Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Officials holding consultations at the World Trade Organization today on whether geographical indication (GI) protection for wines and spirits should be extended to other products completed a list of questions on the issue, but made no progress on bridging differences.…
Two days of World Trade Organization consultations this week on a proposal to extend high-level protection for geographical indications beyond wines and spirits did not bring resolution in time for the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee meeting on Tuesday, sources in…
BRUSSELS – Intellectual property policy may not be divided along left-right political party lines, participants in a consumer-led conference here on the politics and ideology of intellectual property concluded yesterday. On 20 March one of the debates on intellectual property…
BRUSSELS – A debate on intellectual property and the “knowledge commons” started out with a review of rhetoric and ideology here today but soon got more heated as the discussion turned to examples from real life, such as the patentability…
By William New and Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The European Union on Friday continued its fight at the World Trade Organization for a binding register of traded products that are protected because their names and character derive from places, often…
Key delegations on opposite sides of a proposal at the World Trade Organization to higher protection for geographical indication (GIs) beyond wines and spirits again listened to each other’s arguments today, but neither camp moved closer to compromise, according to…
Intellectual property issues related to biodiversity were the topic of two different sessions at the World Trade Organization on 15 March with minimal progress, according to participants. But the second session, consultations with a senior WTO official, seemed to sharpen…
At the two-day meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) council responsible for intellectual property rights, discussions first focused on two new submissions on issues related to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). The relationship between the CBD and the…
The World Trade Organization committee addressing intellectual property will face a full range of issues when it convenes for the first of three scheduled meetings this year. The 14-15 March meeting of the Council on the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects…
By Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Public health activists are condemning recent terms agreed to by Colombia, Peru and Central American countries in bilateral trade negotiations with the United States, that bind those countries to offer…
For the coming months, key biotechnology industry organisations are focusing their efforts on blocking the addition of disclosure of origin requirements in international patent applications on three fronts. The issue is being debated in three international fora: the World Trade…
Informal consultations were held at the World Trade Organization on 24 February on how to structure negotiations over the coming months on a proposed register for geographical indications (GIs) on wines and spirits, a participant said. The register is scheduled…