An Urgent Letter From Intellectual Property Watch

It’s time to show your support for Intellectual Property Watch.

If you know IP-Watch, www.ip-watch.org, you know that over the years we have earned our reputation for thoughtful, balanced coverage of international IP policymaking. Before IP-Watch there was no reliable, independent source of balanced information about new and emerging international policy and law related to IP and innovation as it relates to crucial economic sectors like trade, public health, food security, internet governance and everyday life. And though some other publications have emerged and blogs with agendas now exist, we are still the most trusted regular and dedicated source of news and professional reporting on the policy dimension of these issues.

IP-Watch is an essential tool in developing strategy for governments, companies and NGOs alike.

But now, just as the need for such reporting on international IP policymaking is greater than ever, Intellectual Property Watch needs both immediate help and longer-term commitments toward sustainable financial support by the end of June in order keep going.

Already, we are implementing plans to offer better-than-ever coverage and cutting-edge thinking on these issues. To date, we have always made the vast majority of our content openly accessible to all. But to respond to the financial challenge, IP-Watch is launching a new subscription and marketing strategy – and new website – that will provide an opportunity for a greater number of our readers to provide support for the value our reporting provides, while still allowing those in greatest need to access our content freely. A greater proportion of our stories will be password-protected, but much will still be open access. And we will reach out to a much wider audience through a new marketing plan.

As a reader from a UN organization put it recently: “I think it is extremely important that IP Watch goes on. Not only because you are doing a really good work (both quantity and quality-wise) but especially because on the issues we are dealing it is critical for all concerned parties to get unbiased information. Only with straight facts can we find the so sought common ground.”

The reader added: “The good thing about IP Watch is that it says those things which international organizations can not … even if they should.”

Help preserve Intellectual Property Watch’s database of thousands of stories, reference documents, opinion pieces, translations, comments, webcasts, photos and other information on global IP law and policymaking – and our extensive network of people in the global IP community. And help us to make it even more essential, innovative and exciting in the years to come!

In order to continue operations, we need immediate support, either subscriptions or donations. Subscriptions are at extremely competitive rates for the value provided, and we offer varying rates for different kinds of subscribers. A subscription will keep you and your colleagues accessing smart stories on the latest policy and legal developments, confidential and hard-to-find documents, webcasts, photos, and opinions, insights and people news you cannot get anywhere else.

You can SUBSCRIBE on our website here.

Or you can donate here:

Please feel free to contact us by email or phone, wnew@ip-watch.ch, +41 79 745 2474 (Geneva) or +1 914 573 8703 (New York).

We could also benefit from favourable comments and letters of support. Suggestions on how we can do better are welcome too.

The timing is critical. We hope you will show your support for the history of IP policy and law, and an exciting new IP-Watch.

– William New, Director and Editor-in-Chief, Intellectual Property Watch