EPO President Battistelli Tells Of ‘Patent Wars’, As IP5 Consolidate Work 17/04/2015 by Linda Daniels for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment CAPE TOWN – A growing patent examination workload and increasing global anti-IP sentiment are some of the challenges the European Patent Office faces, according to EPO President Benoit Battistelli.
Harmonised Filing System For Plant Variety Protection Discussed At UPOV 16/04/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An industry proposal calling for a harmonised procedure to simplify applications for new varieties of plants and heighten intellectual property protection stirred debate at the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) last month.
Experts Debate Medicines Access In South Africa And Beyond 15/04/2015 by Linda Daniels for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments CAPE TOWN – Pharmaceutical patents and access to medicines was the focus of an animated panel discussion by experts offering divergent views on the topic at intellectual property group FICPI’s 2015 World Congress, currently underway in Cape Town, South Africa.
Don’t Keep The Trans-Pacific Partnership Talks Secret 14/04/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment [From the New York Times Opinion pages, by Margot Kaminski:] COLUMBUS, Ohio — WHEN WikiLeaks recently released a chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, critics and proponents of the deal resumed wrestling over its complicated contents. But a cover page of the leaked document points to a different problem: It announces that the draft text is classified by the United States government. Even if current negotiations over the trade agreement end with no deal, the draft chapter will still remain classified for four years as national security information. The initial version of an agreement projected by the government to affect millions of Americans will remain a secret until long after meaningful public debate is possible. [Note: article mentions a US FOIA case by IP-Watch]
Clinical Trial Transparency, Medicines Access On Agendas Today 14/04/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Health Organization today issued a call for disclosure of results from clinical trials for medical products, no matter what the results of the trials were. And a variety of events and publications are addressing medicines access today.
Yale Conference Looks At Innovation “Beyond IP” 12/04/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment NEW HAVEN – Intellectual property is not the only driver of human innovation. A two-day conference held here recently brought together a range of leading academics and others to share ideas on innovation occurring outside of, or in spite of, intellectual property rights.
Whistleblowers: Little UN Protection For Exposing Wrongdoing 10/04/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments From AP: High-profile whistleblowers have joined forces for the first time in demanding that the United Nations change a global system they say deters its thousands of staffers from exposing crime, corruption and other wrongdoing. In a letter sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday, nine current and former U.N. workers say current policies offer “little to no measure of real or meaningful protection” from retaliation that can include firing, harassment and intimidation.
IP Rights Get A Good Look At Fashion Law Conference 09/04/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NEW YORK – A daylong event on fashion law devoted significant time to ways intellectual property rights are increasingly providing protection in the fashion world – including with the advent of 3D printing.
WIPO Seminar On TK, Genetic Resources: Variations In Public Domain, Disclosure 09/04/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The concept of public domain was born out of the intellectual property system, according to some. However, what constitutes the public domain depends on national interpretations. A recent seminar organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization was an occasion for speakers from diverse horizons to present their experience in the context of traditional knowledge and genetic resources. The relevance of a disclosure requirement in patent application to prevent wrongful patents was also discussed. [Note: Article 2 of 2]
WIPO Seminar Displays National Efforts To Protect TK, Folklore 08/04/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments A recent seminar convened by the World Intellectual Property Organization shed light on national and regional legislations protecting traditional knowledge, folklore and genetic resources, and provided examples of misappropriation. WIPO has a committee dealing with these issues but disagreement among members on its work programme prevented the organisation from organising any meeting of the committee so far this year. [Note: Article 1 of 2]