Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A recent conference on intellectual property and the public interest concluded with the adoption of public interest principles to guide international trade negotiations and international organisations.
As World Intellectual Property Organization member states launched into discussions on exceptions and limitations to copyright for the benefit of libraries and archives this week, non-governmental organisations were given the opportunity to present their views on the issue. They delivered vibrant, sometimes contradictory, statements on the opportunity for a treaty to preserve exceptions in the international copyright system.
The 2013 Marrakesh Treaty has been applauded by beneficiaries throughout the world for answering the need for wider access to special format works for visually impaired people. However, the path to its implementation, even after it is ratified by enough countries, appears to be strewn with difficulties in developing countries, which will need capacity-building, according to a speaker at a discussion panel organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
The Berne Declaration, a Swiss non-profit, has released results of investigations that found industry-sponsored offshore clinical drug trials in developing countries involve "multiple ethical violations," a problem increased by the patent-based industry business model.
In time for the start of the third round of trade negotiations between the United States and European Union, EU transparency organisation Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) published the first interesting leak on the substance of the talks.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - Public groups this week urged Mark Dybul, head of the Geneva-based Global Fund for HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to reconsider the establishment of a panel to look at tiered pricing for middle income countries, potentially allowing companies to charge them higher prices. And separately, activists reported on progress in South Africa's HIV strategy.
Small businesses form the backbone of the American economy, but many see patent assertion entities (PAEs), or, “patent trolls” and troll lawsuits as serious wrenches thrown into these economic engines of innovation and ideas.
So, Article One Partners (AOP), a global patent research community that crowdsources its research for tech giants and law firms the likes of Microsoft and Google, today launched “Operation Ninja STAR,” a crowdfunding effort to help small businesses defend themselves against PAEs behaving badly.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - Intellectual property rights represent a hurdle to lower-priced, high quality tests of HIV treatment monitoring in developing countries, public health group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors without Borders) said today.
The far-reaching Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement may be even more ambitious than previously thought. A newly leaked alleged recent memorandum and chart giving a rare view of country positions from inside the closed negotiating room showed the 12 countries to be far apart on many issues, especially intellectual property rights, heading into this week’s talks in Singapore. And they suggest the United States is facing pushback to its vigorous efforts to get those differences resolved quickly.
World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry continues to receive criticism from some quarters in the United States technology and intellectual property sector who say he should not be re-elected for a second six-year term next year.
Just as the world of international intellectual property law and policy is ever-changing, so are the faces within it. There’s a new head of the US Commerce Department who has a bold, IP-friendly agenda coming up, and there’s a hole at the helm of the USPTO. The British Prime Minister named an entertainment industry-friendly IP advisor, while Twitter has formed its own PAC and hired its first lobbyist as the social media platform continues to rise in both use and influence. Law firms in the US are bolstering their IP practices, recognising that it’s these issues that spur action most in Congress. Read the latest edition of the IP-Watch People column for an updated list of the latest people news and IP moves.
A study emphasising the positive effect of the patent system on the public domain was presented this week by two of its co-authors as a side event to the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on development.