WIPO TK Committee Agrees To Continue Work, But Real Outcome Depends On October Assembly 19/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A 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 Worse 19/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Delegations 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 Prices 16/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The 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 Interest 15/06/2017 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 Intelligence 14/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Designing 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 Robots 13/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Who 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, Folklore 12/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The 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 Folklore 12/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The 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.
Human Rights Council Speakers: Right To Health Underlies All Other Rights, Access To Medicines Key 09/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment If governments have the obligation to help keep their citizens healthy, many of them are struggling to strengthen their health systems. A variety of hurdles is in the way, and lack of access to medicines is one of them, as underlined by the World Health Organization director general in her address to the United Nations Human Rights Council yesterday.
Summit: Artificial Intelligence Is Humanity-Changing, Build Safeguards Now 07/06/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment For artificial intelligence enthusiasts, the future is bright. Soon intelligent machines will help humankind solve most problems, and according to one speaker at an artificial intelligence summit in Geneva this week, humans will be outsmarted by robots in the foreseeable future, in an artificial intelligence bliss. For others, artificial intelligence is far from delivering a fully positive outcome, and for several United Nations representatives, such as the World Health Organization, the world should not be entrusted to robots just yet.