Original news and analysis on international IP policy
WASHINGTON, DC -- What better way to get the music community's message across than sending an army of creators to meet with policymakers. In a nutshell, that's the purpose of Grammys on the Hill, an initiative from the Recording Academy, which organises the prestigious US music awards, and which has also developed a strong advocacy activity.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office today issued a Federal Register notice providing guidance to patent examiners on patent subject matter. The office is seeking public comments on the new guidance.
A number of African countries just joined the newly established African Continental Free Trade Area. However, e-commerce remains very marginal on the continent, which is struggling to keep up and reap the benefits of this booming business platform. During a panel of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development E-Commerce Week, an African entrepreneur gave his vision of what is hindering Africa's e-commerce development, including the lack of awareness of what Africa has to trade.
A group of Asian countries is working towards a regional agreement on electronic commerce. During the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development e-commerce week, less developed countries of this group explained the difficult catch-up they have to fully enter into e-commerce nationally and internationally, particularly because most of their companies are small. Transport businesses, meanwhile, called for special customs rules for small companies to ease their participation in global e-commerce.
The Medicines Patent Pool announced today that it has appointed Charles Gore as new executive director. Gore is founder and former president of the World Hepatitis Alliance.
The sharing economy is booming, disrupting conventional ways of doing business, creating new jobs, and new headaches for policymakers. China is promoting the sharing economy as a national strategy, as explained during the annual United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) electronic commerce event this week, and illustrated by DiDi Chuxing, a leading Chinese mobile-based transportation platform.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and its annual weeklong event focused on electronic commerce inspired a group of World Trade Organization members to launch a roadmap for e-commerce last year. This week, at the start of the fourth UNCTAD E-Commerce Week, a panel commented on the importance of e-commerce discussions at the World Trade Organization, even as some of the WTO membership disagrees on a new negotiating mandate.
Prof. Carlos Correa of Argentina, an influential academic whose analyses of patents and medicines access have informed debates and challenged the status quo for decades, has been named the next executive director of the South Centre. He will take over for Martin Khor, who will be retiring after nine years at the helm. Separately, former South African President Thabo Mbeki was named chair of the Board.
As regulation of data protection is high in the global news feed following Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to the United States Congress, the fourth edition of Electronic Commerce Week of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) opened today.
A wide-ranging list of international nongovernmental organisations today issued a letter to European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström opposing a proposal to establish a "watch list" of countries deemed failing to protect European intellectual property. The groups raised concern that the list would violate World Trade Organization rules on intellectual property, have a chilling effect on developing countries' public health initiatives, and lead to expanded and untenable levels of IP enforcement.