Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Pedro Paranaguá writes: Brazil's new Minister of Culture is under severe pressure from civil society groups, academics and some artists. After just a few weeks in power, Minister Ana de Hollanda issued an order to take the Creative Commons license off the Ministry's website. Why is that a problem?
Un groupe d’experts en droit de la propriété intellectuelle, issus d’universités allemandes, britanniques, néerlandaises, françaises et espagnoles, a conclu que l’Accord Commercial Relatif à la Contrefaçon (plus connu sous le sigle anglais ACTA) récemment finalisé n’est pas entièrement conforme au droit communautaire et qu’il va au-delà du droit international sur certains aspects.
The European Union is failing to keep pace with key competitor nations and is in need of a radical new, greatly simplified, approach to research and innovation, the European Commission said today. And an element of what is needed is a European-wide patent.
An American industry representative with European ties has been named to take over the role of coordinating and communicating US international policy on patents and trademarks. Meanwhile, a key civil society lawyer became US manager of Doctors without Borders Access to Medicines campaign in the United States. And a music industry lawyer central to several landmark copyright cases has been nominated to be the next solicitor general. Catch these and the new faces at the trade associations and law firms in the latest edition of the IP-Watch People Column.
Think tanks can be a godsend for reporters with a looming deadline. Almost invariably, they are staffed with articulate policy specialists, adept at summarising complex issues in a few quotable sentences. Frequently, too, the think tanks have neutral-sounding names, so a reader or viewer of news reports can easily believe that they are independent of vested interests.
Closer inspection reveals that many of these “independent” bodies are in fact heavily reliant on corporate donations. This is especially the case for a number of think tanks working on intellectual property.
American lawmakers aren’t wasting any time getting down to business after President Obama stressed the importance of spurring innovation during his annual State of the Union address this week and cited the need for the United States to regain its competitive edge, particularly when up against countries such as China and India. A slew of related bills are emerging in Congress.
The recently completed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is not fully consistent with European Union law and goes beyond international law in some of its aspects, concluded a group of intellectual property law experts from universities in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
A panoramic view of the IP situation in the Caribbean would present to the observer a carnival of Olympic size replete with politicians, diplomats, rights advocates, consumer groups, law enforcement, and impotent jurists, all gyrating discordantly to the WIPO band while Caribbean citizens look on, or are pulled or shoved in, writes Abiola Inniss.
Comcast gave money to the vast majority of the 97 members of the US House of Representatives that signed a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging approval of a merger between cable company Comcast and broadcaster NBC Universal, according…
The Digital Agenda's hoped-for role as a key growth driver for Europe’s flagging economy has pushed intellectual property issues into a high-priority spot on the EU’s policy agenda for 2011. In an effort to boost job creation and innovation, the European Commission is looking to improve online content licensing, access and protection. And despite continuing opposition from several countries, the long-awaited European patent is finally moving forward. Debate is also heating up on new ways to encourage biomedical innovation, and on a proposed EU-India free trade pact.
Patents will soon receive less protection in the United States. That’s the view of many experts who have been closely following Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership, which will be argued before the United States Supreme Court later this year.
Although attempts to repeal last year’s healthcare reform bill and efforts to get the deficit under control may take up much of the United States Congress’ time this year, lawmakers are expected to tackle a number of intellectual property-related priorities lawmakers, including patent reform, internet neutrality, and enforcement during the new 112th session.