Geneva Internet Platform Launches: Neutral Ground For Net Governance
With yesterday’s launch of the new Geneva Internet Platform, global internet governance stakeholders have a new venue for neutral engagement.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Category United Nations – other
Africa-EU Businesses, International Organisations Send Recommendations On Health To Leaders
Representatives of private sector, international organisations and others from Europe and Africa this week delivered a set of recommendations on health and pharmaceuticals to the two regions’ leaders ahead of their summit taking place today and tomorrow.
Assessment Of Climate Change Data Offers Conflicting Advice On IP
A much-discussed new United Nations report on climate change addresses intellectual property issues and the role of innovation in developing technology and disseminate knowledge for local adaption to climate change.
Indigenous Peoples Present Their Perspectives On Traditional Knowledge At WIPO
Representatives of indigenous peoples opened a key meeting at the World Intellectual Property Organization with a discussion of the definition of traditional knowledge (TK), the presence of TK in the public domain, and respect for indigenous peoples’ rights under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
UN Praises US Pullback Of Internet Control
The United Nations Secretary General and head of the UN International Telecommunication Union earlier this week applauded an announcement by the United States government that it plans to relinquish its remaining control over the internet domain name system.
European Patent Office Staff Calls Strike; President Battistelli Reacts
European Patent Office (EPO) employees on 13 March approved seven office-wide strike days, starting on 21 March. The move follows an increasingly tense stand-off between the Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) and President Benoît Battistelli over, as a union document put it, timely access to justice, freedom of speech and freedom of association. The deteriorating relationship between employees and office officials prompted one French lawmaker to ask government ministers to rethink their country's support for Battistelli's reappointment. If unresolved, the labour issues could end up subjecting the EPO to closer scrutiny as it prepares to administer the EU unitary patent, one source close to the situation said.
MakaPads Helping Disadvantaged Girls And Women In Uganda
KAMPALA - In the western terrains of Uganda, in a refugee camp, Dr. Moses Kizza Musaazi invented and is running a simple but ingenious scheme. Making environmentally friendly sanitary pads out of papyrus reeds. The pads, MakaPads sanitary pads, are the only trademarked biodegradable sanitary pads made in Africa. Dr. Musaazi developed the idea and technique while looking for a way to help school-going girls.
Final UN Report On Right To Food Calls For Redesign Of World Food System
In a final report before the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) today, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food called for a redesigned world food system to ensure the human right to adequate food and freedom from hunger. This includes some changes to the way intellectual property rights apply to food and agriculture.
Patents Not Best To Protect Traditional Medical Knowledge, Author Says
Traditional medical knowledge would be best protected through liability rules instead of patents, according to a book exploring the applicability of intellectual property rights to traditional medical knowledge protection, and in particular if IP rights are suitable to promote the goals of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
UN Campaign Engages Tourists In Fight Against Counterfeits
Three United Nations agencies have announced that they are uniting forces to fight trafficking, urging travelers to act responsively.
With A “Clean Slate,” WIPO Director Nominee Gurry Looks Ahead
Incumbent Francis Gurry of Australia today was nominated to be the director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization until 2020, with WIPO members to make their final decision on 8 May. In his return to office, Gurry told reporters today he wants to focus on the digital marketplace, improving the organisation’s performance, changing geopolitics, and to steer journalists away from writing about allegations of wrongdoing at WIPO.
WIPO Director Election Today; Outcome Still Hard To Predict
An executive committee of nearly half the World Intellectual Property Organization membership will tomorrow, 6 March, select the leader of the key UN organisation for the next six years. And it is still hard to predict whether the incumbent will return.