Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen BRUSSELS – Whether research and development into new medicines for poor countries may best be secured through the strengthening of current partnerships or through entirely new schemes was the focus of an expert workshop held…
By John T. Aquino for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Panellists at the all-day 29 March symposium “Ethical Issues in Patent Law” expressed frustration at the inability to improve patent system processes that self-protectively resist change. But the symposium…
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A European Commission proposal to criminalise commercial intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements is headed for a vote in the European Parliament despite strong opposition to some provisions from industry sectors and consumer groups.…
By Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Critics of Thailand’s decision to issue compulsory licenses for several patented drugs said the Thai government violated global trade rules, as they clashed with public health activists at a 16…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch The European Parliament this week passed a resolution on cross-border collective rights management asking for a framework directive at the EU level that would encourage more competition. But parliamentary members of the bigger…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A Thai official says the government’s phones have started ringing a lot more frequently since Thailand issued compulsory licenses to import and eventually produce patented medicines, moving patent owners to drop their prices. But sceptics…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The United States will pursue stronger intellectual property rights and enforcement in multilateral forums such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as in free trade agreements and regional agreements, and is considering dispute…
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch
For the third time since December, the European Parliament committee vote on an EU directive on criminal sanctions against infringers of intellectual property rights has been postponed. This is a signal that there are great difficulties with the text, say observers from non governmental organisations, who argue that the European Commission should kill it or rewrite it from scratch.
But a compromise is near, according to the vice chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (JURI), Rainer Wieland (EPP).
By William New The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 5 March announced a new report it said shows that distributors of the most popular filesharing programmes “repeatedly deployed features that they knew or should have known could…
By William New A well-balanced colloquium at the World Intellectual Property Organization allowed views from two sides to be heard on the subject of flexibilities in the patent system. The presenters at the 16 February event appeared to split along…