Category Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge

New QUNO Reports Encourage Plant Variety Protection Alternatives

The Quaker UN Office in Geneva has announced two new publications on intellectual property, agriculture, food and biological diversity.

Special Report: Traditional Knowledge And IP: View From The Ground Up

Participants at a recent conference in South Africa offered insights and some optimism about prospects for local communities to exploit their traditional knowledge to help their economies while at the same time protecting that knowledge.

Top IP-Watch Stories Of 2013: India, Marrakesh Treaty, Seed/Gene Patents, WIPO Election

Looking back on 2013, the list of the most-viewed stories on the Intellectual Property Watch website shows that reporting on activities in India, especially related to patents and public health, continued to draw the most attention. Other top stories were the Marrakesh Treaty on copyright exceptions for blind readers, legal cases involving patents on seeds and on plant and human genes, the election for World Intellectual Property Organization director general, free-trade agreements (including the Wikileaks leak of the IP chapter of the Trans-Atlantic Partnership agreement), Russian copyrights, and 3D printing.

Global Congress On IP And Public Interest Adopts Principles For Negotiations

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.

Convergence Of Who’s Who In IP, Innovation, Public Interest In Africa

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Academics, advocates, lawyers, government officials and others meeting this week have heard of the launch of several new books and research tools to better understand the relationship of intellectual property, development and social issues. In particular, discussion in the early part of the conference focussed on a book revealing evidence from extensive primary research on the ground in 13 countries across the continent.

Revised WIPO Treaty On Appellations Of Origin On Course, Chair Says

Members of an international treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization protecting appellations of origin last week worked on a draft treaty revision, which now includes geographical indications. Treaty signatories aim to hold a high-level negotiation in 2015 to approve the revision. Meanwhile, countries which do not use geographical indications have voiced concerns about the proposed revision.

Cape Town Conference Highlights Innovation, IP And Public Interest

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – Some 350 experts from around the world are gathering here this week to discuss intellectual property rights and innovation as they relate to the public interest.

Revision Of Lisbon Treaty Seen By Some As Discriminatory To National Systems

As countries party to the treaty protecting appellations of origin at the World Intellectual Property Organization are working on a revision of the treaty to include geographical indications, some countries which are not members of the treaty, such as the United States and Australia, are raising concerns about potential implications of the revision.

Critical Moment For Africa’s Small Farmers As ARIPO Decides On Plant Variety Protection

The Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) this week was expected to consider a proposal to move toward a biotechnology-friendly future, but small farmers say the current proposal will damage their ability to exist in the those countries.

Farmers’ Groups Warn ARIPO About Implementing UPOV 91 In Africa

A collective civil society group has raised concerns about a draft Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) plant variety protection law, which is based on the 1991 version of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). The draft law, which may come up for adoption in November, would criminalise farmers' rights and undermine the seed systems in Africa, they said.