WIPO Negotiations Appear Nearer On Treaty For The Blind 23/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization on the draft text of a treaty on copyright exceptions to benefit visually impaired persons are heading into the final evening of a weeklong committee meeting. Negotiators have made several modifications to the text since yesterday, and work is continuing.
NGO Views On WIPO Treaty For Blind Reveal Difficulty In Reaching Accord 22/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Non-governmental organisations this week vehemently voiced their positions at the World Intellectual Property Organization on a text that could become a treaty increasing access to books by visually impaired people. The NGO exercise unveiled a range of stances on what the treaty should and should not do.
WHO Members Agree On Roadmap To Fight Poor Quality Medicines 22/11/2012 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The first meeting of the World Health Organization mechanism intended to promote the prevention and control of “substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit” (SSFFC) medical products is being called a success. Member states agreed on a work plan that focuses on strengthening regulatory capacities and decided to form a steering committee to monitor country compliance to the plan.
Latest Text Of Treaty For Visually Impaired Shows More Work Needed 22/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Despite long hours of discussions yesterday, World Intellectual Property Organization delegates working on a draft document that could become a treaty/instrument to provide exceptions to copyright for visually impaired persons will have to come back to the text (below) today to try and bridge differences. For now, the meeting has moved on to a possible treaty on broadcasters’ rights.
WCIT: Is It About The Internet Or Not? 22/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The debates are getting more heated with the December World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) in Dubai coming closer. Google today (21 November) launched one of its big campaigns to rally support against what it says is an attempt by some countries to “further regulate the internet” and potentially limit free speech through censorship.
In Final Stretch Of Drafting Of WIPO Treaty For The Blind, Tensions High 21/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Pressure mounted as delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization today engaged in what was planned to be the final day of negotiations on the text of a treaty on copyright exceptions for the blind. The ultimate outcome of the negotiations depends on the convening of a diplomatic conference, which could yield an instrument facilitating access to reading material by visually impaired and print-disabled persons.
Overseas Manufacturing Creates Copyright Dilemma For US Supreme Court 21/11/2012 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons presents the United States Supreme Court with a stark and weighty choice. In the 29 October oral argument [pdf], Supap Kirtsaeng urged the court to uphold purchasers’ right to freely dispose of copyrighted works they have purchased, even when those works are made overseas. If this right is struck down, Kirtsaeng warned, museums in the US may be unable to borrow works of art created overseas, consumers may be unable to sell their used books and CDs, and many companies engaged in secondary markets, such as eBay and used car dealers, may be put out of business.
Report Seeks To Advance Global Debate On Technological Transfer 21/11/2012 by Tiphaine Nunzia Caulier for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new report from the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) proposes solutions to advancing the global technology transfer debate to better bridge the development gap between developed countries and the global South.
Governments’ Early Warning Notes Issued On New Internet Domains 21/11/2012 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment No exclusive “.baby” top-level domain (TLD) for Johnson and Johnson, no exclusive “.blog” for Google, nor “.antivir” for Symantec or “.epost” for the German Postal Service. Of 242 government early warning notices to applicants for new generic top-level domains posted last night by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the majority target “quasi-monopolies” over generic names or lack of protective measures with regard to defensive registrations.
EU Patent, Patent Court Could Finally Be Approved In Coming Weeks 20/11/2012 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments A new proposal by European Union governments could signal the end of a years-long struggle for a unified European patent and patent court. The compromise, which has the support of the European Commission (EC), appears likely to make it through the European Parliament despite pockets of resistance.