Original news and analysis on international IP policy
By William New Citing concerns over accountability and leadership at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Switzerland are pushing for answers to allegations that WIPO Director General Kamil Idris purposely misrepresented his age on…
By Sarah Lai Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch
The United States Supreme Court in late April reined in another patent appeals court ruling it deemed overly-expansive. The high court ruled that software companies liable for infringing a patent in the United States cannot at the same time be held liable by American courts for the same activities outside of US borders.
"Foreign law alone, not United States law, currently governs the manufacture and sale of components of patented inventions in foreign countries," wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg on behalf of three of her colleagues, Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and David Souter.
Wolfgang Starein is the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) official with primary responsibility for enforcement of intellectual property rights. In a series of recent interviews with Intellectual Property Watch, Starein talked about WIPO’s enforcement agenda for the coming year, a…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Intellectual property rights issues could play a significant role in the annual World Health Assembly which begins next week. While not the most prominent topic for the assembly, IP is expected to arise in discussions…
By Sarah Lai Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a preliminary memorandum that instructed its examiners to interpret a landmark Supreme Court ruling conservatively - even as the wider community in the field of US patent law expect the opinion to shake up longstanding rules that determine when an idea is too obvious to be granted a patent. The office also formed an experts' group on the issue.
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The government of Brazil has issued a license that will allow the importation of cheaper versions of a patented HIV/AIDS drug after negotiations failed to bring about agreement on price reductions with Merck, the US…
Par William New BEIJING – Des pays en développement de premier plan tels que la Chine, le Brésil, l’Inde et l’Afrique du Sud redoublent d’efforts, dans la mesure de leur puissance économique grandissante, pour influencer l’établissement des standards internationaux. De…
Par Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Lors d’une récente conférence, un représentant américain a exposé certains des motifs qui ont poussé les Etats-Unis à déposer plainte contre la Chine devant l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) pour dénoncer le non-respect des droits…
Por Dugie Standeford para Intellectual Property Watch Para que los planes de la Comisión Europea de digitalizar y volver accesible el legado cultural de Europa tengan éxito, primero deben resolverse los problemas relacionados con la preservación digital, las obras huérfanas…
By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen
What is next for the former director of the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office and the former head of the South Centre intellectual property programme; who is temporarily acting in the role of lead on intellectual property issues at the South Centre; who are the US officials being appointed IP attachés around the world; who has launched a new global trade programme, and who is taking over the helm at the international seed industry? All of this and more in the updated Intellectual Property Watch People column.