Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization have started trying to better clarify the different positions countries have on the protection of traditional knowledge. Today facilitators to the discussions provided textual suggestions on the objective of a potential treaty, the definition of traditional knowledge, and whom the treaty should benefit.
How can traditional knowledge be protected against misappropriation and who should benefit from this protection is at the heart of discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week. After over a two-year hiatus, WIPO delegates are resuming discussions this week on a potential treaty protecting traditional knowledge. The week’s focus is to find common understanding of core issues, such as the definition of traditional knowledge, and the scope of protection.
The government of Switzerland has issued a defence of its national law on disclosure of origin of genetic resources in patent applications, finding fault with the interpretation of its law by the United States. The Swiss response comes on the eve of a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting on related issues.
NAIROBI, Kenya -- At a market stall in Kariokor some 300 metres from Kenya’s capital Nairobi city centre, Stephen Musyoka is busy at work making covers for handwoven baskets, a traditional sisal fibre shopping basket known as Kiondo made by older women from different communities in Kenya.
Adopted in May, the first Indian intellectual property policy brought some concerns that the focus on IP rights might dampen India’s willingness to use the IP flexibilities to safeguard national policy space. It was also perceived by some as giving in to pressure from the foreign pharmaceutical industry for India to strengthen patent protection. However, a high level Indian official in an interview this week said the policy caters to Indian development needs and India is aware of its pioneering role in certain sectors like access to medicines.
Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary at the Indian Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion Ministry of Commerce & Industry sat down with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez to describe how India's IP policy came into being, to what aim, what it is expected to change in the Indian IP landscape, and how Indian is standing fast to its principle of balance.
A recent patent granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to a Colombian company stated where the genetic resource of the invention was taken from and described the access and benefit-sharing agreement made with indigenous communities. This might be the first time that such a statement appears in a US patent, according to a source.
Small farmers around the world are threatened by new free trade agreements, a civil society group has argued. Those agreements go beyond the requirements of agreed international intellectual property rules and jeopardise the ability of small farmers to save, produce, and exchange seeds, the group said.
Next week, the French Senate is due to consider a bill on biodiversity for the third time. That bill, which could be modifying several legislations, might allow for the sharing and selling by non-governmental organisations of seeds in the public domain to non-commercial buyers, which is so far not permitted under the current French legislation, according to sources.
World Health Organization member states have until 15 July to submit views on a five-year-old mechanism allowing for swifter sharing of pandemic influenza viruses and benefit-sharing measures, according to the group tasked with providing a report on the review.
A new book provides ways for public research to avoid legal battles over genetic resources in the fields of agriculture, biomedicine, environmental management and microbiology by making best use of an international protocol on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing.
The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) last week hosted a meeting of experts in Harare, Zimbabwe, to review the Draft Regulations for the Implementation of the Arusha Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.
World Intellectual Property Organization members negotiating for an instrument to protect against theft of genetic resources last week agreed on a new text with more options on legal terms, effectively moving the talks forward. In this round of talks, the African Group showed signs of moving off its position of revoking patents for violators, while the United States came out strongly against disclosure of origin at the expense of amiable relations with key allies.