Indigenous Groups Tell WIPO, ‘Don’t Patent Our Traditional Knowledge’ 06/12/2006 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment This week, a key World Intellectual Property Organization committee is debating policies related to the protection of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions (folklore) and genetic resources with an eye to helping local communities, often indigenous, get the full market value and public use of their traditions through fair negotiations with outside patent applicants. But some […]
Divergences Slow Work Of WIPO Traditional Knowledge Committee 05/12/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By William New Lofty policies ostensibly aimed at helping communities protect traditional practices of global interest are under discussion at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week. But procedural differences so far have been bringing them to the ground. For the 30 November to 8 December Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and Folklore […]
Cautious Start For WHO IP Working Group As Members Feel Their Way 05/12/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen After a slow start in a weeklong meeting on intellectual property and public health, World Health Organization (WHO) member states appear to have begun discussing the possible substance of a plan to ensure that medical treatments are developed for diseases mainly affecting poor countries. A number of developing countries called […]
Germany Still Seeking Balance In Copyright Policy 04/12/2006 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch A series of five recent hearings in the Justice Committee of the German Parliament have revealed deep rifts over the second part of Germany’s copyright law reform. This so-called “second basket” deals with adaptations of copyright law to the digital age after a “first basket” from 2003 aimed […]
Governments Eye DRM Interoperability Rules As Consumers Vent Over Access 04/12/2006 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch LONDON – Increasing consumer demand for accessing online content anytime, anywhere is politicizing copyright, speakers said last week at the Digital Hollywood Europe conference here. Frustration over restrictive and incompatible digital rights management (DRM) systems and consumer electronics devices has risen to the point where governments are beginning […]
Indigenous Communal Moral Rights 04/12/2006 by Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments By Molly Torsen A more and more robust literature on traditional cultural expressions is being written, discussed and even filtered into legislation. Most academic thinking on the topic agrees that Western intellectual property (IP) laws do not offer adequate or appropriate protection for certain types of creations. One example is the poor fit Western copyright […]
Balancing Patents and Standards Seen As Key For Mobile Phone Industry 01/12/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Technology companies have long recognised the importance to their economic growth of patents and standards, but increasingly they are focusing on the intersection of the two in order to seek changes to the patent system, industry experts told an event at the World Intellectual Property Organization on 29 November. The presenters were Tim Frain, director of IPR in the regulatory affairs department of Nokia Corporation, and Paul Davey, director of intellectual property at the Vodafone Group. Both industry representatives encouraged government officials in the audience to consider legislative remedies to problems they perceive in patents interfering with standards related to technological innovation. Davey and Frain discussed concerns that some holding licenses for technology may not be willing to recognise the need for access to standard-related patents in order to ensure the interoperability of technologies. Frain argued that the current patent regime “may no longer be sufficient,” and suggested a legislative change might be necessary.