Remembering Ville Oksanen
From EDRi: Ville Oksanen, Vice President and a founding member of Electronic Frontier Finland (Effi), passed away on Sunday 23 November 2014 in Helsinki from a sudden illness. He was 37 years old.
Intellectual Property Watch
Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Civil Society Files Opposition To Monsanto Climate-Related Soybean Patent
A civil society coalition is after one of European Monsanto's patents, accusing the giant seed corporation of biopiracy. The patent granted in February was challenged by the No Patents on Seeds coalition, which filed an opposition a few days ago.
A Middle Path: Advocate-General’s Opinion On Abuse Of Dominance For FRAND-Encumbered SEPs
For the first time, the European Advocate-General has suggested on the grounds of European competition law the context for negotiations of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, and has set criteria for the enforcement of injunctions and other remedies in actions involving infringement of standard-essential patents (SEPs). The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decision is still pending.
EU Law Does Not Adequately Protect Performers, Study Finds
The Association of European Performers’ Organisations (AEPO-ARTIS) has released a study showing that EU legislation does not provide adequate protection to performers for the legal exploitation of their performances on the internet.
Medicines Patent Pool Adds Two AbbVie Paediatric HIV Medicines
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) has announced a licence agreement with pharmaceutical manufacturer AbbVie to allow the production of cheaper, more accessible paediatric versions of two HIV medicines.
China Establishes Patent, Trademark And Copyright Integrated Office
China has set up an administrative office called the Shanghai City Pudong New Area Intellectual Property Office, integrating patent, trademark and copyright administration in the Pudong New Area in Shanghai city.
Another Setback For Design Law Treaty At WIPO; GIs In Contention
The fate of a potential treaty meant to harmonise international industrial design registration formalities took another turn this week, as African countries asked that the treaty include a safeguard against misuse and misappropriation of their traditional designs, which was seen by developed countries as a manoeuvre to delay the process.
Interview With Alberto Bichi, Federation Of The European Sporting Goods Industry
Alberto Bichi is secretary-general of the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), based in Brussels. In an interview with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez, he describes FESI's mission, the views of the industry on the importance of intellectual property protection, and the growing issue of counterfeiting. He also talked about the industry's concern over the current European Union customs regulation on goods in transit, which, according to him is negatively impacting the sector.
CEIPI Celebrates 5oth Anniversary With Major Conference
The highly esteemed Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) in Strasbourg will mark its 50th anniversary this week with a conference featuring the top names in the European IP community. Below is the press release announcing the event: Conference…
Keyword Advertising: The Next Instalment In The Interflora v M&S Saga
A few days after the first South African case to consider the issue of internet keyword advertising (Cochrane Steel Products (Pty) Ltd v M-Systems Group (Pty) Ltd & Another Case 39605/13, 29 October 2014), we had the next instalment – from the English Court of Appeal – in the dispute between Interflora and Marks & Spencer (Interflora Inc & Another v Marks & Spencer plc [2014] EWCA Civ 1403). Yes, it is, indeed, not just any dispute concerning keyword advertising. It appears that these two litigants have taken it upon themselves to definitively settle the law relating to keyword advertising, through the various judgments their dispute is yielding.