.
Registrars use this list to determine if an application should be refused and if it limits a trademark’s exclusive rights. The goods or services listed in an application can also motivate oppositions from competitors with prior rights or cause the future cancellation of the trademark.
A recent trademark case in the European Union calls into attention the need for authorities to establish clear, predictable rules to identify goods and services in trademark systems. Further, the case highlights why it is important for applicants to carefully consider which goods or services they wish to protect and clearly identify them in an application.
After two weeks of drafting articles of potential international instruments aimed at protecting traditional knowledge and folklore from misappropriation, World Intellectual Property Organization delegates agreed to forward the revised texts for the consideration of the General Assembly in September.
Google has successfully defended its Google Glass name in an internet domain dispute in Europe, reported by the World Intellectual Property Organization today.
UNITAID has published the full version of its report on “The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Implications for Access to Medicines and Public Health.”