Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen [Editor’s Note, 12 October: Parliament passed the resolution, with amendments, according to informed sources. Details to follow soon.] Members of the European Parliament will vote on 12 October on a resolution that would give the…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch European copyright owners’ organisations, consumer groups and artists’ collecting societies voiced strong differences of opinion on the importance of, and need for, digital rights management (DRM) systems to spur development of Internet content…
New Negotiators In Geneva: European Commission Expert on GIs, Indian Official on Biodiversity. Also, The World's Top 50 IP People, new names at WIPO and the NGOs, and more. In the IP-Watch People News.
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Developing countries say they will push their proposal on biodiversity and the European Union is sharply stepping up its call for enforcement, but otherwise the preliminary agenda of an upcoming World Trade Organization meeting on…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch. Efforts by Belgian publishers’ representative Copiepresse to stop Google from displaying copyrighted content without permission have energized a global publishing industry initiative aimed at resolving the problem. With a trial set in November…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A Swedish political movement seeking drastic changes to intellectual property law is resonating internationally, according to a spokesman for the group called the Pirate Party. The party, whose platform calls for fair and…
The United Kingdom Patent Office should be replaced by an institution with the same power and responsibility that it has today but with an extra duty to also serve the public interest, a group of intellectual property experts has proposed.…
BRUSSELS – A majority of the 400 selected participants at a recent European Commission hearing on the future patent policy in Europe called for more centralisation – in the form of a single patent system or a common litigation system…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch The United Kingdom independent music sector wants content distributors to pay creators for transmitting their works over the Internet, mobile phones and other devices. At a 12 July London roundtable headed by the…
BRUSSELS – The European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Charlie McCreevy, this week said he will pay “particular attention” to intellectual property rights during the coming year, including one last drive to create a European Community patent. “I will…
BRUSSELS – The European Commission today fined Microsoft €280.5 million ($356.35 million) for failing to comply with a 2004 Commission request to provide documents that would make it easier for other companies to develop products that would be interoperable with…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Procedural questions could kill a proposed European Union directive aimed at fighting theft of products, patents and copyrights, after the Dutch Parliament raised jurisdictional objections last week. At issue is the planned EU…