G20 Health Ministers Receive Flurry Of Requests Ahead Of Their First-Ever Meeting 18/05/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Civil society organisations and the Business 20 Dialogue all put their positions on the table before the opening of the first-ever meeting of G20 Health Ministers tomorrow in Berlin, Germany taking place tomorrow.
EU Parliament Approves Cross-Border Online Paid Content 18/05/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Parliament today adopted the Portability Regulation by a margin of 586 to 34 votes with 6 abstentions. The new EU regulation will allow the cross-border use of online paid content which so far was hampered by geoblocking. Users now can access their Netflix, Sky Go or similar subscription services when roaming in the EU. But the regulation will not really end geoblocking, warned the minority opposed to the regulation, as Pirate Party Member Julia Reda.
Investor-State Provisions Mean EU Cannot Conclude Singapore Trade Deal Alone, EU Court Says 16/05/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Union free trade agreement with Singapore cannot be concluded by the European Union alone, at least not in its current form, according to an opinion (2/2015, ECLI:EU:C:2016:992) handed down by the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg earlier today.
At re:publica 2017, Strategy Of ‘The Facebook Empire’ Revealed By Patents 09/05/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In a talk at the re:publica 2017 in Berlin this week, academics from the Share Lab Project presented how they relied on an unusual resource to get a measure of the algorithms of Facebook. By reading through a part of the 8000 patents registered by the company, the researchers were able to shed some light into the process of how the “Empire” turns the raw data they treat their users as into those valuable big data golden profiles that then can be marketed.
European Court Of Justice Tightens Screws On “Streaming” 28/04/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments In a judgment this week, the European Court of Justice ruled that “the sale of a multimedia player which enables films that are available illegally on the internet to be viewed easily and for free on a television screen could constitute an infringement of copyright“ (C:2017:300).
New Open Source Licence For Seeds 28/04/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 7 Comments The Germany-based OpenSourceSeeds initiative this month started to offer open source-licensed seeds in an effort to strengthen a form of “copyleft” for new plant varieties. The goal, according to the organisation established by academics, activists and breeders and establish a non-private seed sector as a second pillar alongside private plant breeding.
G20 IT Ministers Want Access For All, Commit To Conflicting Objectives 07/04/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The Group of 20 (G20) ministers responsible for the digital economy today called for further efforts to advance access to the internet for everyone and close the digital gaps that still exist. Gathered in Dusseldorf, Germany, for the two-day IT related preparatory conference for the G20 Summit in Hamburg in July, the ministers signed a declaration on “Shaping the Digitalisation for an Interconnected World.” It was the first time that ministers for digital economy met in the G20 format.
Revocation Of Broadband Rules Ossifying Poor Privacy Practices, Experts Say 05/04/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment CHICAGO, Illinois – US President Trump Monday signed the repeal of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband privacy rules passed by both houses of Congress in March. The decision by Congress and the new administration to smash the FCC broadband privacy rules, data security and security breach notification obligations do not bode well for internet users who want to have a say with regard to their confidentiality, according to a range of tech experts.
Will Brexit Block The European Unitary Patent? 23/03/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment European Patent Office President Benoît Battistelli today in Brussels expressed confidence that the first European Union unitary patent could be granted by the end of this year despite continued delays in the ratification process.But doubts remain.
Mining Is The New Reading 23/03/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Representatives of the research and academic community applauded amendments by the rapporteur to the draft new European Union Copyright Directive in yet another hearing on the megaproject yesterday in Brussels. Especially welcomed was the rapporteur’s proposal to extend the scope of an exemption for text and data mining. Representatives of publishers, on the other hand, said there is no evidence of the need for additional mandatory exemptions.