Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Yesterday, the European Court of Justice ruled in a case pitching Monsanto against European importers of Argentinean soy meal, denying the US seed giant intellectual property rights over the exports of soy meal from Argentina to the European Union.
“Exactly a year ago, a very bad decision was taken” by the World Health Organization that now seems “unscientific and irrational,” said Council of Europe parliamentarian Paul Flynn in a late June presentation of a new report on the WHO's actions during the 2009 influenza pandemic.
But opinions heard at an ongoing review of the WHO’s pandemic response were mixed, with some praising the organisation’s work to protect public health and others critiquing what they say is suspicious secrecy.
LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND - There was progress during the ninth round of negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) this week in Lucerne, negotiators said over the last day, and in their final press communiqué they made promises that “ACTA will not interfere with a signatory's ability to respect fundamental rights and liberties,” it would be consistent with World Trade Organization agreements and certainly “not hinder the cross-border transit of legitimate generic medicine.”
Filing of financial patents seems to be on a parallel upward trend with litigation in the United States, with large companies being prime targets, and individual or small entities owning the patents, according to a well-known US economist. This could be the consequence of low quality patents being granted, he said.
An agreement on international intellectual property rights enforcement now under negotiation in Lucerne, Switzerland runs the risk of ushering in a new and undemocratic precedent for international policymaking that could have long-term damaging effects on critical public policy issues, non-negotiating government representatives and civil society advocates said this week.
The plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and other such regional negotiations are a “bad development” for multilateral agencies, the World Intellectual Property Organization director general has told Intellectual Property Watch.
The United States Supreme Court yesterday handed down an important patent law ruling. By a narrow 5-4 vote, the court held in Bilski v. Kappos that business methods are patentable under US law. But the court provided only limited guidance on how to determine which business methods (and other types of inventions) are indeed patentable.
MUNICH - The staid little Swiss town of Lucerne this week sees round number nine of the negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). While the 11 negotiating parties gather in the Palace Hotel, the Swiss Pirate Party together with their Pirate colleagues from Germany and Switzerland will organise a rally at the Lucerne train station.
A .xxx domain may finally go to the internet root after years of debate. The Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in their official meeting yesterday decided to restart negotations with .xxx applicant ICM registry…
Member states at the World Intellectual Property Organization late Thursday night were unable to reach agreement on a draft chair’s conclusions text summarising a four-day WIPO copyright committee meeting, crashing the prospect of swift progress on improving international access to literary material for the visually impaired.
BRUSSELS - Applicants for new top-level internet domains may face another round of discussions before the long-awaited application period for .nyc, .shop or .gay can happen.
The Obama administration’s release of its national intellectual property strategy yesterday was welcomed by many groups representing businesses and intellectual property holders who said it could serve as an example to other countries.