Original news and analysis on international IP policy
On the eve of the 9 June Europe-wide protests against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), journalist Jennifer Baker of IDG met with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Christian Engström (Pirate Party) & Niccolo Rinaldi (ALDE) to discuss the current state of affairs with regard to the ACTA. Watch the video.
The heads of the world's five largest intellectual property offices, who refer to themselves as the IP5, met today to discuss further efforts to improve quality and efficiency in patent examination, and harmonise patent systems. Joining them were industry representatives from each of the regions.
Does the idea of a multifunctional, versatile position-sensitive detector for measuring characteristics of a beam of particles spark ideas for useful products of benefit to society and the economy? If so, then CERN has just the thing for you. In an attempt to boost the utility of its research, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the Geneva-based intergovernmental laboratory, today announced a plan to offer its patented technologies for licence royalty-free in order to promote innovation.
The Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries recently met to discuss major challenges to the global economy, climate change, food security and nutrition, and political and security issues. And the commitments they made on intellectual property rights reflect their current thinking on the issue.
The French "three-strike" law aimed at preventing illegal downloading of protected works on the internet, enacted in October 2009 after much controversy, may be modified by the newly elected French government, according to sources.
The 13th Commercial Court of Appeal recently affirmed the decision of the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg in Russia’s leading P2P case ruling that the social network vKontakte, a Facebook lookalike, is liable for copyright infringement.
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the patenting of essential biological processes.
CIOPORA, an international association of plant breeders, held its annual meeting recently with a focus on novelties in plant patents introduced by the America Invents Act, to become effective on 16 March 2013.
The European Court of Justice recently reaffirmed the limits of copyright protection in computer software.
Switzerland has postponed signature of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) until it has more information from several ongoing processes in Europe, the government said yesterday.
Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) advises developing countries against signing the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, BMZ official Frank Schmiedchen said during a meeting of the Committee of Petitions of the German Parliament today.
The heads of the World Intellectual Property Organization and the European Patent Office today signed a three-year agreement to mutually improve the procedural framework of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).