WHO Africa Region Addresses Strategies On Counterfeits, Malaria, Hepatitis 23/08/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The 47 members of the World Health Organization African region this week adopted or considered a series of measures aimed at fighting substandard and counterfeit medical products, eliminating malaria and viral hepatitis, and setting a global strategy and plan of action on ageing and health that includes a focus on non-communicable diseases. They also adopted a plan for disease outbreaks and health emergencies.
New US Government Source Code Policy Could Provide Model For Europe 22/08/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States government this month published its new federal source code policy to allow government-wide access to custom source code developed by or for any agency of the federal government. The policy, which aims to reduce duplication, avoid technology “lock-in,” and tap the best minds in or outside government, has caught the attention of free software developers in Europe who are hoping to use it as a basis for change there too.
A Test He Couldn’t Pass: College Admissions Expert Loses Domain 22/08/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Get into Harvard? Not this way. That’s the message of a World Intellectual Property Organization dispute panel after ruling the website harvard-review.com confusingly uses the name of a famous university in promoting skills training for college admissions tests, without authorisation.
The Expert On IP For Internet Protocol: Interview With Scott Bradner 19/08/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Fluent in both types of IP: Scott Bradner has been an architect of intellectual property (IP) policy for internet protocol (IP) standards. He played a core role in the development of internet protocol, leading to the very digital revolution we know today, as well as the next generation IPv6, all the while designing intellectual property policy to go along with it. Here is an interview with Bradner.
The Downfall Of Invention: A Broken Patent System 18/08/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The cost of dozens of brand-name drugs have nearly doubled in just the past five years. Public outrage over drug prices extends from Capitol Hill to the presidential candidates to patients. In response, pharmaceutical executives are spending more on lobbying and marketing. Yet for all this attention, most of the proposed solutions for reducing prescription drug costs—tougher negotiations, appeals for transparent R&D costs or investigations into insurers—miss one of the primary sources of the problem: the way we award patents, writes Tahir Amin.
Bontekoe Is New WIPO Legal Counsel; Kwakwa Heads Global Challenges, Traditional Knowledge 18/08/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization quietly changed legal counsel this month after more than a decade, with veteran Edward Kwakwa moving to a new senior post in the United Nations organisation and Frits Bontekoe moving from the UN refugee agency to head the WIPO team.
Thailand Enforces Law To Promote IP As Loan Collateral, Amends Trademark Law To Raise Penalty For Deception 18/08/2016 by Sinfah Tunsarawuth for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BANGKOK – Thailand has enforced a new law to promote using intellectual property as loan collateral, an effort likely to make intellectual property a more valuable asset for its holders. But experts caution that the country still lacks the infrastructure of a viable IP market.
Number Of Unique Patent Assertions Declined Over Years, Patexia Finds 17/08/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Pedram Sameni of Patexia writes: We recently studied the PTAB data and suggested that although the rise and fall in litigation indirectly affected the rise and fall in IPR challenges, the true driver of IPR challenges is the number of unique patents asserted each year. To learn more, we decided to look at the number of unique patents asserted against different defendants since 2010. We made several interesting discoveries, including the surprising fact that even though the number of cases has been rising, the number of unique patents asserted each year has been declining.
US Government Announces Go-Ahead For IANA Transition By October 17/08/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States Commerce Department National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) this week confirmed it will hand over oversight of the internet domain name system root zone and other core internet infrastructure registries to the semi-private Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
US Agencies Seek Comment On Updated Antitrust Guidelines For IP Licensing 17/08/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment In an age when licensing of intellectual property plays a critical role in business strategy, the United States Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are seeking public comment on a proposed update of the antitrust guidelines for IP licensing.