WIPO To Discuss Role Of Patents In Access To Water
The World Intellectual Property Organization has waded into the global debates over access to safe drinking water, with an upcoming workshop on patents and water purification technologies.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Category Environment
A High-Level Collegium Calls For New Global Governance
A collegium of scientists, philosophers and former heads of state launched an appeal yesterday in Geneva for world governance they called "Global Solidarity, Global Responsibility."
WIPO Achieves Single Legal Text On Genetic Resources; Indigenous Peoples Back
After eight days of intensive drafting work, delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization now have a text that will be submitted to the WIPO General Assemblies in September so that a diplomatic conference can be decided upon to finish negotiations on an international instrument protecting genetic resources from misappropriation.
Indigenous Peoples Walk Out Of WIPO Committee On Genetic Resources
The International Indigenous Forum, in an unprecedented collective move, decided yesterday to withdraw from the discussions of the WIPO Committee on Genetic Resources taking place from 14-22 February. The move calls into question the legitimacy of the negotiations.
WIPO Members Work Through Differences In Genetic Resources Document
The development of an international instrument on the protection of genetic resources continues to engage government delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Sources have called the process constructive and meeting Chair Wayne McCook, the permanent representative of Jamaica, said delegations were very engaged in the exercise. But a sharp divide remains on several subjects.
WIPO Members Begin Work On Single Text On IP And Genetic Resources
Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on genetic resources and traditional knowledge today began work on a single text that pulls together all preceding proposals. The committee is working under a mandate to develop international instruments on the protection of these resources. Meanwhile, the United States and several others have initiated an effort to agree to an “early harvest” of areas of convergence on objectives and principles only.
WIPO Members Aim For Single Text On Genetic Resources Protection
Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization, in the company of indigenous groups from around the world, have entered into eight days of intensive negotiations to try to agree on a draft text for an instrument on the protection of genetic resources.
Ideas Offered For IP And Genetic Resources In WIPO Committee
A new paper from the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) offers ideas on addressing misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge at the World Intellectual Property Organization.
In 2012: Are Biotech, Ethics And Biodiversity Friends or Foes?
With food demand and prices rising as the world crosses the threshold of 7 billion people, the need to find new medicines, concerns about the shrinking biodiversity and the effects of climate change may designate biotechnologies as the main response. Opinions differ on the way to address those issues, in particular about intellectual property rights attached to biotechnologies.
Legislative questions are being discussed on both sides of the Atlantic around the scope of patentability, and intellectual property rights on plants, seeds, molecules or methods, as well as exemptions that some think should be applied. The year ahead will see some decisions that might impact the biotechnology industry both in the United States and in Europe.
Officials, Industry Discuss IPR In Relation To Economy And Society
Two top international organisations in Geneva are working to adapt to trends in global intellectual property systems with an eye toward contributing to a positive economic impact, officials told a private sector conference this week. But they heard a complex message about the role of IP in addressing public policy concerns.