Could US Election Result Reverse Ever-Stronger Copyright Protection? 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments US voters returned President Obama for four more years, and kept his party’s dominance of the US Senate as well as the opposition party’s dominance of the House of Representatives. While the Obama administration has generally allied itself with copyright interests, some see the possibility of a reversal in the US Congress of a trend toward stronger copyright protection.
Film Industry Praises Obama’s “Understanding” Of IP’s Importance 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last night quickly congratulated US President Barack Obama on his re-election for four more years, praising his “understanding” of the importance of intellectual property to the US economy. Observers have seen the Obama administration as strongly supportive of the copyright industry, and said Obama received significant campaign financial support from Hollywood while possibly losing ground with the technology industry. And some even see the possibility of a reverse in the US Congress of a trend toward stronger copyright protection.
Internet Governance Forum Opens To Applause, Concerns 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Applause for the United Nations-Led Internet Governance Forum came from speakers at yesterday’s opening session of the four-day meeting.
Pirate Party Rep Tells UN Meeting: “F*** You, This Is My Culture!” 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments Baku, Azerbaijan – Amelia Andersdotter, member of the European Parliament for the Swedish Pirate Party, in no polite words today (6 November) told the participants of the 7th Internet Governance Forum in Baku what she thought about the lack of progress in adapting copyright to the digital age.
Sizing Up The “Ill-Conceived” PAIPO Draft Statute 06/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The text of the Draft Statute of the proposed Pan-African Intellectual Property Organization does not support a clear basis for criticism, but the lack of a clear need to put resources toward a centralised African registration system, and the lack of transparency about the process signal that the idea is “ill-conceived,” writes South African lawyer Sadulla Karjiker.
WTO TRIPS Council To Consider New Brazil-United States Item On Innovation 05/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Trade Organization member committee on the WTO intellectual property agreement meets tomorrow, with a new agenda item on intellectual property and innovation at the request of the United States and Brazil.
UPOV Hails Benefits of Plant Variety Protection; Civil Society Frustrated 05/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) held a symposium last week on the benefits of plant variety protection as a way to help mitigate agricultural challenges and improve the livelihood of farmers. Also last week, during the UPOV Council, civil society denounced a push for a more stringent version of the UPOV Convention, and said new rules for observers were disappointing.
Landmark India IP Board Decision Against Hepatitis C Drug Patent 04/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments India last week saw a landmark public health decision on the evolving role of intellectual property rights in the context of the public interest.
UN Internet Governance Forum Looks At Human Rights, New Domains, Who’s In Charge 04/11/2012 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Baku, Azerbaijan – Human rights on the internet, the new generic top-level domains, how the net can be managed and ruled – these are main topics on the published agenda of the 7th United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Top-Level Domain .Africa Becomes Object Of Bitter Fight 03/11/2012 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A dispute over the .africa regional geographic top-level internet domain (TLD) may have escalated. The Kenya-based DotConnectAfrica trust (with headquarters in Mauritius) in a press release this week applauded the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for granting a change request to their application. DotConnectAfrica by mistake had applied for .dotafrica instead of .africa in its application during the new gTLD process in April.