Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By Catherine Saez With the expanding scope of patents on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the implementation of such crops in most countries, farmers’ rights and biodiversity are at risk, and food security has become dependent on a few transnational…
By Wagdy Sawahel for Intellectual Property Watch An intellectual property “roadmap” for the Arab world has been proposed for facilitating technology transfer as well as the adaptation of acquired technologies to local needs and contributing to the evolution of new…
By William New CHISINAU, MOLDOVA – Creativity may not be the first thing that comes to mind when travelling through the kilometres of mostly grey, Soviet-era cement-block buildings outlying the capital of Moldova, often referred to as Europe’s poorest state.…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Europe’s copyright rules are ill-suited to an age when millions of music files can be accessed at the click of a mouse, a Brussels conference has been told. About eight million…
By Kaitlin Mara
Intellectual property protection is key to the innovation and infrastructure surrounding athletic achievement, said speakers at a World Intellectual Property Organization training event for journalists last week. Trademark protection, copyright protection and other forms of IP rights ensure that the organisations that promote sport and its participants can continue their work, they argued.
By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS – Patent offices are facing heat from industry to make good on promises to coordinate global processing of patent applications. Despite years of talk of streamlining the handling of applications,…
By William New As the senior staff of the World Intellectual Property Organization gathered outside its headquarters Friday to set the foundation stone of a new office building, WIPO member governments were struggling inside to agree on the foundation for…
By Liza Porteus for Intellectual Property Watch with William New There are many questions as to what the President Barack Obama administration will look like – with no shortage of players participating in the Washington parlour game right now. The…
By Kaitlin Mara Against the background of increasing food prices and related questions of food security and agricultural sustainability, the new secretary general of an international organisation protecting plant varieties outlined his future plans for the UN body. Francis Gurry,…
By William New World Intellectual Property Organization members gather in Geneva next week to take up old and new agenda items targeting international policy on copyright and related rights. Emerging agenda items are limitations and exceptions to copyright – including…
By William New A few weeks after its new director general took office, the World Intellectual Property Organization has announced a programme of strategic realignment in the secretariat aimed at opening up the organisation and improving the focus on customer…
By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Exceptions to European Union copyright rules designed to allow blind people access to publications should be made legally binding, according to disability rights organisations. In July, the European Commission opened a…