Original news and analysis on international IP policy
We are in the midst of a “mobile revolution” that may equal the industrial revolution, and a key contributor is industry research and development and innovation protected by intellectual property, says a new report.
COPENHAGEN - Google is “really looking for a balanced IP system,” the company’s head of litigation told the Global Patent Congress, while the European Patent Office elaborated on the “Tomato II” case, which for civil society has become the very symbol of an imbalanced IP system. Intellectual Property Watch spoke with senior officials at both Google and the EPO at the conference.
KAMPALA, UGANDA - The pharmaceutical industry in the East African Community is approaching a higher level of production quality and manufacturing practices. To benefit the industry and increase access to medicines, stakeholders are working towards a united regulatory policy framework aimed at harmonising industrial, health and regulatory policies.
The ratification of an international convention to fight counterfeit of medical products by Guinea has unlocked the entry into force of the instrument, now set to happen on 1 January 2016.
At a panel at the World Trade Organization organised by the United States Chamber of Commerce, proponents of strong intellectual property protection explained why this protection is key in international trade, even if some might consider the minimum standard set by the WTO IP rules might need an update.
On 29 September, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on how to safeguard the public interest against the interests of the pharmaceutical industry.
The smartphone is one of the most ubiquitous inventions in contemporary life. Ask anyone from teenagers to senior citizens – in industrialized countries, as well as emerging markets – about the wireless ways of their life, and they will tell you this. But what is the economic impact of mobile? That is not as obvious, writes Antonio Varas.
As government negotiators dig into perhaps the final round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations this week in Atlanta, they may take comfort in knowing that nothing they are doing has to be shared with the public they represent until years after it is over. That's because a federal district court in Manhattan decided this week, in a closely watched Freedom of Information Act case brought by Intellectual Property Watch, that draft texts of the trade deal can be kept secret. The court did, however, cast doubt on the government's reasons for also keeping its communications with industry lobbyists from the public eye.
The annual World Trade Organization Public Forum opened today with a plenary session on making trade work more inclusively. The Doha Round, agriculture, and environmental technologies were part of the conversation.
Collective management organisations have often been the subject of criticism both from artists and end users. Some international federations have set up professional rules, but there is no international standard. The World Intellectual Property Organization is working to set up a voluntary international recognition of good practice for those organisations.