Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has launched a collaborative project with five universities in India, United Kingdom, and the United States to help with the research on a debilitating neglected disease.
Years of discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization on a treaty protecting broadcasting organisations against piracy of their signals have not been enough to reach consensus language on core principles, such as who and what to protect, and what kind of rights should be granted. This week the newly appointed committee chair suggested that an informal text prepared by the previous chair be made a formal document to serve as a basis for further textual discussions.
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Yeah, right.
Most businesses think protecting their intellectual property is their own responsibility, and it is. But what about when your intellectual property rights are violated by an evildoer? Who are you going to call?
E-commerce represents the micro and the massive in business. It offers tremendous potential for business enterprises to access global markets and is there for organisations such as sole traders through small and medium outlets to global giants such as Alibaba and Amazon.
For its third E-Commerce Week from 24-28 April UNCTAD (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development had the theme, "Towards Inclusive E-Commerce."
The World Health Organization Bulletin this month has an article about the need for new models of research and development for tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance. The article describes a new funding framework called the 3P Project.
A packed week is underway for the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee. Delegates are hoping to find agreement on core principles of a treaty protecting broadcasting organisations' rights, and continue work on possible limitations and exceptions to copyright for education, libraries, and research. In addition, they will decide if they want to work on the issue of resale right, and will consider copyright in the digital environment.
As virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies emerge, so do legal questions arising from their use. While the issues are still mostly hypothetical, they implicate, among other areas, intellectual property rights, lawyers say.
Register Now for The Global Debate on Intellectual Property, Trade and Development: Past, Present and Future - A Conference in Honour of Pedro Roffe, taking place on 15 June at the University of Geneva, Uni-Bastions, Geneva, Switzerland. Registration is open and free, see details.
In a judgment this week, the European Court of Justice ruled that "the sale of a multimedia player which enables films that are available illegally on the internet to be viewed easily and for free on a television screen could constitute an infringement of copyright“ (C:2017:300).
The Germany-based OpenSourceSeeds initiative this month started to offer open source-licensed seeds in an effort to strengthen a form of “copyleft” for new plant varieties. The goal, according to the organisation established by academics, activists and breeders and establish a non-private seed sector as a second pillar alongside private plant breeding.
WARSAW – Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage is drafting a new law on collective rights management which is to implement the relevant European Union legislation into Polish law. However, a think tank with close ties to the government has released a report that points to the relatively high operational costs of the authors’ and creators’ organisations, and could pave the way for further modifications to the system.
Cynthia Ho writes: In the first known investment dispute regarding patents, Eli Lilly & Co v. Canada, Canada recently prevailed over the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. Although Canada won in a unanimous decision, the ruling does not, however, guarantee domestic discretion going forward, contrary to the suggestion of some.