Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Failure to get agreement on a proposal to harmonise national patent laws by World Intellectual Property Organisation members will not impact the functioning and credibility of the organisation, a top WIPO official said today. Failure to agree “is not necessarily…
Issues under negotiation at the World Trade Organization committee responsible for intellectual property issues are somewhat stalled, despite – or because of – their ties to broader issues being negotiated at the WTO, sources in Geneva say. It remains to…
Brazil, a developing country leader on international intellectual property issues, has come under pressure at home and abroad over whether to lift domestic patents on foreign pharmaceuticals for AIDS to allow cheaper generic versions to be produced. This week, nearly…
Ten years after the signing of a multilateral agreement pitched as a vehicle to help developing countries defend against unilateral actions against them by larger countries, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual report on trading partners’ protection…
Ambassador Linnet Deily, the United States representative to the World Trade Organization, has informed staff that she will be leaving office on June 15, according to a US trade official. Deily, who said she will be returning to the United…
Governments negotiating to amend the World Trade Organisation intellectual property agreement to allow countries to export generic pharmaceuticals to other countries in need failed to reach agreement by a 31 March deadline, according to sources in Geneva. The deadline was…
In what could be seen as a “test case” for the balance between intellectual property protection and the promotion of public health, the Indian government today appeared to meet a World Trade Organisation obligation by passing a law on the…
Negotiations to expand the availability of medicines under a World Trade Organisation agreement on intellectual property rights by 31 March broke down Monday after informal consultations showed no compromise forthcoming, according to diplomatic sources in Geneva. At issue is an…
Both sides claimed victory Tuesday in a World Trade Organisation dispute brought by Australia and the United States against the European Union’s protection of foods with names deriving from specific geographical regions. The WTO panel ruling Tuesday found that the…
Officials negotiating to implement and update a 10-year-old agreement on intellectual property rights at the World Trade Organisation made a little progress toward that goal last week, according to official sources in Geneva. While small gains on the WTO Agreement…
[Editor’s Note: This story was modified at 6.30pm on Friday 18/2/2005] Washington, D.C.—A key U.S. official based in Beijing on Thursday cited several ways that China’s interpretation of its criminal code may violate the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Trade-Related…
This table provides a sample of the recommendations offered by three of the major U.S. industry associations regarding the placement of countries in the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) 2004 ‘Special 301’ Report. The far right-hand column…