Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The committee on patents at the World Intellectual Property Organization is set to be re-energised next week as it tackles four new reports, and addresses an ongoing question of the relationship of patent rights to wider policy issues on climate change and other environmental issues, public health, and food security.
The genetic revolution has come to food, as debates over how to deal with future pressures of population and climate change look to agricultural technology in hope of answers. But questions still remain over who owns the technology, who will do the research, and what forms of - and even whether - biotechnology is appropriate to human needs and the needs of smallholding farmers.
Officials from two lawyerly United Nations agencies met recently to discuss their roles and build cooperation in intellectual property finance, especially in light of the global economic crisis.
The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office on Monday published a proposal for a “rights agency” that would tackle problems related to digital copyright. The envisioned agency that would be managed and funded by rights owners and take up a two-fold task by facilitating the creation of a digital market and preventing and reducing online piracy.
Bennett Lincoff writes: If Choruss abandons the time-tested approach of licensing and relies instead on covenants not to sue, it will facilitate a brazen money grab by the major labels it represents, leaving songwriters, recording artists and music publishers empty-handed, and college students holding the bag.
LYON, FRANCE – At the cutting edge of medical technology lie new hopes for patients, but also serious ethical concerns and potential intellectual property snags. Read More...
Santiago Roca escriba: La Unión Europea está solicitando mas extensiones en propiedad intelectual que los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica en la negociación del tratado de libre comercio.
NAIROBI - Governments in Kenya and other developing nations must be willing to provide financial incentives if they expect companies to carry out research and development of drugs specifically tailored to those countries' needs, a conference in Nairobi was told last week.
A record number of cybersquatting complaints were filed at the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2008, and the organisation is preparing for a potentially much larger set of concerns as the launch of an unknown number of new domains approaches.
The World Health Organization on Friday issued a statement on a high-profile debate over Dutch customs authorities’ delays of shipments of legitimate generic pharmaceuticals passing through the European country on their way to patients in developing countries. The goods were apparently believed to be counterfeit medicines.
With over 1 million patent applications backlogged at the US Patent & Trademark Office, IBM legal counsel Steven Bennett and David Kappos urge adoption of a deferred examination process, which they argue will benefit USPTO, applicants and the public.
World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy on Wednesday kicked off informal talks on two key intellectual property issues that have been stalled by disagreements on the forum and mandate for their discussion.