Horticultural Breeders Call For Stronger Protection Of Innovations
The protection of intellectual property for plant innovation was at the heart of a recent conference on patents and modern plant breeders rights in horticultural breeding.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Category United Nations – other
UN: Governments To Double Biodiversity Funding, Push Access/Benefit-Sharing
At last week's high-level meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) governments agreed to double financial flows toward biodiversity by 2015, the CBD has announced. They also came up with strategy to move forward on access and benefit-sharing of biodiversity.
Sources: European Telecom Operators’ Proposals Run Aground At WCIT
By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch European Telecommunications and Network Operators (ETNO) proposals for accounting changes between internet providers – namely a “sender-party-pays regime” and provisions to foster end-to-end quality of service management on the net – did not…
More Production Not The Way To Sustainable Agriculture, UN Study Says
Sustainable agriculture needs a new paradigm in the face of the growing global population, away from the "more production" orientation, says a new study published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
Standards-Setting Organisations Increasingly Make IPR A Priority
Washington, DC - Standards guide many aspects of our lives. They instruct how telephones talk to each other, how the life sciences community shares information, how electrical devices are charged, and how the internet runs, among other things.
It’s standard-setting organisations (SSOs) that facilitate discussions among stakeholders - including intellectual property owners and users - and produce common, typically voluntary technical standards to address needs and concerns of those using the technology. Companies need to make compatible or interoperable products that comply with these standards in order to compete in the global marketplace. And intellectual property is increasingly coming into play in the development of these standards.
Civil Society Network Issues Proposals On Climate Change And IPRs
An international network of civil society groups has issued a set of proposals for governments to encourage innovation and access to key technologies against climate change while taking intellectual property rights into account.
Global Fund Nears Selection Of New Director For Transformed Organisation
The Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is in the final phases of selecting its next executive director. In the run-up to the decision, the international financing institution is multiplying signs of its good health as it looks to turn a corner after months of major reforms.
UN High-Level Meeting In India On Biodiversity Addresses Access And Benefit-Sharing
At the ongoing 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, the hot topic is funds and how to mobilize it. The mega-conference is taking place in the shadow of a global economic slowdown, and delegates gathered at this southern Indian city are most concerned about how to drum up funds to tackle the world’s shrinking biodiversity - the variety of animal and plant life on earth.
ITU Undertakes Work On Standards Essential Patents
The United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has tasked an expert group on intellectual property rights with coming up with ways to update ITU patent policy with an eye toward clarifying litigation involving “standards-essential patents.”
India Ratifies Nagoya Protocol On Biodiversity Access And Benefit-Sharing
The Union Cabinet of India has approved ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing, a measure that provides a tool against biopiracy. The 4 October action comes on the eve of the 11th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Agricultural Innovation Needed In Africa, With Farmers’ Participation, WTO Panellists Say
Farmers' needs are not addressed by the current intellectual property framework or by innovation, according to panellists at the World Trade Organization Public Forum this week, and farmers should be invited to participate in international negotiations directly impacting their livelihood. Meanwhile, the African continent is seeking a way to address the food security problem, faced with a growing population and dire need to modernise their agriculture, other panellists said.
UN Clears WIPO Shipments To Iran
The United Nations Security Council committee on sanctions has cleared the UN World Intellectual Property Organization of wrongdoing in shipping high-tech equipment to Iran.