New Collaboration To Deliver Open-Source Submission And Peer-Review Platform 22/09/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This week, eLife and Collaborative Knowledge Foundation announced a partnership “to build a user-driven, open-source submission and peer-review platform” aimed at improving on existing industry models.
US Copyright Agenda Stalling In Congress 22/09/2017 by Emmanuel Legrand for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NEW YORK — The music community in the United States has a wide copyright agenda covering various business issues and stakeholders. While it had entertained the notion that a new President with its new administration and Congress would be more sympathetic to the complex needs of the industry, it is still waiting for the Trump administration to act on copyright issues, judging from comments made by various stakeholders in the legislative process during an industry panel in New York this week.
German Court: Thumbnail Images In Search Engines Not A Copyright Violation 21/09/2017 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In a noteworthy ruling, the German Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe today decided that the use of picture search engines and the publishing of the resulting thumbnails and reference links does not violate German copyright law (I ZR 11/16 – Vorschaubilder III) . The case that had been brought by US adult content provider Perfect 10 against AOL Germany turned out favourable to Google in the end, whose picture search engine had been the tool in question.
WIPO Committee Unable To Agree Program And Budget After Proposal For Reform 18/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Discussions last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization on how international IP systems managed by the organisation are financed have introduced broader questions about core functioning. The WIPO budget for 2018/2019 was not approved in committee during the week, despite efforts by a small group of countries to find common language on changes to the financing of WIPO systems. A number of countries found the proposed changes in the financing of those different systems require deeper analysis on potential consequences, and asked for more time to consult with their capitals.
USTR Launches Review Of IP In Thailand After Reported Improvements On Enforcement 16/09/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today announced an “out-of-cycle” review of Thailand’s intellectual property policies after what USTR said were reports of improvement on several IP issues including trademarks and enforcement. Another area of the review will be pharmaceuticals.
The Many Layers Of Best Practices In The Fight Against Counterfeiting, Piracy 14/09/2017 by Peter Kenny for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Landlocked Switzerland never had to face pirates in seafaring days, but these days Stop Piracy – the Bern-based Swiss anti-counterfeiting and piracy platform – is actively united in fighting this 21st century threat that lurks in cyberspace everywhere. At a recent conference in Neuchâtel, a range of experts, including from the European Union IP Office, explored the issues.
EU Copyright Reform Meets Resistance From Stakeholders, Some Governments 13/09/2017 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments With a vote in the lead European Parliament committee imminent on European Commission plans to revamp copyright rules, industry stakeholders, digital rights activists and even some EU member states are troubled by various legislative amendments and EU Presidency compromise proposals.
Software Paid For With Public Money Should Be Open Source, Groups Say 13/09/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Publicly financed software should be open source, more than 30 signatories of an open letter are proclaiming, calling for others to sign the letter.
New WIPO External Offices: Candidates At The Door, But What’s In It For WIPO? 13/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment For the last two years, World Intellectual Property Organization delegates have been trying to tackle a seemingly unsolvable equation: too many candidate countries for four new WIPO external offices. Yet more time seems necessary to reduce the number of candidates, which show no sign of stepping down, insisting on the value of a WIPO external office. However, some doubts have begun to arise over the benefits of the expansion of WIPO’s network of field offices.
EU Commission Position Paper On IP And Brexit: Trademarks, Designs, GIs 12/09/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment To say Brexit is a conundrum is almost a euphemism, the list of issues to settle between the 27 remaining European Union members and the United Kingdom seems bottomless. Intellectual property is no exception, and the European Commission Brexit-dedicated task force has issued a position paper on IP, setting out principles for the “UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU.”