Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Broad new support emerged this week for a proposal to amend World Trade Organization rules on intellectual property to better protect countries’ biological resources, while efforts to increase discussions on intellectual property protection remain unresolved.…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – The European Union should stop demanding that poor countries apply its intellectual property rules to medicines through trade negotiations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc, legal experts argued at…
Por Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen La propiedad intelectual constituyó un tema fundamental en la Asamblea Mundial de la Salud de 2007, celebrada en mayo, en la que se llegó a un acuerdo sobre diversas resoluciones relativas a la innovación y…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A ruling by the Helsinki, Finland, District Court could have far-reaching implications for the use of technical protection measures (TPMs) in Europe, according to legal experts. The 25 May decision held that the…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Next week’s meeting of the World Trade Organization’s intellectual property committee is expected to be “business as usual,” continuing work on difficult topics, including the committee’s role in the enforcement of intellectual property rights. On…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch
While the direct impact of the recent landmark US Supreme Court decision in Teleflex v. KSR on patent law and practice will be felt only in the United States, the case could indirectly spark changes to European patent processes, experts said. Its focus on the troublesome question of when an invention is "obvious," however, means it probably will not help global efforts to harmonise national patent systems, they said.
By Steve Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch
As more and more commerce crosses national borders, so do more and more items seen as infringing on patents. And patent holders are making a case for stronger international rules on enforcement to protect themselves.
International intellectual property treaties enable an inventor to file one patent application and obtain patent rights in multiple countries, but the treaties do not provide similar mechanisms for multinational enforcement. A patentee can sue in each country where infringement occurs, but this is often prohibitively expensive, they say.
By William New The developing countries that in 2004 proposed an agenda for reform of the World Intellectual Property Organization toward stronger consideration of developing country needs are exploring a compromise in advance of the next WIPO meeting on the…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) this week agreed on principles for sharing avian influenza virus samples through a global network. But the real terms and new guidelines related to intellectual property rights were…
Por William New Estados Unidos, Japón, el Reino Unido y Suiza, en pos de su preocupación por las cuestiones de responsabilidad y liderazgo que se plantean en la Organización Mundial de Propiedad Intelectual (OMPI), exigen respuestas con respecto a las…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen After much discussion and hard-won willingness to shift positions on what a chair referred to as a “difficult resolution,” member states concluded the 2007 World Health Assembly on 23 May with the adoption of an…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch The United States government and the US creative industries last week signalled a new crackdown on intellectual property (IP) infringement at home and abroad. In a flurry of activity, the Bush administration proposed…