Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Years after it was permitted under international trade law, the first country has notified the World Trade Organization that it will use a flexibility allowing it to address public health needs by importing a patented…
By Steve Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
In a ruling that surprised many trademark experts in the United States, one of the country's most respected appellate courts recently cut back on the protection given to famous foreign trademarks. If such marks are well known in the US but are not registered or used in the country, they are unprotected by federal law, according to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Por David Cronin para Intellectual Property Watch Los miembros del Parlamento Europeo han decidido aplazar la aceptación del protocolo a un acuerdo de la Organización Mundial del Comercio en materia de patentes sobre medicamentos, a la espera de que los…
¿Está cerrándose la oportunidad de lograr armonización de patentes en la UE? Por Monika Ermert para Intellectual Property Watch MUNICH- A juzgar por los comentarios de algunos funcionarios, tras varios años de debates, podría estarse cerrando la ventana de oportunidad…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A Saturday agreement between US webcasters and SoundExchange, which collects digital royalties for artists and record labels, appears to have cooled some of the heat surrounding a 2 March decision by the US…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen After intense, last-minute discussions, a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) committee decided to renew its current mandate, with a slightly stronger emphasis on the direction of its future work. Meeting Chair I Gusti Agung Wesaka…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
Far from being a bizarre by-product of the online society created by Second Life, a recently launched US intellectual property (IP) infringement case against one of its "avatars" is very much grounded in the real world, legal experts say. However, the fact that the first-of-its-kind case involves a "virtual" product raises interesting legal and social questions, they say.
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have voted to delay approval of a World Trade Organization agreement on patents for medicines, pending European Union governments giving greater political and financial support to poor…
Below is the draft chair’s text under discussion at the 3-12 July World Intellectual Property Organization Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). The committee has been in informal and “informal informal” (very small…
Por William New Luego de un paréntesis de un año, es probable que la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual renueve su plan de acción sobre cuestiones relativas a la política de patentes en 2008, después de que los miembros…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen With a day remaining in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) committee meeting on traditional knowledge and genetic resources, the chair has moved to informal consultations with regional coordinators to discuss the future of the…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen National intellectual property protection regimes for traditional knowledge in Peru and China were seen as somewhat effective by panelists at a side-event to a World Intellectual Property Organization meeting this week, but the general message…