Developed Countries Speed Up Patent Harmonisation Outside WIPO 06/11/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen With the United Nations negotiations on harmonising international patent law in deadlock, a group of developed countries has agreed on a basis for its internal discussion, according to a draft meeting report. The group’s plan involves three steps and represents a breakthrough 18 months after they began discussions, it said. […]
ITU Candidates Tread Lightly On Internet Governance 03/11/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The candidates for next week’s election to succeed UN International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi are not following his platform of drawing international pressure to change the US-centric Internet domain name system.
Copyrights, Knowledge Access, Democracy Debated At Internet Forum 01/11/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New ATHENS – Whether intellectual property rights protection is inhibiting the free flow of information was hotly debated at the Internet Governance Forum on 31 October. “Just about every aspect of the free flow of information is now hampered” by technologies, laws and other reasons, said Joichi Ito of Creative Commons. “Suddenly the […]
Novartis Persists With Challenge To Indian Patent Law Despite Adversity 19/10/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Following the rejection of a patent application for one of its medicines, Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has taken the “unprecedented action” of challenging India’s patent law in a high court, arguing that it is unconstitutional as well as in breach of international trade law, it said. “The filing of writ […]
European Parliament Agrees To Patent Reform Plan With Amendments 13/10/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The European Parliament yesterday agreed by a large majority to the European Commission’s plan of going forward with talks on patent reform in Europe, but with a number of amendments to the current plan aimed at ensuring “democratic control” of the process, according to the Parliament. The vote concerned whether […]
Tras la Asamblea de la OMPI los gobiernos se enfrentan a una dura labor en 2007 13/10/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Por William New El 3 de octubre, las asambleas anuales de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual (OMPI) concluyeron con un raro espíritu de cooperación y algunos recordatorios forzados sobre la difícil labor normativa y administrativa que deberá realizarse el próximo año. En la Asamblea General, celebrada del 25 de septiembre al 3 de […]
The Video Sites They Are A-Changing 13/10/2006 by John T. Aquino for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By John T. Aquino for Intellectual Property Watch The past few weeks have witnessed the evolution of the world of user-upload sites. MySpace.com and YouTube.com were once youthful rebels – their founders were young, their audience was predominantly under 30. These sites allowed youngsters to post their own video material. This, in turn, enraged copyright […]
European Parliament To Vote On Future Patent Policy Resolution 12/10/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen [Editor’s Note, 12 October: Parliament passed the resolution, with amendments, according to informed sources. Details to follow soon.] Members of the European Parliament will vote on 12 October on a resolution that would give the European Commission the green light to further explore changes to European patent policy. But the […]
EU Online Content Stakeholders Debate DRM’s Value For Copyright Protection 11/10/2006 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch European copyright owners’ organisations, consumer groups and artists’ collecting societies voiced strong differences of opinion on the importance of, and need for, digital rights management (DRM) systems to spur development of Internet content at an 11 October European Commission hearing. The hearing is part of a consultation on […]
WTO TRIPS Council To Discuss Biodiversity, Enforcement, “Housekeeping” 10/10/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Developing countries say they will push their proposal on biodiversity and the European Union is sharply stepping up its call for enforcement, but otherwise the preliminary agenda of an upcoming World Trade Organization meeting on intellectual property seems to be reserved for “housekeeping” issues, according to sources. The meeting of […]