Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Nagoya Protocol, adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity, provides a set of rules to prevent misappropriation of genetic resources. As such, it crosses paths with the international intellectual property system. This interface is the subject of a handbook to be published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
The main goal has been achieved for World Intellectual Property Organization delegates who started last week with the task of improving a document to become an international instrument protecting traditional knowledge. Consensus has not been met on core issues, but a cleaner text has emerged, reflecting a clearer understanding of positions, sources said.
A producers' group lobbying in favour of geographical indications has issued a preliminary list of candidate GIs in the United States. The list, released just prior to a World Intellectual Property Organization negotiation on a possible instrument on GIs, takes a particular look at American wines.
Istanbul - The unsuspecting consumer must above all be protected against counterfeit products, speakers said today at meeting of private sector, intergovernmental and governmental representatives. But increasingly organised crime is dealing the products, and anti-counterfeiting forces need to be as innovative as possible to defeat it. Fortunately, the private sector is ready to step up to help cash-strapped governments, and it is taking the “respect for IP” message to … children.
Christopher J. Paun writes: Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are often used as a way of increasing public policy options by tapping into private sector resources. This occurs also in the field of intellectual property. There are several examples of Global PPPs against IP crimes - some more successful than others. Some prominent failures received a lot of attention when PPP activities were stopped following controversy about global IP policy.
A meeting meant to advance discussions on a treaty to protect the rights of broadcasting organisations held last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization yielded substantive results, according to the meeting chair. However, civil society remains cautious about potential side effects of such an instrument, while countries appear to have divergent views on the practicalities of the treaty.
Small traders and businesses facing barriers to moving goods across African borders now can send a mobile phone text message alert that could help resolve the problems more quickly.
The publication by governments of additional safeguards for new top-level domains at this week‘s 46th meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) sparked warnings that the private net management body should avoid becoming a content regulator.
At an unprecedented rate, private companies are using "investor-state" provisions in trade agreements negotiated by governments to challenge foreign government regulations, often made on behalf of the public, a United Nations report has found. And the majority of target governments are developing or transition economies, most of the time being challenged by companies in developed countries.
The protection of broadcasting organisations will be discussed at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week as delegates are expected to work on a text that could become an international treaty.
A full room of country delegates and ambassadors gathered yesterday to celebrate the accession of India to the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks at the World Intellectual Property Organization. However, beyond the joy of accession, the recent decision of the Indian Supreme Court on a Novartis drug patent loomed in the room.
The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL), the French privacy body, said this week in a statement that it will take legal action against Google after the search engine failed to implement changes to its privacy policies. They were joined by data protection agencies from five other European countries.