Original news and analysis on international IP policy
It has become routine for companies to outsource many business functions. Human resources, customer service, accounting, manufacturing of components - all have been outsourced. Now, however, a growing number of US businesses are outsourcing something new: patent licensing. And this outsourcing may hurt both the US economy and its patent system.
The biotechnology industry has growing concerns over decisions to be taken this year by the United States Supreme Court in two cases involving the patenting of human genes and the exhaustion of patent rights in the context of easily reproducible products. Several areas of biotechnology could be affected by unfavourable decisions, provoking legal uncertainty and discouraging innovation, industry representatives said in a recent telephone conference. In the meantime, civil society stands fast in opposition.
South-East Asia is host to one-third of the world’s 39 million blind people. Over 20 million live in India alone. This week’s special session of the World Intellectual Property Organization aims to clean up the text of an international treaty to facilitate access to books for the blind and visually impaired community. It is thus of prime importance for India, and some there worry that issues such as commercial availability could undermine the treaty’s effectiveness.
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture published a report providing financial and technical information on the first project portfolio of its Benefit-sharing Fund.
President Obama took aim yesterday at so-called patent trolls and said that further US patent reform is needed. He also called for a continued focus on protection of IP rights, but signalled a need for balance with openness.
Prof. Owen Dean writes: It is a fact of life that attempts have been made in certain other countries to usurp control of the term or mark ROOIBOS, despite the fact that it is a well-known South African description for a particular plant which gives rise to ROOIBOS tea. The term ROOIBOS is as typically South African as “braaivleis” and “biltong”. It is really part of our South African heritage. The South African authorities have nonetheless taken no concrete or effective steps to protect and control the use of this term in South Africa or elsewhere.
Hopes of the visually impaired community were rewarded in December when the World Intellectual Property Organization delegates agreed on a high level meeting anticipated to agree on a treaty providing exceptions to copyright facilitating access to books in special formats for blind and visually impaired people. However some outstanding issues remain and delegates will try to find consensus next week.
The United Nations has become a focal point for global efforts to fight organised crime’s trafficking of fraudulent medicines that put millions of people – especially the poor – at risk. And a recent pharmaceutical industry report on such medicines recommended some solutions.
As several countries prepare to sign an international agreement establishing an EU unified patent court, debate still rages over whether the concept of the court, and of a single EU patent, is actually feasible. Some say a unified patent in the near term is a “dead letter,” while one patent lawyer believes that while some technical issues remain, the system will spring into life in the not-too-distant future.
The following is a reprint from the EU research and development network, Cordis, summarising recent activity on the EU Digital Agenda.
The Digital Agenda for Europe and its 101 actions form a vital part of the overall Europe 2020 strategy for securing smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The actions are organised in seven pillars, or 'containers': digital single market, interoperability and standards, trust and security, fast and ultra-fast internet access, research and innovation, digital literacy, skills and inclusion, and ICT-enabled benefits for EU society. In the previous part of this story we covered the digital single market, interoperability, security, and fast internet access. Next we look at ICT support for research…