Pressures High On Eve Of WIPO General Assembly; DG Under Fire 20/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New Tensions are high at the World Intellectual Property Organization leading up to the annual General Assemblies next week with member states discussing the fate of the WIPO director general, who developed country member states claim has lost the ability to govern the organisation. Other issues under debate include budget overruns and surpluses […]
Concern Rises Over EU Bilaterals With Developing Countries 20/09/2007 by David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Concern is growing in both Europe and developing countries about whether a series of free trade agreements slated for signature later this year will contain overly stringent rules on intellectual property. The European Union’s executive, the European Commission, has proposed that the Economic Partnership Agreements it […]
IP Expertise Of Senior USPTO Official Challenged 13/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Amid complaints over patent quality and a rising backlog of applications at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the agency has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that its deputy director should be removed for lacking sufficient expertise. A lawsuit filed by a patent attorney and […]
WIPO’s Gurry Details Efforts On International Patent Needs 12/09/2007 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Liza Porteus for Intellectual Property Watch NEW YORK – A supplementary international patent search will be introduced and likely approved during the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly meeting later this month, WIPO Deputy Director Francis Gurry told Intellectual Property Watch on Tuesday. Gurry also raised an idea discussed this week between the […]
Data Mining: Consumers’ Convenience, Privacy’s End 12/09/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch LINZ, AUSTRIA – How distant is the realisation of a “prevision” and prevention culture as portrayed in the Steven Spielberg movie Minority Report? Telling the future is not as far off as critical minds might hope for, US author and activist Brian Holmes warned at the Ars Electronica, […]
EU Split Arises Over Thai Effort To Obtain Cheaper Patented Drugs 05/09/2007 by David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch A dispute has erupted between two of the European Union’s most powerful institutions over Thailand’s decision to circumvent pharmaceutical patents in order to boost its supply of cheap medicines. Peter Mandelson, who holds the trade portfolio in the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, recently wrote to several […]
Acting To Protect Freedom of Expression At ICANN 30/08/2007 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dan Krimm The continuing saga at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) about policy for approving new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) is entering what may be its final stages this summer. There has been a stream of controversy surrounding the “.xxx” gTLD proposal that was rejected by the ICANN Board of […]
Concern Arises Over Proposed Pan-African IP Organisation 30/08/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A proposal to set up a Pan-African Intellectual Property Organisation (PAIPO) though still in its infancy already faces opposition and concern, including from those who fear that Africa is signing up to stricter IP protection levels than the continent is ready for, sources say. In addition, there is anxiety that […]
Le système international des brevets sous pression ; prémices d’un plan d’action à l’OMPI 27/08/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Par Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Au vu de l’augmentation considérable du nombre de nouveaux usagers du système des brevets en Asie du Nord-Est, associée à une croissance continue parmi les usagers établis, l’Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI) estime qu’il est nécessaire de repenser et de rationaliser le système des brevets, comme l’on déclaré […]
El sistema internacional de patentes sometido a presiones. Surge una nueva agenda política en la OMPI 23/08/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Por Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Con el importante aumento del número de usuarios del sistema de patentes en Asia nororiental, al que se suma un crecimiento constante de los usuarios establecidos, ha surgido la necesidad de repensar y racionalizar el sistema de patentes, sostuvo la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual (OMPI) en una conferencia […]