Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Hundreds of European publishers have issued a call for the European Commission to reject draft remedies put forward by Google to settle concerns about market dominance in web searching and search advertising.
The European Commission (EC) has fined Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck as well as eight other generic manufacturers for delaying market entry of generic medicines by way of patent settlement agreements (also known as “pay-for-delay” agreements).
A guide to key provisions and limitations of the European Union directive on permitted uses of orphan works - those whose creators cannot be found - has been published by the Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL).
In their traditional communiqué, Group of Eight countries at their annual summit welcomed ongoing efforts to negotiate bilateral and multilateral trade deals which they say will allow them to overcome economic uncertainties and shoulder the responsibility to support prosperity worldwide.
During day one of the Summit of the G8 countries at Lough Erne Golf Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland today, President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and the President of the European Commission, Manuel Barroso, jointly announced the formal start of negotiations of the US-EU free trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
European Commission Vice-President responsible for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, today told a US business group that revelations about the United States government's mass surveillance programmes would hurt US businesses, but create opportunities for European business. She also said the US should have been more transparent with the European Union and allow US companies to be more transparent, and risks undermining trust in digital services.
After hours of late night discussion, the European Union Foreign Affairs Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg Friday finally excluded the audiovisual sector from the negotiation mandate for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Poland’s Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bogdan Zdrojewski has called on the country’s Ministry of Justice to create and integrate intellectual property courts into the country’s legal system. Under the plan, the new entities would become departments of regular courts, and they would be solely responsible for handling cases involving intellectual property, including disputes related to authors’ rights, trademarks and patents.
Draft legislation updating UK copyright exceptions is out for comment, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has said.
Ten years after applying for membership, Croatia is finally joining the European Union on 1 July 2013. Tanja Rajić, senior associate at PETOSEVIC, explains how six years of accession negotiations and the adoption of the acquis communautaire have affected intellectual property protection in Croatia and prepared it for becoming a member state.