WTO Adopts Appellate Body Report On US-China Film Distribution Dispute 19/01/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment China is expected to implement changes that will allow foreign distributors to import audiovisual entertainment products in China without trade being narrowed by state-owned channels after it lost its dispute case against the United States at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The recommendations of the dispute settlement panel and the Appellate Body were adopted today by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.
IP System Soul-Searching In Face Of Success, System Overload 19/01/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The intellectual property system seems to be tight at the seams with a global overload of work for national IP offices and a backlog in patent requests. Further international cooperation and some adjustments are necessary to keep an efficient high quality IP system, according to speakers at a private-sector meeting in Geneva on 14-15 January.
Internet Governance 2010: Future Of The IGF, Competition Among Institutions 15/01/2010 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The future design of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the role of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in internet governance and the ability of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to resolve issues from new generic top-level domains to further internationalisation – these are the top policy issues in internet governance in 2010 and they are all linked to the question about how many governments and how much “multi-stakeholderism“ effective internet governance needs.
UN Report: Indigenous Rights Ignored In Global IP Policy 14/01/2010 by David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments The cultures of indigenous peoples have frequently been ignored when global standards on intellectual property were being set, a new United Nations report has stated.
Les États-Unis examinent l’utilisation du droit d’auteur comme obstacle aux importations du marché gris 13/01/2010 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Il s’agit d’une utilisation peu conventionnelle de la loi sur le droit d’auteur, mais si Omega SA gagne son procès devant la Cour suprême des États-Unis, le célèbre horloger suisse aura conçu une nouvelle arme puissante contre l’importation de produits du marché gris sur le sol américain.
Year Ahead: Five Key IP Cases To Watch In The United States In 2010 11/01/2010 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment 2010 could be a big year for intellectual property law in the United States. Five cases now working their way through the courts may bring major changes to the country’s patent and copyright laws, affect hundreds billions of dollars in commerce, and enable a revolutionary new use for the internet.
Un pas de plus vers un traité OMPI en faveur des déficients visuels 11/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Plus de 95 pour cent des œuvres publiées ne sont pas adaptées aux personnes déficientes visuelles, ont indiqué leurs représentants la semaine dernière, à l’Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OMPI). Ils soutiennent qu’un accord prévoyant des exceptions au droit d’auteur pourrait remédier à cette pénurie de livres, en levant les restrictions portées par le droit d’auteur à la traduction d’œuvres protégées dans des formats adaptés, et en partageant ces traductions au-delà des frontières nationales.
US Weighs Copyright As Barrier To Grey Market Imports 23/12/2009 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments It’s an unconventional use of copyright law. But if Omega SA wins its case before the US Supreme Court, the famous Swiss watch company will have established a powerful new weapon against grey market goods in that country.
Copyright Law Reform in Brazil — Anteprojeto or Anti-project? 23/12/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 13 Comments A balancing of the rights of authors and consumers, the re-introduction of a private copying exception, a remixing permission and a new regulatory agency for copyright issues are among the core points the Brazilian Ministry of Culture has planned for the new copyright law. But at the Third Conference on Copyright and the Public Interest in São Paulo a month ago, the Ministry emphasised that the bits and pieces shown to the audience were not from an actual law draft (“anteprojeto”) but only a preliminary proposal for formulating such a draft. The bill still has not been published to date. The delay in releasing the bill for public consultation now threatens the work of more than two years on the reform.
Big Step Forward On Treaty For The Visually Impaired At WIPO 22/12/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Over ninety-five percent of printed works are in formats inaccessible to people with visual impairments, representatives of the visually impaired said last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization. An agreement to allow exceptions in copyright law, they argued, could address this “book famine” by removing copyright restrictions on translation of works into accessible formats and on sharing of these translations across national boundaries.