EU: Key Committee Urged To Seek Parliamentary Rejection Of ACTA 17/04/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The rapporteur of the lead committee of the European Parliament on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, David Martin, today published his draft recommendation on the highly controversial agreement. If the International Trade Committee agrees on the draft, the plenary will be asked to state that it “declines to consent to conclusion of the agreement.”
Medicines Patent Pool Director Ellen ‘t Hoen To Leave Next Month 16/04/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Executive Director Ellen ‘t Hoen is departing the Medicines Patent Pool, the cutting edge UN spin-off project that works to lower prices on and stimulate new development of HIV medicines and other products through negotiating voluntary licence agreements. According to a release, ‘t Hoen has fulfilled the mission of guiding the organisation from a startup onto “firm footing” and has informed the Board that she will leave on 1 May.
Is ACTA Dying And Are G8 Countries Reacting To Its Impending Death? 15/04/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Rapporteurs for three committees of the European Parliament (Legal, Industry and Trade, and International Trade) have tabled reports or announced what they will propose on the plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). And the Group of 8 may have signalled a shift to a narrower approach on intellectual property rights at its meeting last week.
WIPO Seeks To Calm Anxiety About Technical Assistance To North Korea 06/04/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The UN World Intellectual Property Organization has responded to a question about its provision of technical assistance to North Korea, saying it is standard procedure as authorised by its member states hoping to bring developing countries on board the global IP system.
Court Issues Decision On Intermediary Liability In Viacom v. YouTube 05/04/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Today, a US appellate court released its decision in a key case in which rights holders asserted that online video site YouTube should be liable for copyright infringing content appearing on its site. According to a preliminary reading, the appeals court reversed the earlier decision, signalling that YouTube, owned by Google, could have known about infringing content and therefore may not fit under the safe harbor clause of the US Digital Millenniumn Copyright Act limiting the liability of online service providers.
Intellectual Property Strategy: A Wise Man’s Guide 05/04/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A recently published book by Harvard Law School Professor John Palfrey offers a thoughtful and useful handbook for executives or just about anyone else to better understand and use intellectual property, in ways that encourage sharing and openness.
‘Counterfeit’ Dropped From New WHO Protocol On Illicit Tobacco Trade 04/04/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A new treaty protocol against illicit trade in tobacco products struck today at the World Health Organization saw a late-stage decision to strip out references to “counterfeit” products from the text, according to sources.
Honduras Files WTO Dispute Case Vs. Australia Over Tobacco IPR 04/04/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Honduras announced today it has requested formal consultations with Australia under the World Trade Organization dispute settlement procedures, charging that Australia’s public health law requiring tobacco to be sold in plain packaging violates the WTO intellectual property agreement.
External Review Of WIPO Technical Assistance Stirs Debate 03/04/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization are quietly but heatedly discussing how to address an external review of WIPO technical assistance in the lead-up to the next Committee on Development and IP (CDIP) meeting, according to sources. And some are watchful that there not be an effort to bury the substantive and at-times critical review, even as WIPO has issued a lengthy response to it.
US Trade Barriers Report Signals Work Ahead 02/04/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The annual US list of barriers to trade in other countries was published today, with profiles of dozens of trading partners from very large to very small.