Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The World Health Organization Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework Advisory Group wrapped up its first meeting a day early. Scheduled to meet 21-23 November, the 18-member group was supposed to work out details on how to carry out its mandate, according to sources.
Officials from around the world have gathered for the next two weeks at the World Intellectual Property Organization in hopes of resolving the fate of several longstanding copyright policies under debate. The hope of many is that by the end of the copyright committee meeting starting yesterday, WIPO members will be on track to treaties or instruments on audiovisual performances, limitations and exceptions for print-disabled readers and for libraries and archives, and on broadcasters’ rights. And serious negotiations have already begun.
The United States and China made notable progress on a range of intellectual property policy issues in cabinet-level meetings ending today, according to the US government.
Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, has issued a call for new thinking beyond old business models as a way to incentivize creativity in Europe.
The World Health Organization today announced the 18 members of the advisory group that will monitor and report on implementation of the new WHO Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework. The group started its first meeting today.
It has been 10 years since the World Trade Organization adopted the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. The declaration highlighting the public health aspects of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreed at the 2001 WTO ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar was considered a milestone in ensuring greater access to medicines for all.
With protests against draft US legislation like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act ongoing and the European Parliament voting on 17 November for a resolution to request that the United States should be “refraining from unilateral measures to revoke IP addresses or domain names,” politicians are talking a lot about technology for the internet domain name system. But at the same time, engineers are getting more political and are intensively discussing technology providing the tools for blocking - by governments and private parties.
The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) successfully completed its eighth session tonight, making progress on a range of projects and agreeing to set up an ad hoc working group to examine an external report on the UN agency’s global provision of technical assistance.
Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization this week are slogging through a series of documents related to intellectual property and development. But one document, an external report on WIPO’s provision of technical cooperation assistance, has given way to a substantive discussion about how to fully address the report’s findings of the need for improvement at the UN agency.
An advisory group on the new World Health Organization framework agreement on pandemic influenza preparedness is preparing to meet for the first time from 21-23 November.
The smallest countries in the World Trade Organization may get more time to comply with the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) after an agreement today.
The heads of three international organizations in Geneva will address a meeting next week on the subject of 10 years after the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. The 23 November symposium at the Graduate Institute in Geneva involves a range of top officials and experts on the issue.