Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a new report focused on the issue of green economies and international trade. The report examines six sectors – agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry, manufacturing, renewable energy and tourism – that are of particular interest to developing countries.
Advanced cyber espionage tools are readily available for use by foreign governments and organised criminal groups to coordinate cyber attacks on US computer networks, a United States law enforcement official said today in a prepared statement to a congressional panel.
The World Trade Organization today announced that the three facilitators charged with consulting WTO members have recommended Brazilian Amb. Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo become its next director general.
Benny Spiewak writes on the intellectual property system and a Brazilian as head of the WTO. How an emerging economy national may affect the rules of the game.
Cape Town, South Africa - Amid growing calls for the controversial Protection of State Information bill to be referred to the Constitutional Court of South Africa, open data activists are fighting a separate but related battle for government to release its data to the public.
Internet users who merely read or view copyright-protected webpages enjoy a temporary copying exception under European Union and United Kingdom law and do not need permission from rights holders, the UK Supreme Court said in a 17 April ruling.
Three media standards bodies have formed a Joint Task Force on Networked Media (JT-NM) to define a strategy to develop a packet-based network infrastructure for the professional media industry.
Cape Town, South Africa - The draft intellectual property policy of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has put IP rights at the centre of the region’s competitive growth strategy.
Sangeeta Shashikant writes: "Developed countries, particularly the United States and the European Union, have offered a poor and impractical deal of an incredibly short extension of 5 years with restrictive conditions to least developed countries that are entitled to be exempted from implementing the WTO TRIPS Agreement. Particularly problematic is their demand that the LDCs agree to a 'no-roll-back' clause, a TRIPS plus condition that will prevent LDCs from rolling back (i.e. providing a reduced degree of IP protection) their current laws, even if they adversely impact their development concerns."
Cuba has joined several other World Trade Organization members in filing a dispute settlement case against Australia over its new rules requiring tobacco products to be sold in plain packages. The measure was instituted this year as a means of reducing use of tobacco products.