Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Corey Salsberg writes: Yesterday was World Intellectual Property Day. April 26 is the day we celebrate and call attention to the global intellectual property (IP) system. Why do we set aside a day for the entire world to stop and reflect on a subject that, for many, may seem more at home in board rooms, lecture halls, and legislatures, than in cafes, farms, and internet blogs?
The recent Geneva Health Forum captured the fevered pitch in the larger ongoing conversation around innovative financing for research and development for public health. A new report on a voluntary pooled fund for neglected diseases was discussed at the forum.
The much-advertised World Intellectual Property Organization conference on the digital content market kicked off with a visionary speaker calling for the broadening of intellectual property rights income as a way forward for a sustainable economic ecosystem and reducing inequalities. The WIPO director general meanwhile said digital technology has brought new possibilities and reduced prices but also carries its load of regulatory challenges.
It’s easy to find valuable and useful patents, if you have small patent portfolios, but it can be a daunting task when portfolios contain hundreds or thousands of patents. Yet this task is critical for any business, and especially for technology companies that typically hold significant portfolios.
The Russian government is considering approval of a package of controversial amendments to national legislation that would allow the use of inventions without the permission of patent holders.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Health research collaborations between Africa and Europe do not match up with Africa’s own stated funding intentions, says a report published by a European Union-funded project.
Rejecting calls for a vote to be delayed until the European Commission proposes tougher whistle-blower protections, the European Parliament on 14 April approved by 503-131 new rules giving companies redress for theft or misuse of trade secrets. Debate on the trade secrets directive showed sharp divisions among lawmakers, heightened by the recent “Panama Papers” and other leaks, over whether the legislation will help businesses safeguard their innovative ideas or lead to increased corporate secrecy.
The role of intellectual property in economic, social and cultural development is at the heart of an international conference organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization this week. Today, a diverse range of speakers gave their views on the relationship between IP and innovation and creativity, with some describing in specific examples how IP helped their developing economies. Many speakers insisted on the need for developing countries to have policy space to define an IP system best suited to their development needs.
A two-day international conference on intellectual property and development opened today at the World Intellectual Property Organization with calls from speakers for the IP system to be applied by nations in ways appropriate to their economies, even if it means allowing copying - just as the biggest IP-holding nations did when they were developing years ago. The theme was set by the opening keynote speaker, South African Trade Minister Rob Davies.
Genius, brilliant, generous, wholehearted, warm, kind, funny, original, musician, art lover, brave, restless, these are few of the most suitable and recurrent attributes of Denis Borges Barbosa, who passed away on Saturday, April 2nd. Leading IP professor, researcher and attorney in Brazil, he was also the key international face of Brazilian IP, write Allan Rocha de Souza and Cláudia Chamas.
In light of the United Nations Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines initiative, the GlaxoSmithKline company today announced steps to further help bring innovative medicines to poor countries.
A number of internet and software industry in the United States have come out in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiated by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) last year.