Seed Treaty Celebrates Ten Year Anniversary; Focus On Funding, Collaborations 10/07/2014 by Catherine Saez and Maëli Astruc for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The International Seed Treaty held a celebratory high-level event recently to mark the tenth anniversary of its entry into force.
Indigenous Peoples: WIPO Should Reflect Changing World Order 09/07/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on genetic resources and traditional knowledge routinely holds an indigenous panel during the first day of its meeting. This week, several of the panellists called for delegates working on potential treaties to consider the particular status of indigenous peoples.
Do WIPO Delegations Want Indigenous Peoples’ Participation? 08/07/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The participation of representatives of indigenous and local communities in the World Intellectual Property Organization committee working to prevent misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge is in jeopardy due to the thorough depletion of the voluntary fund allowing such participation. Some governments are acting to save the committee’s credibility.
The European Right To Be Forgotten Might Be A Pandora’s Box 04/07/2014 by Joséphine De Ruyck for Intellectual Property Watch and Julia Fraser for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Over the last few months search engines around the world have been keeping an active eye on the developments of the landmark case ruled by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) requiring Google to consider individuals’ requests to remove links that they say infringe on their privacy.
Librarians Concerned Digital Content Licences Overriding Exceptions, Limitations 04/07/2014 by Maëli Astruc for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments While exceptions and limitations for librarians and archives are under negotiation at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week, librarians and archivists called on WIPO delegates to address an issue of contract licences for digital content, which they say often override such exceptions and limitations.
WIPO Copyright Committee Opens With Debate Over Broadcasting Treaty 02/07/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committeebegan a week of discussions with delegates trying to decide what rights the treaty protecting broadcasting organisations should confer and if it should include internet transmissions. At the outset, a proposal to include industry “experts” into informal consultations to answer technical questions was challenged by several countries. And limitations […]
WIPO And Caribbean IP, What’s The Point? 30/06/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Recent months have seen a few interesting intellectual property symposia in the Caribbean, in particular the WIPO–JIPO Regional Conference on IP and creative industries which was held in Jamaica from February 10-12 2014. It is quite interesting that in spite of the intention that it should be regional as indicated in the title of the conference, there seems to have been little participation from the fifteen member countries of Caricom and that most of the sessions focused on Jamaica and its situation, perhaps a natural outcome of the WIPO–JIPO collaboration. Progressive Caribbean intellectuals in the area of intellectual property were also notably absent from the forum, writes Abiola Inniss.
The Right To Be Forgotten: Balancing Conflicting Rights 26/06/2014 by Julia Fraser for Intellectual Property Watch and Joséphine De Ruyck for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments In a widely publicised case last month, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) applied the “right to be forgotten,” requesting that internet search engines, under certain circumstances, delist links to personal data upon request. The court’s decision establishes a contentious balance between the right to privacy and the public’s right to access to information. The ECJ left this balance to search engines to implement on a case-by-case basis. While some argue in favour of these decisions, others fear the larger worldwide implications that cases are leading to.
Online Trust: Between Competences And Intentions 26/06/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Jovan Kubalija writes: Trust (or the lack thereof) is a frequent theme in public debates. It is often seen as a monolithic concept. However, we trust different people for different reasons, and in different ways. Sometimes we trust that people can do something (competences). In other situations our trust focuses on their intentions. This text is about trust in online space. It is inspired by discussions at the WSIS+10 high level dialogue on cybersecurity and trust.
Global Challenges, Opportunities Of Cryptocurrencies Such As Bitcoins 24/06/2014 by Maëli Astruc for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could compete with national currencies in the long term, but still face many challenges, according to panellists at a recent event in Geneva. Furthermore, the blockchain technology – the open source software which underpins those cryptocurrencies – could have innovative applications in other sectors, including intellectual property protection, they said.