Original news and analysis on international IP policy
At mid-point of the annual World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly, numerous items are unresolved, and several facilitators are in charge of finding consensus on draft decisions, in particular on norm-setting issues and the budget of the UN organisation.
The governing body of the international plant treaty is holding its annual meeting this week with a number of issues to go through, in particular the adoption of the next biennium budget, and the funding strategy of the treaty.
In a new report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights examines the implications of patent policy for the right to science and culture. She gives a number of recommendations calling for countries to refrain from granting stringent patent protection, and respect their human right obligations.
World Intellectual Property Organization members called for swift adoption of new treaties at the outset of the organisation's annual General Assemblies this week.
The fate of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee dedicated to finding solutions to protect traditional knowledge, generic resources, and folklore is being actively discussed informally at the organisation's general assembly.
Negotiations for new global policies on intellectual property has become more challenging due to a greater competition in innovation, knowledge asymmetries, and the push for bilateral and regional treaties, the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization said today.
It is a healthy trend that the awareness on GI is on the rise in India. However, the misuse of GI legislation also is rampant. Recent past has witnessed many instances of inappropriate GI Registrations, writes Praveen Raj.
A conference involving European governments and industry on how to comply with the new European Union rules on access and benefit sharing, organised by the International Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by the agriculture industry, is taking place this week in Paris. Seemingly contrary to the subject of access and sharing, the event is closed to the public and media.
In a couple of weeks, the World Intellectual Property Organization will hold its annual General Assembly. The African Group is asking the Assembly transform the committee devoted to finding a way to protect genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore from misappropriation into a standing committee. This would allow the committee to avoid seeking the renewal of its existence every two years, which it faces again at this year’s Assembly.
A new paper by a Norwegian researcher finds that recent legislation efforts on plant variety protection in Africa go beyond the requirements of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).
The Munich Oktoberfest, the world-famous beer festival, is a display for a range of inventions, according to the Munich-based European Patent Office. A search in the patent database of the office revealed there are more than 2,000 European patents in every beer tent.
The normative work at the World Intellectual Property Organization on the protection of traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and folklore was suspended last year. In the lead-up to the 2015 WIPO General Assembly, the United States has proposed to discontinue the mandate of the committee working on the subject. The US suggests replacing the committee with seminars, studies, and an experts working group. Meanwhile, Switzerland, on behalf of a group of countries, has proposed that the committee's work resume. And still other countries may be seeking to make the committee a permanent feature at the UN agency.