Original news and analysis on international IP policy
It’s unclear if the US Supreme Court wants to address yet another controversial issue in patent law, but on 2 April, the court took a small step in that direction. That’s when the court formally asked the US Justice Department to opine on whether the high court should grant certiorari in Bowman v. Monsanto Co.
A letter co-signed by 49 former staff members of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development denouncing efforts by some countries to muffle the institution's voice was released yesterday at a press conference.
In 2010, institutions in Albania created a strategy to help enforce intellectual property rights within five years. Intellectual Property Watch recently conducted a written Q and A with Vladimir Nika, Albanian office director for the Eastern European law firm PETOŠEVIĆ, on the progress and prospects for the Albanian legislature’s implementation of the 2010 IPR enforcement strategy.
Intellectual property-intensive industries in the United States support at least 40 million jobs and contribute more than $5 trillion - or 34.8 percent of - US gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report released by the Obama administration Wednesday.
The quadrennial conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) sets the course of the UN body work for the next four years. The mandate of the conference has evolved since its creation to become mainly a provider of research, policy analysis and technical assistance to developing countries. This time around, the conference will serve as a wide-ranging forum for trade and development issues, and intellectual property issues will haunt discussions in several areas.
The UN World Intellectual Property Organization has responded to a question about its provision of technical assistance to North Korea, saying it is standard procedure as authorised by its member states hoping to bring developing countries on board the global IP system.
In response to a report published on 3 April by civil society group No Patent on Seeds alleging that industry and patent examiners in the European Patent Office are finding legal loopholes to grant patents on seeds and plants, an EPO spokesperson told Intellectual Property Watch the patent office does not "apply tricks" to grant patents.
Today, a US appellate court released its decision in a key case in which rights holders asserted that online video site YouTube should be liable for copyright infringing content appearing on its site. According to a preliminary reading, the appeals court reversed the earlier decision, signalling that YouTube, owned by Google, could have known about infringing content and therefore may not fit under the safe harbor clause of the US Digital Millenniumn Copyright Act limiting the liability of online service providers.
The United States is known for taking an unusually expansive approach towards patentable subject matter. Compared with Western Europe, for instance, the US has been far readier to grant patents on business methods, medical diagnostic processes, and human genes.
A recently published book by Harvard Law School Professor John Palfrey offers a thoughtful and useful handbook for executives or just about anyone else to better understand and use intellectual property, in ways that encourage sharing and openness.