Where There Is A Will There Is A Way: Speakers At WIPO Event Discuss Indigenous Knowledge Protection22/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentAn event held on the side of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on traditional knowledge meeting last week looked at ways to move discussions forward in the light of the committee’s expected renewed mandate. Speakers explored different perspectives and possible new avenues for indigenous and local communities to protect and manage their knowledge and cultural heritage, without the threat of misappropriation.
Tribute To An IP Community Influencer Brings Together IP Experts In Geneva20/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentInspiring, generous, humanist, nobody was short of praise and anecdotes at an event last week to celebrate the lifelong contribution of Pedro Roffe, well-known Geneva thinker and writer on intellectual property. A conference on the evolution of intellectual property, trade and development had been organised for the occasion, congregating many IP experts offering their perspective on the role of IP in fields, such as public health, innovation policy, and competition law.
WIPO TK Committee Agrees To Continue Work, But Real Outcome Depends On October Assembly19/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentA recommendation to continue the work of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on the protection of traditional knowledge, genetic resources and folklore is on its way to the organisation’s annual General Assembly in October. However, the details of the mandate are left for the General Assembly to discuss, such as the mandate and the work programme of the committee for the next two years.
Revised Articles Protecting Folklore Head To WIPO General Assembly, For Better Or Worse19/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentDelegations this week agreed on a revised set of draft articles aiming to protect traditional cultural expressions (folklore) from misappropriation, typically for commercial interests. However, several proposals made by the United States, some of which were supported by the European Union, were seen by others as defying the purpose of the potential treaty.
WHO Starts Work On Essential List Of Diagnostics To Facilitate Access, Lower Prices16/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentThe World Health Organization announced yesterday that it has begun work on a list of essential diagnostics, as an echo of its Model List of Essential Medicines.
TRIPS Council Members: Defining IP Rights And The Public Interest15/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment“Political and economic pressure placed on governments to forgo the use of TRIPS flexibilities violates the integrity and legitimacy of the system of legal duties and rights created by the TRIPS agreement and as reaffirmed by the Doha Declaration,” India told a World Trade Organization committee this week, referring to the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Stakeholders Collectively Designing Future Of Artificial Intelligence14/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentDesigning a world where humans have to share space with robots is not an easy task. Several initiatives are looking at ways to address issues linked to the main fuel of artificial intelligence: data. Such issues include privacy, data ownership and sharing, but also making sure that artificial intelligence will not widen the existing digital divide. Speakers at a global summit last week provided insight on ongoing efforts to understand and best tackle the inevitable and sometimes unforeseen problems of this new territory.
Experts Think Through Ethical, Legal, Social Challenges Of The Rise Of Robots13/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a CommentWho thought that the laws of robotics described by famous science fiction author Isaac Asimov would one day resonate with real life issues on robots? Last week’s summit on artificial intelligence sought to imagine a world increasingly manned by machines and robots, even self-taught ones, and explore the legal, ethical, economic, and social consequences of this new world. And some panellists underlined a need to establish frameworks to manage this new species.
WIPO Members Consider Future Of Committee On Traditional Knowledge, Folklore12/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentThe fate of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee addressing misappropriation of the cultural heritage of indigenous peoples will be decided by the annual WIPO General Assembly in October. But the committee this week is expected to provide recommendations on its future work, on the renewal of its mandate, and whether work accomplished over the last two years can lead to a high-level negotiation on one or several treaties giving indigenous peoples increased rights over their culture.
WIPO Seminar Looks At Protection Of Folklore12/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 CommentThe World Intellectual Property Organization committee in charge of seeking solutions to protect traditional cultural expressions (folklore) from misuse meets this week. On the eve of the meeting, a preambular seminar looked at key policy issues of such protection and if current international instruments could provide for such solutions.
