Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A private sector-led effort to compile a global register of geographical indications is gaining support, topped by a sizeable donation from the Italian government. The effort is being undertaken outside the World Trade Organization in spite of an agreed - but long stalled - mandate at WTO to create a register.
A range of some of the world’s top public and private partners in public health today announced an “unprecedented” level of cooperation to fight diseases primarily afflicting poorest populations worldwide for which there is insufficient research and development and inadequate health systems. But how the initiative will tie in with governments’ efforts at the World Health Organization to craft a global framework to address these issues remains to be seen.
The World Health Organization Executive Board this week agreed to propose to the May World Health Assembly the establishment of a mechanism for international collaboration on counterfeit and substandard medical products, but with the exclusion of trade and intellectual property issues.
While most of the 27 member states of the European Union signed the much-debated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) yesterday in Tokyo, joining the United States, Japan and other ACTA partners, hackers brought down the website of the European Parliament, and a key official stepped down. This may be only the beginning of the protests and petitioning.
Two top international organisations in Geneva are working to adapt to trends in global intellectual property systems with an eye toward contributing to a positive economic impact, officials told a private sector conference this week. But they heard a complex message about the role of IP in addressing public policy concerns.
The Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Michel Kazatchkine, announced that he would step down by 16 March in a letter published on the Fund’s website.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) yesterday released a business guide to key intellectual property policy issues worldwide.
In the annual State of Union address last night, US President Obama announced a new Trade Enforcement Unit that includes anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting.
The European Patent Office Economic and Scientific Advisory Board today announced its priorities for research, including patents fees, thickets and quality.
A high-level, highly technical UN meeting that occurs about once every four years at which key decisions are made about wireless communications opened today in Geneva. The meeting comes as devices such as smart phones and tablets are devouring many times more spectrum than mobile phones of the past.
The blog Monday Note has an analysis today on digital piracy in light of the media frenzy over the US Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill last week. The analysis suggests that anti-piracy measures like France's Hadopi are not working, but there is evidence that offering competitive legitimate download sites does work.
French online rights group La Quadrature du Net this week announced an analysis asserting that in more than half of European Union countries, telecommunications operators engage in "illegitimate" restrictions of their users' access.