Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee today agreed on work programme going forward that includes a balance of North-South issues such as patent quality, patents and health, client-attorney privilege, technology transfer, and exceptions to patents. Agreement on the work program was difficult despite a comparatively fast-moving week of progress on these same areas of work.
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The World Intellectual Property Organization provides legislative assistance to developing countries and least-developed countries upon request by individual member states. This week at the WIPO patent law committee, the Latin American and Caribbean Group tabled a proposal to revise the 1979 WIPO model law for developing countries on inventions, arguing it is obsolete.
After a slow start this week due to late approval of the agenda, the World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee is now sailing through the proposed schedule. However, previous positions remain unchanged and the core issue of the session is to find common ground on the future work of the committee.
The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on the law of patents got a slow start this morning as delegates did not agree on the draft agenda submitted by the secretariat for this session. After informal consultations during the morning, WIPO members accepted a draft revised agenda proposed by the committee chair.
The World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee meets this week with a work programme reflecting strong interests that are not equally shared by member states. Developed countries in the past have focused on ways to share work between patent offices, while developing countries would favour more time being spent on limitations and exceptions to patent rights, in particular in the area of health.
The United Kingdom government is calling for evidence on a proposal to provide designers with an option to mark their products with a web link instead of stamping the product or attaching a label with registered design numbers to provide public notice of registered design rights.
Cuba has been trying for many years to get the United States to undo a law that prevents Cuba from defending a rum brand trademark in US courts. This week at the World Trade Organization, the Caribbean country said during this time it has dutifully protected the intellectual property rights of more than 5,000 US products, while the US has allowed violations of Cuban patents and trademarks.
Inter partes review (“IPR”) proceedings were originally intended to allow defendants in patent infringement lawsuits to invalidate questionable patents cheaply and quickly. But these proceedings increasingly are being used by parties that are not defendants in active litigation matters at all, write Rich Hung and Alex Hadduck.
The Washington Post reports: The Washington Redskins - an American football team - lost their biggest legal and public relations battle yet in the war over their name after a federal judge on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the NFL team’s federal trademark registrations, opposed for decades by Native American activists who call the moniker disparaging.