UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Adoption of General Comment on the “moral and material interests of the rights of authors” deferred 01/12/2004 by Isabelle Scherer for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment After many hours of contentious discussion, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) chose last week to defer adoption of a General Comment on the “right of everyone to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.” […]
WIPO Secretariat Ramps up the Pressure for a new Treaty on Broadcasting Organisations 04/11/2004 by Isabelle Scherer for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment At the recent WIPO Assembly, Member States resisted pressures to move forward with a diplomatic conference on a proposed new treaty to provide increased protection to broadcasting organisations. The WIPO Secretariat’s activism in pushing for a rapid convening of a Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of the Rights of Broadcasting Organisations generated strong reactions from […]
The Domino Effect of US FTAs: Public Health Groups, Members of Congress claim CAFTA will choke Access to Medicines 04/11/2004 by Isabelle Scherer for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Recent efforts to rally Congress to approve a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) reached earlier this year with Central American countries has reignited debate about USTR’s approach to intellectual property and the implications for access to essential medicines. The Agreement with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua was reached in May 2004 and supplemented […]
WIPO Proposal for PCT Fee Increase rejected: the Search for 70 million Swiss Francs continues… 04/11/2004 by Isabelle Scherer for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The rejection at the recent WIPO Assembly of a Secretariat proposal to increase fees for patent applications filed under the terms of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has prompted a broader interest in WIPO’s financial management and its accountability to Member States. The proposal—designed in part to compensate for an expected shortfall of 70 million […]
The Facts Speak 04/11/2004 by Isabelle Scherer for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This table provides a sample of the recommendations offered by three of the major U.S. industry associations regarding the placement of countries in the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) 2004 ‘Special 301’ Report. The far right-hand column lists the final USTR decision. Country Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)Recommendations International Intellectual […]
USTR’s Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights: Public Interest Groups Still Calling for a Voice 04/11/2004 by Isabelle Scherer for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In the wake of a series of U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) which include ‘TRIPS-plus’ commitments on intellectual property, civil society groups are again urging the United States to better incorporate public interest views in the formulation of its trade strategy. Since the late 1990s, consumer advocates, such as James Love of the Consumer Project […]
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Civil Society Groups fear a rushed General Comment on “Intellectual Property” 04/11/2004 by Isabelle Scherer for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The plans of a leading UN human rights body to finalize a General Comment on “Intellectual Property and Human Rights” in November has provoked calls from human rights and public interest organisations for greater opportunities for public input. At stake is the content of a draft General Comment by the UN Committee on Economic, Social […]
US Vows to “Fight” the Push for WIPO Reform 04/11/2004 by Isabelle Scherer for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments In an October 15 speech, the Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Jonathan Dudas, vowed that the U.S. government will “fight” proposals that aim to “fundamentally change the WIPO charter and philosophy” away from its current focus on the promotion of intellectual property. In his keynote remarks at the Annual Meeting of […]