Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Trade Organization is drawing attention to the importance of multilateralism, suggesting that regional trade agreements may undermine it, that the global economy depends on it, and that it should undergo a thorough analysis at next week's WTO public forum.
A quiet and little-publicised ratification process might be the last hope for those pushing for international adoption of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). But while the Japanese legislature managed to finalise their ratification recently, processes in several ACTA signatory states seem to be stalled. Some may ask whether ACTA will ever become an international treaty.
With talks on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement about to resume, members of Congress are putting pressure on the Obama administration to disclose what it's seeking on intellectual property rights. And civil society groups say that even more worrying than the closed-door nature of the TPP negotiations is the United States' increasing use of bilateral meetings to sway other countries.
Nearly US$25,000 - and growing - in donations has been collected to hand over to Wikileaks if it successfully leaks the top-secret text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement currently under negotiation. The draft text has been blocked from public scrutiny while being shared only with industry.
At least a dozen non-governmental groups from several continents have issued a joint statement opposing apparent copyright language proposed by the United States in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiations. The groups said the draft language, aimed at curbing copyright infringement, could undermine critical copyright exceptions, which are built into laws in order to protect society's access to public knowledge.
A new study sponsored by the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) sheds light on the impact of strong intellectual property protection on access to medicines.
The Mexican Intellectual Property Office (IMPI) last week announced that the Mexican Ambassador in Japan had signed the much debated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Now it thinks it can persuade the country's new Senate to pass it.
At a little-publicised annual meeting of the Transatlantic Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Working Group in Brussels this week representatives of the European Commission, several United States agencies and rights holder agreed that there might be tough times ahead for IPRs and rights holders. Meanwhile, the Commission is under pressure on copyright exceptions for visually impaired readers on the eve of a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting. And the Commission this week introduced new rules on collective societies aimed at easing user access to content.
The recent rejection of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement by the European Parliament was “fundamental” from the perspective of some negotiating partners, and may have proved fatal for the agreement in Mexico, according to an observer.
Today’s overwhelming defeat of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) by the European Parliament could have a resounding effect on the treaty’s prospects for survival, according to sources. Meanwhile, public interest groups are celebrating and copyright holders fuming.