Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Council of Europe (CoE), the intergovernmental regional group that includes the European Union, today called on European governments protect the principle of network neutrality at the national level. The member countries adopted guidelines on protecting and promoting the right…
Familiar intellectual property concerns will continue to vex the United States in the coming year. The scope of patent-eligible subject matter, the requirements for safe-harbor protections against copyright infringement, and the registration of disparaging trademarks will be among the top IP issues to watch in 2016, according to experts.
The most-read stories of 2015 on the Intellectual Property Watch website fairly reflected the trends of the year, with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, India’s evolving intellectual property rights policies, European Patent Office patents on conventional vegetables, biologics, 3D printing, and some pop culture issues leading the way.
In the coming weeks, IP-Watch will review in-depth what’s in store for 2016, already underway. But for now, let’s take a look at last year’s highlights.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Zimbabwe has kicked off a new project to support adoption of research data management and sharing services among government, universities and research institutions as part of its plans to pave the way for a nationwide open access mandate. Meanwhile, similar efforts are appearing across Africa.
Copyright exceptions for libraries, archives, educational and research institutions and persons with disabilities other than visual impairment will remain on the agenda of the next session of the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee. The subject is touchy as developing countries deem those exceptions vital for development and developed countries say that the current global copyright framework leaves enough space for national exceptions to copyright.
Between a lot of applause this week for the first post-WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) decade and especially for the negotiated agreement for the coming 10 years, some cracks appeared. These tell how differently regions still view roles and responsibilities for critical infrastructure management, and also the discrepancy between declaration and deployment of principles of the information society. In a notable statement, Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation, warned that governments still have to learn how to govern the connected.
Ten years after the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) member states and stakeholders are meeting this week for the WSIS+10 High Level Meeting in the UN headquarters in New York to review a decade of developments in internet governance.
A new standard developed and tested by the Linked Content Coalition's Rights Data Integration project could revolutionise the way copyrights are managed online, one of its technical advisors has said in an interview. The question now is whether organisations are willing to use and pay for it.
Two new proposals concerning the rights of artists seemed to bring new energy to the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee last week. Proposals encouraged delegates to create a legal framework to help artists benefit from use of their works and royalties by intermediaries.
The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee closed last week without a definite work programme for the next session but two new projects seem to have stirred up the committee after years of inconclusive talks on a proposed treaty protecting broadcasts, and exceptions to copyright for libraries, archives, education and research. The new subjects relate to exceptions for museums, and resale rights. Meanwhile, a new text on broadcasting is being prepared for next session.