Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Efforts to modernise Britain’s creaking copyright regime sped up over the summer as the government accepted recommendations for major changes to the system, Parliament opened an inquiry into the matter, and the Intellectual Property Office said updating the rules could significantly boost the UK economy.
The annual conference of the European Policy for Intellectual Property Association on 8-9 September in Brussels will bring together leading figures in the international IP community to look at contemporary issues in IP policy.
India and the European Union announced a written agreement yesterday that puts more conditions on EU customs authorities before they can stop shipments of generic pharmaceuticals passing through Europe. No longer is the existence of an EU patent on passing generics sufficient cause to stop shipments. The agreement suspends a World Trade Organization dispute started by India last year.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) under negotiation by a group of countries including those in the European Union is more ambitious than current EU law and risks problems for access to medicines, concluded a recent study commissioned by the European Parliament Committee on International Trade. But the study stops short of calling for a flat rejection of the agreement.
The European Commission yesterday announced the availability of nearly €7 billion euros (nearly US$10 billion) to boost innovation, its biggest grant ever for research and development. The move is predicted to create 174,000 jobs in the short-term and some 450,000 jobs and €80 billion in economic growth over the next 15 years.
The European Commission today presented its annual report on customs activities related to intellectual property rights (IPR) infringing goods, finding sharp increases in some areas and leading to calls for new enforcement measures.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is holding a two-day meeting to increase awareness of intellectual property rights throughout the region.
The European Organisaton for Nuclear Research (CERN) today issued an open hardware licence for electronic designs, following its principle of “open science.”
The governments of Spain and Italy have filed complaints with the European Court of Justice calling for the annullment of a March European Council decision to create an EU unitary patent.
A high-level meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is expected to pass a set of "principles on internet policymaking" tomorrow. But over 80 non-governmental groups have announced they will not sign on to the communiqué.
A new association is being launched this week in Brussels with the mission to promote the digital public domain. The move comes in the face of heavy lobbying for stronger copyright protection.