Original news and analysis on international IP policy
CAIRO - The launch this week on the new campus of American University in Cairo of a new centre and a new book on access to knowledge in Egypt offered a view on the complexities of the issues and the challenges developing countries face to ensure global intellectual property rights are incorporated into their legal systems in the most locally productive ways possible.
The United States Department of Justice yesterday told the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that progress had been made on its concerns in the settlement allowing internet search giant Google to scan millions of books into a database. But the government lawyers continue to have doubts on copyright, class certification and antitrust issues, they said.
Along with a domestic agenda that includes patent reform and improving the efficiency of the US Patent and Trademark Office, the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) this year also is eyeing issues at the international level, such as genetic resources, environmental technologies and international patent harmonisation.
With the United States Congress attempting to wrap up healthcare – a move made more difficult after a Republican won a traditionally Democratic US Senate seat in January - issues such as tax increases for the nation’s largest financial institutions, energy reform and others may take centre stage. But that’s not to say there is not some room for intellectual property issues to be considered. Upcoming issues may include patent reform, biologic drugs, internet neutrality, enforcement, and performance rights.
China is expected to implement changes that will allow foreign distributors to import audiovisual entertainment products in China without trade being narrowed by state-owned channels after it lost its dispute case against the United States at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The recommendations of the dispute settlement panel and the Appellate Body were adopted today by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.
Il s’agit d’une utilisation peu conventionnelle de la loi sur le droit d’auteur, mais si Omega SA gagne son procès devant la Cour suprême des États-Unis, le célèbre horloger suisse aura conçu une nouvelle arme puissante contre l’importation de produits du marché gris sur le sol américain.
2010 could be a big year for intellectual property law in the United States. Five cases now working their way through the courts may bring major changes to the country’s patent and copyright laws, affect hundreds billions of dollars in commerce, and enable a revolutionary new use for the internet.
It’s an unconventional use of copyright law. But if Omega SA wins its case before the US Supreme Court, the famous Swiss watch company will have established a powerful new weapon against grey market goods in that country.
A balancing of the rights of authors and consumers, the re-introduction of a private copying exception, a remixing permission and a new regulatory agency for copyright issues are among the core points the Brazilian Ministry of Culture has planned for the new copyright law. But at the Third Conference on Copyright and the Public Interest in São Paulo a month ago, the Ministry emphasised that the bits and pieces shown to the audience were not from an actual law draft ("anteprojeto") but only a preliminary proposal for formulating such a draft. The bill still has not been published to date. The delay in releasing the bill for public consultation now threatens the work of more than two years on the reform.
La récente décision d’un juge argentin d’abandonner les poursuites engagées contre un professeur de philosophie accusé de violation de droit d’auteur est considérée par les défenseurs de la cause de l’accès aux œuvres comme un nouveau moyen d’attirer l’attention sur les problèmes liés au droit d’auteur en Amérique Latine.