Sports Broadcasters Make Case For International IP Rights Protection 30/09/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments On the side of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly last week, sports and entertainment broadcasters held an event to highlight the challenges they are facing in the digital world, in particular unauthorised retransmission of live events.
WIPO Amends Patent Cooperation Treaty Fee Schedule 29/09/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment World Intellectual Property Organization members have approved an amendment to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) aimed at lowering fees for a greater number of users.
Health Advocates Demand U-Turn In EU Trade Policy To Align With Its Health Objectives 29/09/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Health Action International Europe, and Oxfam today issued a briefing paper entitled, “Trading Away Access to Medicines: How the European trade agenda continues to undermine access to medicines.” The paper argues that new concerns such as the ebola virus and the threat of unchecked antimicrobial resistance show the need for a new model for financing pharmaceutical research and development.
Lisbon Agreement Members To Move Ahead With Treaty Talks Despite Resistance 29/09/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The revision of a World Intellectual Property Organization agreement to include geographical indications, raising their status, was challenged in vain by some countries in the past week. In addition, this week’s WIPO General Assembly has been working intensively on a range of other issues.
NGOs: Farmers’ Rights Should Be Safeguarded In Activities Of Plant Treaty, WIPO, UPOV 29/09/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Over 50 organisations have co-signed a letter to the International Plant Treaty calling for it to safeguard the implementation of farmers’ rights in the context of joint activities with the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).
Creators Push For Fair Remuneration At WIPO General Assembly 29/09/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Creative artists came to this week’s World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly to encourage governments to build a sustainable future for creators and ensure fair remuneration for their work. This may mean looking for ways to redistribute the value of content.
Several WIPO Committee Reports Stamped by General Assembly; Dissent Persists 28/09/2014 by Catherine Saez and William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Every year at this time, various World Intellectual Property Organization committees give a report to the organisation’s General Assembly on their past year’s activities and recommendations for decisions to be taken, including work they will be undertaking during the next year. At this week’s Assembly, reports were noted from committees on patents, trademarks, WIPO standards, and enforcement.
Countries Begin Push To Reduce Differences In Patent Laws 26/09/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Some of the leading patent-filing nations this week renewed an effort to harmonise procedures for filing patents in their national offices. Image Credits: Eric Bridiers, US Mission
Patent Landscape For Hepatitis Issued By WHO 26/09/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Health Organization has published an analysis of the patent situation for new hepatitis treatments, and a call for possible pharmaceutical products for prequalification.
Lisbon GI Revision A Hot Topic As Members Prepare For Treaty Talks 26/09/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A proposed amendment to the Lisbon Agreement protecting appellations of origin at the World Intellectual Property Organization is the object of heated discussions between proponents of geographical indications and countries favouring other systems such as trademarks to protect such intellectual property titles. A side event to this week’s WIPO General Assemblies gathered GI proponents to ponder the future of the agreement.