Original news and analysis on international IP policy
As the Novartis Glivec patent case in India reaches the final phase of a long-running legal battle, there’s one point on which both the Swiss pharmaceutical company and its critics agree: the significance of this case goes far beyond the protection of a single medication.
It was obviously a moment of some embarrassment for the US Department of Commerce and the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
A training programme on intellectual property organised by the United States with several partners to be held in Africa in April has been postponed under pressure to make the programme more transparent and representative of all stakeholders.
The European Union's progress of adopting the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiated last year has been suspended pending a ruling by Europe's highest court, the European Trade Commissioner announced yesterday.
Precious little is known publicly about the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement being negotiated by the United States and other Pacific-bordering nations, but some sources say the agreement could contain some of the strongest language on intellectual property rights that has come under attack in other agreements. US trade negotiators, meanwhile, say they are consulting stakeholders widely.
Europeans came out by the thousands this week to protest the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), as it goes before the parliament and the remaining governments that have not yet signed on. But a large number of industry associations sent a letter pushing officials to carefully consider the agreement before dismissing it under popular pressure.
US President Obama's proposal for the fiscal year 2013 budget, released today, raises or maintains spending in a number of key areas for technology and innovation, according to an industry analysis.
Microsoft Corporation has issued a statement that it will not seek injunctions on its standard essential patents in keeping with its promises to international standards organisations. It further said it will make those essential patents available for licence without condition.
For years, some developing countries have insisted that developed countries – which own the vast majority of intellectual property rights – take a singular focus when it comes to offering technical assistance on IP rights: the protection of “northern” property. In recent years, negotiations in venues like the World Intellectual Property Organization have sought to ensure that such assistance also highlight the creation of local IP rights as well as the availability of flexibilities developing countries have under international rules for IP.
The major US copyright industries today issued a list they said “documents rampant online and physical piracy of copyrighted works and severe market access barriers.” Public interest groups will be watching closely to see if the list submitted to the US government is incorporated wholesale into a package of government assertions of inadequate protection of US intellectual property rights by trading partners.
The European Union and India today will engage in a high-level meeting in New Delhi with an agenda that includes energy and climate, research and development, and information and communications technologies. But as they enter the meeting, an international health agency and a powerful health advocacy group have issued statements of concern that intellectual property provisions in a bilateral free trade agreement under negotiation will stifle critical generic medicines production in India, putting thousands of poor patients at risk worldwide.
A new publication by a well-known open access advocate proposes a business model for sharing content online that would recognise sharing as a right.