Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Delegates to the World Intellectual Property Organization this week are expected to have a focussed session on the protection of industrial designs. The last meeting of the committee in charge of this issue ended disappointingly for proponents of a quick path to a treaty on industrial design, but the committee was mandated by the October WIPO General Assembly to expedite work on the matter.
More broadband rollout and better access to networks everywhere – that’s a position shared by participants at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which started last week in Dubai. And this is where the consensus ends, according to a more sceptical reading on progress made in negotiations to review the future International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR).
Brussels, Belgium - As the value of intellectual property reaches unprecedented heights, policymakers, business leaders, and legal experts discussed the need for international patent harmonisation during a two-day patent conference in Brussels last week. With the vote on the European unitary patent and common litigation system just days away from parliamentary vote, participants focussed on what the new system may mean to business.
World Trade Organization negotiations to establish a multilateral register of geographical indications continue to be stalled over whether talks should apply only to wines and spirits as mandated, or can extend to other products and include talks on disclosure of origin in genetic material, the negotiations chair reported to the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) today. He suggested a slightly different approach in the coming year.
A happy mood was in order at the close of a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting on the protection of product names indicating their origin, particular qualities and reputation. Geographical indications are being considered for the same recognition and protection as appellations of origin through the revision of a current international instrument.
There has been a tidal wave of severe criticism of the South African government’s proposed legislation to provide for protection for traditional knowledge in domestic South African law, writes Prof. Owen Dean. Now, the criticism seems to align with accepted international views.
The United States Congress passed a bill on 5 December that implements several international treaty obligations, including a treaty on industrial design, according to sources. The bill now heads to President Obama for signature.
The European Commission today (5 December) agreed on a process to ensure copyright is best suited for the digital age with the aim of possible legislative reform in 2014. Commissioners in a meeting decided to launch a stakeholder dialogue immediately, and to complete market studies, impact assessment and legal drafting work.
A diverse group of more than two dozen groups representing libraries, digital civil liberties, free software and an open, user-friendly internet has called on European commissioners to refrain from overly restrictive copyright licensing policies and to consider flexibilities to copyright to encourage knowledge access. The commissioners were expected to meet today to discuss possible changes to EU copyright law.
Preliminary findings of a survey aimed at mapping the current prevailing ideas on intellectual property confirmed recognised trends that academics and intergovernmental IP professionals look more favourably on weaker IP protection, and traditional North-South differences toward IP rights are becoming less clear cut. It also found that policymakers tend to rely heavily on statistics from industry to help them with their decisions, whether reliable or not.
The World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) has affirmed the right to freedom of information online, the secretariat of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said in a press release on day two in Dubai, Qatar, where over 160 country delegations since yesterday are talking about the future global telecommunications rules.
Groups representing European publishers, writers and collective management organisations are urging the European Commission to support their interests as it considers initiatives on copyright policy this week. The groups asked the Commission to back stronger copyright and resist calls for greater exceptions and limitations to copyright.