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Golan Case May Put US In Violation Of International Copyright Treaties

A United States federal court recently gave some bad news to the US government and many foreign copyright owners - including the estates of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Dmitry Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, and Igor Stravinsky. The court struck down a US statute which had restored copyright protection to the works of these foreign authors. By limiting copyright restoration, the ruling might prevent the US from fulfilling its obligations under the Berne Convention and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

EPO Looks To Future Technologies, 2010 Leadership Change

PRAGUE - The current revolution in science and information was the topic of this year’s European Patent Forum, which brought together examiners, lawyers, policymakers and other patent professionals to discuss how the pace of the patent system can mesh with today’s whirlwind of technological change.

Meanwhile, European Patent Office (EPO) President Alison Brimelow informed her staff that she will “not be seeking extension” when her current three-year contract is up at the end of June 2010.

Panel: Public Domain Fosters Innovation, More Limitations & Exceptions Needed

The public domain is key to the promotion of innovation and should be fostered, but international intellectual property policies may hinder that process, said speakers at a side event to the last week’s meeting of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property. Limitations and exceptions to copyright should be expanded and made mandatory, policymaking should be based on evidence and the public domain should be clearly defined and listed internationally, they said.

WIPO Pushes Members On Patent Treaty Compliance; US Wants PCT II

The secretariat of the World Intellectual Property Organization is working this week to gain support for a proposal to get countries to better implement the UN organisation’s core revenue-generating instrument, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). But some developing countries are wary of the proposed changes, even as the United States is calling for a new PCT.