Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Patents and public health are sometimes seen as a mismatch, but three prominent international organisations today stepped up their collaboration on ways to facilitate access to medicines by making a better use of the patent system. Effective, reliable and transparent information on patents is necessary to help decision-makers take the best public health approaches for global health coverage, panellists said.
An influential private sector trademark defender is proposing to the World Intellectual Property Organization to undertake creation of an international “notice and takedown” system for alleged online trademark infringers.
And he told Intellectual Property Watch that this will be followed in a few months by a separate proposal for a “notice-and-trackdown” article requiring internet service providers to divulge information about online counterfeiters so they can be gone after.
A recent decision issued by Advocacia-Geral da União (Advocacy-General of the Union) restricts the role performed by Anvisa - the National Agency for Health Surveillance - in examining pharmaceutical patent applications. This may represent a huge setback for commitments made by Brazilian government related to the protection of public health, writes Felipe Carvalho.
The international protection of wines and spirits named after geographical locations has seen renewed attention at the World Trade Organization since the beginning of the year as part of a push to conclude the Doha Round of trade liberalisation. Legal effects and costs of a register for such wines and spirits were addressed last week.
Determining the value of patented inventions is akin to a guessing game, said a speaker at the World Intellectual Property Organization yesterday. Companies should try to spread their patents over related technological innovations rather focusing on one patent, hoping it will be “the philosopher’s stone”.
Developed country pharmaceutical companies today announced their support for an extension of the deadline for poor countries to comply with a global trade agreement on intellectual property rights that would significantly raise their obligations to protect IP. The extension idea has been proposed by the United Kingdom government in a new trade strategy document.
US President Barack Obama this week used an executive order to create two government advisory committees on intellectual property rights enforcement. The committees put IP rights at the highest interagency level possible and have the stated aim of promoting innovation through the protection of such rights.
The storm appears to be subsiding for international patent filings as 2010 showed a cautious recovery in growth, the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization said today. After the first-ever drop in applications in 2009, 2010 filings almost returned to their 2008 level. And China holds pole position in growth numbers.
The United States Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is proposing possible veto power for governments against applications for new top-level domains. NTIA is asking for a change to domain name system management that would allow governments to object to any proposed internet address for any reason, which has not surprisingly stirred debate among some observers, including in Europe.
Pedro Paranaguá writes: Brazil's new Minister of Culture is under severe pressure from civil society groups, academics and some artists. After just a few weeks in power, Minister Ana de Hollanda issued an order to take the Creative Commons license off the Ministry's website. Why is that a problem?
A recent economic survey by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) assessed the expected growth in domestic and international patent filings in 2010 compared to 2009. The highest expected growth rates were reported in Asian countries, with modest and declining growth reported in Europe and the United States respectively.
PARIS - The recently agreed international instrument to facilitate access to genetic resources and the equitable sharing of benefits accrued from those resources opened for signature last week, and the text is already getting mixed reviews from stakeholders.