Switzerland Urges Immediate Search For New WIPO Director General 05/10/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By William New Switzerland, in its role as host country of the World Intellectual Property Organization, this week issued a call for an immediate search for a new leader of the organisation in order to address concerns of mismanagement and lack of credibility. In an unusually blunt press statement, the Swiss government expressed dissatisfaction with […]
WIPO Assembly Ends In Deadlock Over Budget, Director General 04/10/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New The annual General Assemblies of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization ended in a stalemate Wednesday with no approval of a new budget or proposed cuts in patent fees and no decision on the fate of embattled Director General Kamil Idris, according to early reports from some participants. “It was a catastrophe,” […]
US Courts Swinging Toward Higher Threshold For Patentability 04/10/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch For years, the United States has appeared unusually generous towards patent applicants. The country has extended legal protection to many inventions, such as business methods, that typically are not patentable in Europe and other parts of the world. Now, however, America appears to be back-pedalling. Two recent court rulings in the United States have significantly cut back on the types of inventions that can patented in the country. And these decisions may be just the beginning. More court-imposed restrictions may be coming soon, according to some experts.
Le Plan d’action de l’OMPI pour le développement est sur les rails 04/10/2007 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Par William New Les membres de l’Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle ont officiellement adopté vendredi un nouveau Plan d’action pour le développement, jetant les bases d’une orientation plus marquée de l’organisation vers le développement. Les détails relatifs à la mise en œuvre du plan d’action seront définis ultérieurement. «Ce jour est à marquer d’une […]
La OMPI emprende un nuevo programa sobre propiedad intelectual y desarrollo 04/10/2007 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Por William New Los Estados miembros de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual adoptaron formalmente el pasado viernes un nuevo Programa para el Desarrollo, imprimiendo así una perspectiva más amplia del desarrollo a todas sus actividades. Los detalles sobre su aplicación se establecerán más adelante. “Este es un gran día”, comentó el Embajador de […]
Debate On Director General Reaches Breaking Point 02/10/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Tuesday appeared to be near a breaking point on the effort by developed countries to discuss possible improprieties and mismanagement by the WIPO director general and their effort to get him to resign. The issue has clouded the entire 24 September to 3 October […]
Les accords bilatéraux entre l’UE et les pays en développement suscitent des inquiétudes 02/10/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Par David Cronin pour Intellectual Property Watch BRUXELLES – L’inquiétude grandit en Europe et dans les pays en développement concernant la possibilité qu’un certain nombre d’accords de libre échange qui devraient être signés dans le courant de l’année contienne des règles excessivement sévères sur la propriété intellectuelle. La Commission Européenne, l’organe exécutif de l’Union Européenne, […]
The Idris Dilemma And The WIPO Development Agenda 02/10/2007 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Sisule F. Musungu On Friday, 28th September 2007 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly finally adopted a development agenda for WIPO. The Assembly adopted a set of 45 proposals under six clusters, namely: technical assistance and capacity building; norm-setting, flexibilities and public domain; technology transfer, ICTs and access to knowledge; assessment, evaluation […]
Open Letter to WIPO Director General Kamil Idris 01/10/2007 by Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments English version here De Salvatore Di Palma, ex Directeur adjoint, OMPI 1er octobre 2007 Lettre ouverte au Directeur général Kamil Idris C’est avec un grand intérêt que j’ai pris connaissance du « Rapport de Revue Interne concernant l’OMPI » de Ernst & Young ainsi que du rapport du Corps commun d’inspection des Nations Unies du […]
WIPO Panel: Rights Management Information At Core Of IP Protection 01/10/2007 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Catherine Saez The growing volume of audiovisual, musical or text-based content online offers opportunities and challenges to copyright owners, intermediaries such as search engines, and users, according to panellists at a recent World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) seminar. Among the challenges are the ownership, licensing and management of intellectual property. Rights Management Information (RMI), as defined in the 1996 WIPO “Internet” treaties, identifies content protected by copyright or related rights, the rights owners for such content and the terms and conditions of use associated with it. RMI is playing an essential role in protecting copyrights in the network environment, according to panellists, most of whom were from an industry perspective.