Category Finance

Resisting The Law Of Greed

In 2011 in a small court in Ecuador’s Amazon jungle, a judge ordered the American oil giant Chevron to pay US$9 billion dollars in damages for pollution in the region that was caused by drilling activities in the 1970s and 1980s. The company quickly denounced landmark ruling as illegitimate. More than a year before the final ruling had been issued, Chevron had already taken steps to initiate an investor-state dispute against the Government of Ecuador under the terms of a US-Ecuador bilateral investment treaty (BIT). The company seeks to avoid paying the US$9 billion by convincing an international tribunal that the courts of Ecuador are corrupt and that the government is ultimately responsible for any environmental damage and associated health issues experienced by local residents, writes Kyla Tienhaara in Green Agenda.

Universal Health Coverage, Millennium Development Goals And Post-2015: The Improvable Way Forward

The negotiating process to achieve post-2015 development goals has clarified the agenda that governments ought to follow until 2030. Unfortunately, due to vague terms and the lack of unequivocal definitions, a number of relevant issues still lie in uncertainty, writes Pietro Dionisio

OECD Book Highlights Economic Impact – Good And Bad – Of IPRs

A new book from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) paints a revealing picture of the impact on economies of intellectual property rights.

Former USPTO Director Kappos: Inventors Giving Up On Patent System After 200 Years

In a clarion call to policymakers, former United States Patent and Trademark Director David Kappos said recently that this year’s unprovoked drop in patent filings in the United States is unprecedented and signals a shift toward more secrecy by inventors trying to protect their ideas. Meanwhile, the US trend toward antitrust actions at home is having deleterious effects for US businesses overseas, he said.

WIPO Launches Development Agenda Project In Uganda

KAMPALA, UGANDA - The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has launched a Development Agenda program in Uganda, aimed at building capacity in the use of appropriate technology, specific technical and scientific information to address development challenges in the country.

IP Experts Kick Off UC Berkeley Innovation Centre With Calls For Change

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA -- “There’s one thing we’re very good at in this nation, and that’s innovation,” Tusher Center Director and Professor David Teece said recently in setting the tone for a day of discussions inspired by the launch of the new center at the University of California at Berkeley.

Australian Review Of IPR, Competition Balance Draws Mixed Academic Response

A government-ordered review of Australia's intellectual property arrangements could either resolve many important and long-standing issues or prove to be yet another political exercise in futility, academics say.

Ecuador, BRICS Moving Away From International Investment Dispute Regime, Paper Says

As part of a series of publications on investment treaties and investor-state dispute settlement, a developing country multilateral organisation released a policy brief focusing on Ecuador's experience and action against the current dispute settlement system.