Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Since Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa signed a decree on 23 October allowing compulsory licences, the national intellectual property office has been working on a mechanism for issuance those licences, which should be studied case by case, according to the national decree.
Systematic and sustained programmes aimed at identifying and supporting African innovative talent may be a key part of Africa’s technological evolution, according to researchers and young entrepreneurs interviewed by Intellectual Property Watch. In the second part of a two-part series highlighting innovation challenges in Africa, Intellectual Property Watch focuses on harnessing and nurturing African innovation talent.
Brazil has announced the list of 222 American products that could suffer retaliation with tariff rates of more than 100 percent of the value when imported to Brazil. The list could be followed by another including potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in non-tariff items related to intellectual property rights such as lower-priced patented pharmaceuticals.
ALEXANDRIA - Dining on fresh fish beneath a golden sunset overlooking the Mediterranean beneath which lie the remains of the ancient Library of Alexandria, the conversation turns to the invention of written language. A light-hearted debate breaks out between an Egyptian and a Syrian over the origins of the first alphabet several thousand years ago, but is left for the time being when the Syrian asserts, “We invented the alphabet, you invented writing.”
This month’s signing by the Czech Republic of the Lisbon Treaty updating the rules of the European Union will bring a few noticeable changes to the way the EU conducts policymaking activities, and to its focus on intellectual property rights.
BARCELONE – Les négociations sur le climat se sont achevées le 6 novembre après une semaine de discussions. Malgré les assurances données par la plupart des délégations sur le fait que tout était possible lors de la Conférence de Copenhague sur le changement climatique qui aura lieu en décembre, l’incertitude demeure sur de nombreuses questions qui concernent notamment le financement, la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, le transfert de technologie et la nature de l’accord qui sera conclu à Copenhague.
Conservative US radio talk show host Glenn Beck, known for bad-mouthing others on radio and opposition television station Fox News, has lost a case at the World Intellectual Property Organization trying to force the takedown of website parodying him, www.GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com.
A compromise was found last week between the European Parliament and European Council on “internet access safeguards” in the last remaining open issue in the European Union telecommunications package, according to the Parliament. But public interest concerns remain that restrictive punishment measures might still be possible.
During the most recent negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Seoul, Korea on 4-6 November, about which no information is available, US industry and public interest groups issued statements taking widely divergent positions on progress of the talks.
The board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) this week opened up the root zone for non-Latin country-code top level domains (internationalised or IDN ccTLDs). Starting 16 November, ICANN will accept applications for ccTLDs in Chinese, Cyrillic, Japanese, Korean or Arabic characters. In addition to the Chinese ccTLD .cn there will be .中国, in addition to the Russian .ru there will be .рф, and in addition to the United Arab Emirates' .ae, .إمارات will be possible. ICANN leadership qualified the step as historic, but also said it was only a first step.
The intellectual property community is anxiously awaiting the United States Supreme Court’s reaction next month in the closely watched Bilski v. Kappos case, a legal feud over the validity of a patent covering a method of commodities trading.
The outcome of the case could have broad implications for the patentability of business methods and software, which could potentially wallop the technology industry. It likely will have less impact in the biotechnology arena, experts said at the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s Intellectual Property Counsels Committee conference in Washington on Tuesday.
A United States health department advisory group this month produced a new draft report on gene patenting and licensing with recommendations suggesting that excessive patenting can limit patients’ access to gene testing and might not foster genetic research. The recommendations were supported by a variety of health professionals but put the biotechnology industry on edge.