US Congress Passes Legislation On “Semi-Generic” Wines 15/12/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Just in time for the New Year, the United States Congress has passed a bill that will continue to allow the production of knock-off champagnes from outside of France. The European Union is currently examining a bill passed in December that would modify the US law on wines sold under “semi-generic” names […]
Patent Reform On US Senate Agenda; US Officials Question French Copyright Law 14/12/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New As the year end draws near, United States government officials are marking the ground for international intellectual property debates to come in 2007. On 13 December, Senator Patrick Leahy, incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee released his committee’s agenda for next year. He said he would prioritize updating of the US […]
Members Debate As WIPO Sees Budget Surpluses, Busy Programme For 2008 13/12/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) this week furthered their involvement in WIPO’s programme and budget decisions and clarified their understanding of key efforts underway on personnel and new-building construction. But as WIPO declared it would have a budget surplus, members differed on how to spend it and […]
WTO Meeting Reopens Discussions On Geographical Indications Register 12/12/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Informal consultations on 11 December on World Trade Organization negotiations to create a multilateral register for geographical indications produced little progress but showed a willingness by all sides to continue talking on the issue, participants said. The discussion took place in a special session of the WTO Council on the Agreement on […]
Industry Works To Allay Concerns On Patenting Of Genetic Resources 12/12/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Addressing a mixed crowd of private-sector innovation champions and cautious keepers of traditional indigenous ways at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) last week, biotechnology industry representatives sought to overcome fears of intentional misappropriation.
US Advises Developing Country FTA Partners Not To Follow WHO IP Plan 11/12/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The United States has busily negotiated bilateral free trade agreements with a variety of developing countries in recent years, and now appears to be using these to influence those countries’ positions in multilateral bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Developing countries that have free trade agreements (FTAs) with […]
WHO Group Lays Foundation For Global Neglected Diseases R&D Plan 11/12/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen During a 4-8 December meeting of some 100 World Health Organization (WHO) member states and other stakeholders, the foundation was laid for discussions of a global plan for providing medicines for diseases predominantly affecting poor countries. The process will continue in the coming year, and a second intergovernmental meeting is […]
Key Report Urges UK Government To Boost IP Enforcement and Fair Use Rights 08/12/2006 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch An independent study of Britain’s intellectual property framework has found it essentially sound but in need of changes at the national and international levels. Many of its 54 recommendations appear uncontroversial, but several copyright proposals are already sparking debate, and the report could have European-wide or even worldwide […]
WHO Members Take Small Steps With New Medicine R&D Plan In Novel Exercise 07/12/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Participants in this week’s ground-breaking meeting of a World Health Organization group working to stimulate research on neglected diseases hailed the cooperative spirit of the group after three days. But early in the 7 December session, the mood changed as some countries took issue with papers drafted by the secretariat […]
WIPO Committee Breaks Deadlock In Talks On Traditional Knowledge, Folklore 06/12/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) this week broke a longstanding deadlock over how to discuss better protection of traditional knowledge and folklore. In addition, several countries stepped up their call for talks on genetic resources toward an international instrument. The carefully constructed path forward on traditional knowledge and […]