EPO Response: No Tricks On Patents On Seeds And Plants 05/04/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment In response to a report published on 3 April by civil society group No Patent on Seeds alleging that industry and patent examiners in the European Patent Office are finding legal loopholes to grant patents on seeds and plants, an EPO spokesperson told Intellectual Property Watch the patent office does not “apply tricks” to grant patents.
Group Says Industry, EPO Finding Loopholes To Patent Seeds, Plants 04/04/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new report by civil society group No Patent on Seeds was issued yesterday alleging that industry and patent examiners in the European Patent Office are “using legal loopholes to grant patents on seeds, plants and even harvest and food products derived thereof.”
French IP Industry Experts Discuss IP Portfolios, Trademarks Online 21/03/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment PARIS – Intellectual property assets and how they influence corporate value, plus trademarks in the digital world were discussed last week by intellectual property professionals gathered in Paris.
French IP Lawyers Prefer No Favours For Green Tech Patents; Welcome America Invents Act 20/03/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment PARIS – A meeting of IP professionals held in Paris last week reaffirmed the importance of intellectual property and its protection to the private sector. Meanwhile, panellists at the event argued that green technologies should not benefit from a special regime. They also hailed the new America Invents Act as facilitating patent applications in the United States.
WIPO Achieves Single Legal Text On Genetic Resources; Indigenous Peoples Back 23/02/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments After eight days of intensive drafting work, delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization now have a text that will be submitted to the WIPO General Assemblies in September so that a diplomatic conference can be decided upon to finish negotiations on an international instrument protecting genetic resources from misappropriation.
Indigenous Peoples Walk Out Of WIPO Committee On Genetic Resources 22/02/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The International Indigenous Forum, in an unprecedented collective move, decided yesterday to withdraw from the discussions of the WIPO Committee on Genetic Resources taking place from 14-22 February. The move calls into question the legitimacy of the negotiations.
WIPO Members Work Through Differences In Genetic Resources Document 19/02/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The development of an international instrument on the protection of genetic resources continues to engage government delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Sources have called the process constructive and meeting Chair Wayne McCook, the permanent representative of Jamaica, said delegations were very engaged in the exercise. But a sharp divide remains on several subjects.
In 2012: Are Biotech, Ethics And Biodiversity Friends or Foes? 08/02/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With food demand and prices rising as the world crosses the threshold of 7 billion people, the need to find new medicines, concerns about the shrinking biodiversity and the effects of climate change may designate biotechnologies as the main response. Opinions differ on the way to address those issues, in particular about intellectual property rights attached to biotechnologies. Legislative questions are being discussed on both sides of the Atlantic around the scope of patentability, and intellectual property rights on plants, seeds, molecules or methods, as well as exemptions that some think should be applied. The year ahead will see some decisions that might impact the biotechnology industry both in the United States and in Europe.
WIPO: ISP-Trademark Meeting Agreed; Industrial Design Treaty, Country Names Still On Table 04/02/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week resumed an adjourned October meeting and agreed to continue exploring the possibility of a treaty on industrial design by commissioning an impact study on the costs and effects of such a treaty. They also found consensus on the modalities of an information meeting on the role and responsibility of internet intermediaries in the context of trademarks, and decided to explore further the question of the protection of country names.
Discussion Of Treaty On Industrial Designs, Role Of ISPs Resumed At WIPO 01/02/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment After being adjourned in November in the mists of a fire at the World Intellectual Property Organization, a meeting on trademarks and industrial designs resumed today in icy Geneva.