Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Civil society groups say a leaked document from regional free trade negotiations between countries bordering the Pacific Ocean shows the United States favouring giant pharmaceutical companies at the expense of public health. Separately, the tobacco industry is allegedly also trying to push for a clause to prevent plain packaging.
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.
For the past ten years, the United States Supreme Court has steadily chipped away at patent rights. But this term, the court abruptly reversed direction. In two weeks, the high court issued rulings in three patent cases, and in every one upheld the legal rights of inventors. It is unclear, however, how big a win this really was for patent rights.
The US House of Representatives this evening passed HR 1249 – the closest action patent reform has come to being enacted into law in the past 10 years. But there were some changes made to the bill.
Intellectual Property Watch is providing play-by-play action from today’s floor debate of HR 1249, the bill to reform US patent law which is facing a fight. For IP-Watch Subscribers.
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch European Commission Vice President and Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes is not satisfied with the decision of the ICANN Board in Singapore this week to open up the domain name space for new…
US lawmakers this evening agreed to a manager’s amendment to the pending patent reform bill. The legislation could come to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote as soon as tomorrow (22 June). The Senate version, S. 23, was passed in March.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced the appointment of a new deputy commissioner for trademarks, with oversight of examination and processing of applications.
A US judge ruled yesterday that copyright “troll” Righthaven lacked legal authorisation to bring an infringement lawsuit because it did not have ownership of the copyright in question, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The case could have an impact on the future prospects of so-called copyright troll cases, EFF said.