Original news and analysis on international IP policy
NAGOYA, JAPAN - Negotiations on a legal international instrument to prevent biopiracy and ensure that resource holders are compensated on Thursday continued to demand the attention of delegates in the closed-door discussions here. Meanwhile, civil society argued that the Convention on Biological Diversity is at a critical point while a research institute provided a model agreement for providers and users of genetic resources.
NAGOYA, JAPAN - Discussions on a draft protocol to prevent biopiracy were intense again on Wednesday, with night sessions going late as delegation try to find common language on a legally binding instrument. Around the discussions, undertaken mostly behind closed doors, side events convened by civil society are warning about numerous cases of biopiracy, and the urgent need for a meaningful protocol.
Copyright law is not always a barrier to access to knowledge, but lack of adequate or predicable copyright enforcement in developing countries can prevent the evolution of their own local creative industries, said several representatives from such industries yesterday.
NAGOYA, JAPAN - Prospects for completing and approving a protocol protecting natural resources from biopiracy and providing equitable sharing of benefits derived from the commercial use of those resources are promising, according to delegates. But hard negotiations lie ahead if they are to meet a deadline to present an agreed draft protocol to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by the end of this week.
This week, global attention will be focussed on hopes to reach an international agreement aimed at giving the world a better chance to reduce the loss of biodiversity and ensure benefits are being shared. Intellectual Property Watch will be in Nagoya, Japan to report on the negotiations.
Now available for Intellectual Property Watch readers: Email alerts for the IP-Watch Burble microblog, our breaking news briefs. A free service available to all, just sign up for email alerts here if you don't already receive them.
If you already receive IP-Watch email alerts, just scroll to the bottom of any email you receive (like this one) and click the link under "If you would like to modify the settings of your subscription," which takes you to your individualised settings. Then add Burble to your categories.
And of course you can also follow us on Twitter or by RSS feed, see www.ip-watch.org.
If you have any questions, please contact us at info@ip-watch.ch.
A leading indigenous negotiator for a UN protocol on biodiversity access and benefit sharing says the process will likely yield a highly diluted, rights-poor protocol and that Indigenous Peoples' negotiating leverage is slipping.
Member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization this week set in motion negotiations that could lead to international treaties or other instruments on exceptions and limitations to copyright, the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore, and harmonisation of industrial design laws. Negotiations won’t be without difficulty, however.
Substantive progress eluded the negotiators of a draft protocol on biodiversity access and benefit sharing last week in Montreal, according to participating sources. The third attempt at finding consensus on key aspects of the text was unsuccessful and negotiations will carry on at the major United Nations meeting on biodiversity next month in Japan.
India’s laws on traditional knowledge are yielding interesting positive and negative results, writes Mohan Dewan.
The World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement has sparked decades of international debate over whether exporting stronger intellectual property norms to developing countries is beneficial or harmful.
Some African nations signed a protocol on the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore at the beginning of August gaining the praise of the World Intellectual Property Organization. However, a United Nations report launched in January warned against the application of western legal and economic principles to collectively owned knowledge in traditional communities.