Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Tuberculosis is now a renewed threat, with strains that prove resistant to multiple drugs and are transmissible and the potential to spread widely, according to the World Health Organization and the Global Fund, which are looking for US$1.6 billion a year to prevent the spread of the disease.
A recent conference of AROPI (Association Romande de Propriété Intellectuelle), an association of intellectual property practitioners in French-speaking Switzerland, examined how sports and IP interact.
Swiss innovation is internationally recognised for its high quality, and the reasons may derive from its fiscal system, labour market, research and development (R&D) model and education policy, a senior Swiss official has said.
Courts in the United States are beginning to interpret a Copyright Act of 1976 provision allowing authors of protected works to terminate their rights assignments beginning this year. Intellectual property attorneys appear to differ over the importance of the recent rulings, but they agree that the battle line in termination cases between the recording industry and artists will be drawn over whether or not a piece of music was created for hire.
The Medicines Patent Pool has announced a ground-breaking collaboration with a private sector joint venture that it said will facilitate greater availability of critical medicines for children with HIV worldwide. The announcement caused a wave of positive reactions across the public health community, with many hoping for more in the future.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, based in Geneva, has announced a new funding model that aims to allow for more strategic investment.
The major recording industry association has released its annual report for 2012, announcing a 9 per cent increase in revenues from digital sales of music, with licensed music services on the rise. It also said it benefits most in countries where internet service providers have worked to drive down use of unauthorised music download sites.
The European Commission announced today that it is inviting comments on a proposal for new competition rules for the assessment of technology transfer agreements. Under the rules, a licensor permits a licensee to exploit patents, know-how or software for the production of goods and services, it said.
In the annual state of the union speech, newly re-elected US President Obama outlined numerous initiatives aimed at strengthening the United States inwardly, but he also kept his eye on international competitiveness. For instance, he called for a massive increase in research and development, as well as a focus on education and skills, manufacturing, science and innovation, and international trade agreements with Asia and Europe.
A new quarterly report on patent sales by technology shows that in 2012 the median price paid for issued US patents was US$ 221,000, while the average price paid was US$ 374,000.