Original news and analysis on international IP policy
WASHINGTON, DC -- The sun may be setting on multilateral policymaking in intellectual property in the eyes of industry, but leading United States and European Union representatives insist on its continued vital role in trade and economy. But a “new narrative” is needed as they emphasise bilateral and plurilateral agreements.
The European Union Council of ministers today adopted its position on the reform of the European trademark system. The Netherlands delegation abstained from voting out of concern that the proposed reform introduces the possibility to stop goods in transit for possible intellectual property infringement.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Libraries and archives are increasingly important in the digital era, but without better access to their vast reservoirs of data and materials for research and education, “we are going to lose out,” Anne Leer, World Intellectual Property Organization deputy director general, culture and creative industries sector, said at a conference hosted this week by the National Library of Sweden and Stockholm University. The 5-6 November event looked at whether cross-border copyright collective rights management might be an effective mechanism for accessing digital archives and libraries.
The TPP is done, or not quite. But what is still lacking, what are next steps and what does the finalised deal do to the grand picture of the mega-trade deal landscape? Japanese economist Nakagawa Junji, Professor of International Economic Law Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, shares a view from Japan with writer Monika Ermert.
Four weeks after the finalisation of the agreement, the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was finally released by the United States and other partners of the first of the regional mega-trade deals. The parties hurried to underline the success of the negotiations, but early reactions were deeply divided.
NAIROBI, Kenya - After a five year gruelling court battle, the indigenous Maasai community in Northern Tanzania has lost the right to its traditional land after the High Court handed it to a US-based tourism company in a court ruling on 27 October.
DAKAR, Senegal -- As Africa is emerging to become a centre of economic growth, strong and well-developed national intellectual property systems can help the continent unlock its citizens’ creativity and innovation and further boost economic growth, World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry said today in Dakar, the Senegalese capital where the African Ministerial Conference kicked off. Gurry was joined by top officials from a number of African nations.
The Russian government is considering a package of measures aimed at better protecting intellectual property of Russian innovative companies abroad, according to an official spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Communications.
The trade ministers of the United States and India yesterday reviewed work from the past year on a full range of intellectual property issues and made new commitments, as part of their larger bilateral trade policy forum. Among the issues was a commitment to work for access to medicines, increase work on trade secrets, and deepen copyright cooperation in acknowledgement of the two biggest entertainment industries in the world.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) next week is expected to provide justification for withholding from a Freedom of Information Act request the communications with its industry advisors as confidential commercial or financial information. The case involves communications in the lead-up to completion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and could set a precedent for exemptions of communications with lobbyists.
NAIROBI, Kenya – A Kenyan government plan to lift the ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is stirring a heated debate here, with experts warning on safety and the East African nation’s preparedness for the technology.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - While Médecins Sans Frontières have blamed stock-outs of ‘Aluvia’ on the refusal to licence a patent for a generic of the HIV medicine in South Africa by AbbVie pharmaceutical company leading to persistent supply problems, the company said it has taken measures to address the problem.