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.
ACTA May Prompt Quick Restart To EU Harmonisation Of Criminal Enforcement Of IP 21/12/2009 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Union appears to be preparing for adoption of the “gold standard” of enforcement, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), as intellectual property law expert Annette Kur from the Max Planck Institute of Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law said it is now called.
Panel Explores Use Of Geographical Indications For Development 21/12/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Intellectual property related to geographically-specific products can be harnessed for development purposes, argued panellists at a recent event in Geneva. But there are specific challenges related to using such tools in the developing world that must also be addressed.
Take Two — China’s Proposed Regulations For Patent-Involving National Standards 21/12/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Standards Administration of China patent policy proposal fails to strike the desired balance and undervalues the intellectual property included in a standard. If implemented as worded, it will discourage the contribution of innovative technologies for use in national standards and the participation of patent holders, writes George Willingmyre.
China’s Standards And Patent Innovation Proposals — Problems For IPR And Global Trade? 21/12/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Although the Standardization Administration of China is trying to balance the requirements of society, which include the rights of individuals, owners of IP and institutional investors to invest in innovation by earning a reasonable fair return on their patented products with the right of all members of society to benefit from innovation and new technologies; the balance by all accounts has not been made with its recently proposed legislation, writes Dr Ruth Taplin.
IP References Left Out Of Last-Minute, Weak Global Climate Deal In Copenhagen 19/12/2009 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment COPENHAGEN – Despite last-minute pep talk by US President Barack Obama, it proved extremely difficult to secure an international climate deal at the high-level meeting in Copenhagen on 18 December. Intellectual property issues were again discussed in a smaller group during one of the last days, but are not mentioned in the final text, which is entitled the “Copenhagen Accord.”
IP-Protected Assets Need Carefully Crafted Contractual Framework, Experts Say 19/12/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Contracts covering new technologies and intangible assets protected by intellectual property rights, notably through patents, industrial designs or copyright, need to be carefully crafted to establish clear ownership of IP rights, said experts at a recent seminar in Geneva. This is the case for contracts related to research carried out in universities or when companies enter a licensing agreement.