Original news and analysis on international IP policy
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…
In a new European Union communication to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the ongoing agriculture negotiations, the EU has moved its call for higher intellectual property rights protection for product names deriving from geographical locations to the top of…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch The French Senate on 10 May approved legislation aimed at aligning the country’s intellectual property law with the European Union Copyright Directive. The Senate package differs in several key respects from the one…
The European Patent Office (EPO) recently completed the first phase of a “scenario for the future” project that will analyse the future of the intellectual property system with a 2020 horizon and try to determine the implications for Europe in…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch A German scientist who would like to read an online book owned by another department of his university soon may have to travel to the department and read it on site instead if…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Editor’s Note: The National Assembly adopted the legislation on 21 March by a vote of 286 in favour and 193 against. It will now go to the Senate in May, according to reports.…
PRAGUE – Les groupes industriels pro-brevets, qui ont investi des sommes considérables pour influencer les débats au sein de l’Europe sur un projet de directive – finalement rejeté – en matière de brevetabilité des inventions mises en oeuvre par ordinateur,…