Category Venues

US Section 301, China, And Technology Transfer: Law And Its Limitations Revisited (Again)

Frederick Abbott writes: On 20 May 2018, US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin announced that the US and China were “putting the trade war on hold” while the two countries seek to “execute the framework” of a broad agreement intended to reduce the US trade deficit in goods with China. According to the joint statement issued on 19 May 2018, “Both sides attach paramount importance to intellectual property protections, and agreed to strengthen cooperation. China will advance relevant amendments to its laws and regulations in this area, including the Patent Law.”

TRIPS Council Debates IP Improving Lives, Competition Law To Increase Medicines Access

Whether intellectual property rights are improving lives or whether they should be reined in by tools such as competition law to increase access to medicine, education, and innovation, was debated this week at the World Trade Organization committee on intellectual property. Also on the agenda was a suggestion by least-developed countries to create incentives for developed country companies and institutions to transfer technologies for the benefit of the poorest countries.

EUIPO Study Looks At State Of IPR Infringement In The EU

A report published today by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) deplores rising volume of intellectual property rights infringement in both immaterial goods and digital content and warns against the economic effects for the Union.

Experts In Geneva: Substandard, Falsified Medicines Not About IP

Falsified and substandard medical products continue to be a global concern, and how those products are characterised is important to avoid confusion, particularly with intellectual property rights infringement. A panel convened by Brazil, India and South Africa yesterday at the World Trade Organization looked at the implications of a new definition of such products at the neighbouring World Health Organization.

Terminando con el acceso no autorizado a los recursos genéticos (biopiratería): Apertura delimitada

El “acceso a los recursos genéticos” y “la participación justa y equitativa de los beneficios que provienen de su utilización” han atribulado las trece Conferencias de las Partes del Convenio de las Naciones Unidas sobre la Diversidad Biológica(CDB), que entró en vigor en 1993. La expresión entre comillas se conoce por sus siglas en inglés como “ABS”. Es el tercer objetivo del Convenio, entrelazado con los primeros dos, que son la conservación y el uso sostenible. A pesar de 25 años de esfuerzos y una bioeconomía de casi un trillón de dólares, pocos son los contratos de acceso que han sido celebrados. De esos pocos, los beneficios monetarios son tan bajos que las partes contratantes (y otros actores) son reacias a divulgarlos, bajo la excusa de “confidencialidad por sensibilidades comerciales”. La ley brasileña de ABS de 2015, que entró en vigor el 6 de noviembre de 2017 por ejemplo, permite que las regalías de las ventas netas sean tan bajas como la décima parte de uno por ciento. En palabras de un erudito jurista, los Usuarios pagan “una miseria por la biodiversidad”.

Artificial Intelligence Applied: ‘Alex’ May Respond To Trademark Filers’ Facial Expressions

A new “virtual assistant” used by the Australian Intellectual Property Office may be able in the future to read the facial expressions of trademark filers and provide them with solutions - with empathy.

In Defense Of Fair Use

Copyright law, to be sustainable, calls for a balance. Under copyright law, creators receive exclusive rights to allow or prevent others from making copies of their works for a limited time as an incentive to create. Users receive benefits from the results of the creator’s labor, perhaps through watching, reading or listening to those results. Users may also benefit pursuant to a license to use the works in other ways. Eventually the works fall into the public domain, allowing further reuse by everyone. Recent litigation involving a graffiti artist and a purveyor of sportswear shows how sometimes a flexible mechanism for balancing the copyright entitlements of creators and users makes sense, writes Roy Kaufman.

WIPO Edges Toward High-Level Meeting To Finish Treaty On IP Rights For Broadcasters

The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee last week stepped back from a lunge toward a long-debated treaty to protect intellectual property rights of broadcasters, but still concluded with a recommendation for the full WIPO membership to consider taking the negotiation to the final political level later this year.

European Patent Office Discusses Patenting Artificial Intelligence

MUNICH -- United States and Chinese patent practitioners this week called for considerations to change patent legislation and allow patenting algorithms in the future. They spoke at a 30 May conference of the European Patent Office in Munich on “Patenting Artificial Intelligence.”