US Supreme Court To Decide If USPTO Refusal To Register Trademarks Breaches Free Speech30/09/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentThe US Supreme Court agreed on 29 September to take up the question of whether the Lanham Act, which allows the US Patent and Trademark Office to refuse to register disparaging trademarks, conflicts with the First Amendment right to free speech.
Clinical Trial Reporting Biased; Full Disclosure, Transparency Needed, Speakers Say30/09/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 CommentsA conference on clinical drug trials held today shed a harsh light on the availability and honesty of clinical trial reports. Many factors concur to possible distortion of results, speakers said, calling for more stringent obligations to provide all data for analysis. They also noted legislative efforts to tackle the issue. Speakers also pointed out a growing trend for pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical trials in developing countries.
Gurry Speaks On Allegations For First Time As WIPO Members Discuss Actions30/09/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 5 CommentsHeading into next week’s annual UN World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies, WIPO member states are considering a report from the United Nations investigations office regarding allegations of wrongdoing made involving WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. And for first time since the allegations arose, Gurry has offered his defence. Spoiler alert: he neither confirmed nor denied it but raised questions about the legality of sharing the report with member states.
Developing Countries Should Be Able To Shield Their Markets From Cheap Food Imports, Panel Says30/09/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentIn the temple of international trade and globalisation, a group of speakers called for developing countries to protect themselves against dumping of food products from developed countries.
Voluntary Sustainability Standards: Virtue Enhancers Or Trade Discriminatory?30/09/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentVoluntary standards are seen by some as acting as barriers to trade, in particular for developing countries unable to meet the requirements of those private standards. At the World Trade Organization Public Forum, two panels presented two approaches, one looking at governments’ role in voluntary sustainability standards, and launching a report by a multi-agency United Nations initiative on those standards. The other one focused on the challenges private standards can represent for developing countries.
Time To Talk Digital Issues At WTO With Focus On Developing Countries, Forum Hears30/09/2016 by Peter Kenny for Intellectual Property Watch 2 CommentsNow is the time for those who want to bring new voices to the digital trade and general trade debate involving the World Trade Organization, says an adviser to a leading security think tank in Switzerland.
Skepticism On Global Trade Arises Even As ‘Potential Exists To Expand Commerce Internationally’30/09/2016 by Peter Kenny for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentA lot of skepticism about global trade has arisen just at a time when there is the potential to involve large swaths of the population who were previously not able to access the international exchange of commerce.
UN Panel Report On Access To Medicines Seen As Holding Potential For Change29/09/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentNEW YORK – Speakers at a side event to the United Nations General Assembly last week commended a new report on access to medicines prepared by a high-level panel hand-chosen by the UN secretary general as containing fresh ideas and the potential to bring change to a longstanding problem.
Signs Of Changing Trends In FTAs’ IP Chapters, Speakers Say At WTO29/09/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentAlthough the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation has raised significant concerns from civil society during negotiations, including about the intellectual property chapter, speakers on a panel during the World Trade Organization Public Forum yesterday said the agreement actually includes a positive provision on copyright, while some other free trade agreements under discussion still include stringent proposals on IP.
US Supreme Court To Examine Outsized Infringement Damages28/09/2016 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 2 CommentsPatent infringers are supposed to pay damages, but the award in this case struck many as ridiculous. Some Samsung smartphones contained one or two purely decorative design elements that had been patented by Apple. But instead of paying modest damages for what many see as a tiny infringement, Samsung was ordered to pay $399 million – all the profits the company had made from its infringing phones. The Federal Circuit said it had no choice but to approve those damages; it was constrained by statute. Critics, however, said that the Federal Circuit had misinterpreted the statute. They fret the court’s error will unleash a wave of design patent infringement suits that will harm innovation, stifle competition, and empower patent trolls. Which is why so many will be paying close attention on 11 October, when this dispute comes before the US Supreme Court.
