Standstill On Industrial Design Treaty, Country Names, GIs In WIPO Committee 20/03/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Hopes to gain ground in discussions toward a procedural treaty on industrial design applications were not met this week at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Meanwhile, proposals on the protection of geographical indications on the internet and on a potential international GI filing system were put on hold until the next session of the committee.
All WIPO Filings On The Rise, Serving Mainly Developed Economies; Telecoms Increase 19/03/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Today, the World Intellectual Property Organization released the 2014 numbers of filings for its systems for patents, trademarks, and industrial designs, which form the basis of the revenue of the UN organisation. Filings under the three systems grew in 2014, with a notable presence of telecom companies in patent filing activity. Except for China, top filers in the three systems are developed countries. Also noted was that so far, the significant increase in internet domain names has only led to a slight rise in new domain dispute cases.
WIPO Members Discussing Industrial Designs, Geographical Indications This Week 17/03/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment World Intellectual Property Organization member governments are meeting this week to try to advance a proposal to convene a high-level negotiation for a procedural treaty on industrial designs. They also are discussing how geographical indications should be addressed in the committee on trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications.
UN Human Rights Council Debates Report Criticising Copyright 11/03/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 13 Comments Copyright might run counter to human rights, says a new report from the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. In the report, she provides a number of recommendations, including encouraging UN World Intellectual Property Organization members to support the adoption of international instruments on limitations and exceptions to copyright. The report is under consideration by the Human Rights Council and was debated extensively today.
WIPO Encourages Participation Of Women In Intellectual Property System 11/03/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments As the United Nations celebrated Women Day on 8 March, the World Intellectual Property Organization had an ongoing initiative to encourage women’s participation in a WIPO social media platform on technology and innovation. Kaori Saito, gender and diversity specialist in the WIPO Human Resources Management Department, and Tomasz Liharewski, program officer, WIPO Global Infrastructure Sector, sat down this week with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez to describe what the initiative was about and its outcome.
Revolving Chairs In The IP World: People Shift Positions. But Interests? Not So Much 06/03/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A lot has happened among the global intellectual property community over the past months. Beyond the usual shifts in law offices, many key positions have either changed hands or been filled. For example, the European commissioners changed, and the United States nominated a new “piracy czar” and a new head of the US Patent and Trademark Office. The International Telecommunication Union, UNITAID and other organisations have new heads. And the World Intellectual Property Organization has a new top management team. Non-governmental organisations and the private sector also saw a lot of movement in recent months, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the International Trademark Association, the International Publishers Association, and the Motion Picture Association of America. In this article, we take the opportunity to catch up. Here is a look at some of the changes.
Global Fund Publishes Terms Of Reference Of Equitable Access Initiative 02/03/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An initiative spearheaded by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to ensure equitable access to medicines in particular in middle-income countries now has a dedicated webpage publishing the terms of reference of the initiative. Also available is the list of high-level participants who attended the first meeting of the initiative held last week.
Ebola Crisis Has Severe Impact On AIDS Response In Sierra Leone, UNDP Report Says 27/02/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment According to an internal report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Fund Partnership team, the Ebola epidemic has virtually halted national HIV efforts in Sierra Leone. In particular, patients stopped their treatments and the supply chain was disrupted.
Tobacco Plain Packaging Discussion Lights Up Again At WTO 25/02/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The issue of plain packaging for tobacco products as a health measure has been smouldering at the World Trade Organization since Australia decided to implement legislation requiring plain packaging in 2012. Now, as more countries seek to enact similar legal provisions, some tobacco producing countries continue to try to stub them out, including at the WTO intellectual property committee.
WTO Least-Developed Countries Request Waiver Of IP Rights On Pharma Products 25/02/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 13 Comments This week at the World Trade Organization intellectual property committee meeting, least-developed countries submitted a request to extend a waiver allowing them not to enforce intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical products. The countries have extended the waiver before, but this time they are seeking to make it indefinite, until they are no longer considered LDCs.