TPP, India Most-Read IP-Watch Stories Of 2015

The most-read stories of 2015 on the Intellectual Property Watch website fairly reflected the trends of the year, with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, India’s evolving intellectual property rights policies, European Patent Office patents on conventional vegetables, biologics, 3D printing, and some pop culture issues leading the way.

In the coming weeks, IP-Watch will review in-depth what’s in store for 2016, already underway. But for now, let’s take a look at last year’s highlights.

The most-read 2015 IP-Watch story last year was related to the TPP, about results from a US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that is the subject of a lawsuit brought on behalf of IP-Watch by the Yale Law School Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic. The results found close industry involvement in the TPP negotiations, which were concluded in 2015.

Confidential USTR Emails Show Close Industry Involvement In TPP Negotiations

Number two in the list was a decision of the highest court of the European Patent Office declaring that plants or seeds obtained through conventional breeding methods are patentable. This referred to well-known cases about broccoli and tomatoes.

EPO Backs Patents On Conventional Plants: Broccoli, Tomato Cases Decided

Third was an IP-Watch special report on whether India would bend to US pressure on intellectual property rights.

Special Report: Will India Bend To US Pressure On IP Rights?

Fourth was a rejection by the Patent Office Controller of India of a patent application by Gilead company for a key drug against hepatitis C, which was in the news last year for exceptionally high prices.

Key Hepatitis C Patent Rejected In India

Fifth, the issue of biologics entered the stage, with an outside opinion piece on the TPP arguing that eight years of data and market exclusivity for biologics was too much time.

Decision Time On Biologics Exclusivity: Eight Years Is No Compromise

The sixth most-read story from 2015 was another opinion piece, about 3D printing and public policy.

3D Printing And Public Policy

Seventh on the list was another still another opinion piece, this one about the TPP investor-state dispute settlement provisions that allow companies to sue other governments for public policies.

How The Leaked TPP ISDS Chapter Threatens Intellectual Property Limitations and Exceptions

In the eighth story, the World Trade Organization makes an appearance, in a request by least-developed country members to extend a waiver on enforcing IP rights.

WTO Least-Developed Countries Request Waiver Of IP Rights On Pharma Products

Number nine was yet another story on TPP, this one IP-Watch columnist Steven Seidenberg’s look at how the TPP copyright terms benefits the US and burdens others by forcing them to increase national copyright terms to life plus 70 years.

TPP’s Copyright Term Benefits US, Burdens Others

And in perhaps a sign of the times, the tenth most-read story from last year was a look at the cybersquatting case of US pop figures Kendall and Kylie Jenner, who crowed about their new domain name even before they had filed – let alone won – the case at WIPO.

Did Kendall And Kylie Jenner Know Outcome Of Their Domain Dispute Before Filing At WIPO?

The next 10 most-read stories cover a range of topics from the year. These included: a look at the “huge upswing” in patent filings in China; a WIPO domain name dispute over the Ashley Madison leaks; India’s draft IP policy; the UN Human Rights Council criticising copyright; WIPO’s deputy director for copyright resigning; the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) taking centre stage in Asia; South Africa’s draft copyright bill; the first-time inclusion of domain registrars in the USTR notorious markets report; and an analysis of why copyright and the public interest are not necessarily competing.

Other trendy pieces covered: European Union copyright reform; design law; TPP and pharmaceuticals; the Internet of Things; Thailand’s copyright law changes; South Africa’s patent reform; a threatened loss of traditional lands and knowledge of the Maasai in Tanzania; a WTO dispute case over plain packaging requirements for tobacco products; the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) being negotiated between the US and EU; and the conclusion of a treaty at WIPO protecting geographical indications (GIs).

Other topics of note include such diverse topics as: Russia’s copyright law modernisation; medicinal marijuana as a geographical indication in Jamaica; implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); why the Lexmark litigation led “Big Pharma” to care about ink cartridges; implementation of the WIPO Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled; and ongoing internal problems at the European Patent Office.

Other areas of interest are various stories ongoing at the World Health Organization, and in internet governance, including on surveillance, as well as open access policies. Missing from the list of the top 100 most-read stories are the day-to-day IP-Watch stories about WIPO committee work and policies.

The list is based on results from Google Analytics. To a degree, results of the year are affected by how long a story has been on the website, so that results skewed toward those published earlier in the year so they have more time to gather page views.

Also among the top pages attracting traffic were some past years’ stories on India’s copyright law, and various pages on the IP-Watch website such as for Patent Policy, Copyright Policy, IP Law, and About Us.

Readership of stories is also affected by whether a story was placed behind password or not, as open access stories tend to automatically get more readership.

We look forward to what 2016 will bring!