Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New A prevailing attitude among employees at the World Intellectual Property Organization is a “lack of pride” in the United Nations body and an acceptance of needed change to the organisational culture, according to a new report. The…
By Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch
A patent infringement case brought by US technology firm Qualcomm against Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia at the US-based International Trade Commission (ITC) has been reinvigorated, with a hearing scheduled for 10 September.
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Halfway into a 10-day committee meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), friction was rising between members seeking to prod the slow-moving committee to begin consideration of an international instrument for the protection of…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Belgian Internet service provider (ISP) Scarlet Extended Ltd. (formerly Tiscali) must filter infringing music downloads, the Brussels Court of First Instance ruled recently. The decision, the first of its kind in Europe, dismissed…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch After four years of evermore controversial debate the German Parliament late Thursday passed another reform of the German Copyright Law intended to make updates for the digital age. But some are already planning…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Officials from the governments of China and India discussed challenges in developing national strategies for intellectual property and innovation at a recent colloquium, but common to both countries were aims to boost local innovation by…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A longstanding committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) considering how traditional knowledge and genetic resources may best be protected against misuse has more on its plate than ever heading into the final meeting…
Por William New El 22 de junio, los miembros de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual recomendaron que las negociaciones para un tratado propuesto sobre radiodifusión y difusión por cable regresen al ámbito del comité para que allí se…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch
MUNICH - After years of debate, the window of opportunity could be closing for the proposed next step for harmonising the European patent system by creating a centralised European patent court, judging by comments from officials.
German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, at a two-day symposium on the Future of the European Patent Jurisdiction in Munich this week, said that if European governments were unable to agree on an overall concept, "we should have the courage to put an end to the discussion and stay with the status quo."
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch A fight has begun over the virtual existence of Germany’s capital: Does a .berlin address space have a right to exist beside the old standby berlin.de? The outcome of the fight could have…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A recent Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) high-level meeting on boosting the development of medicines for neglected diseases mainly found in developing countries, focused on a new model under which governments promise up-front…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Webcasters across the United States fell silent on 26 June in an effort to influence the passage of legislation reversing royalty rate increases many say will kill radio delivered over the Internet. The…