ACTA Risks Long-Term Damage To Democratic Public Policymaking, NGOs Say 30/06/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch and Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment An agreement on international intellectual property rights enforcement now under negotiation in Lucerne, Switzerland runs the risk of ushering in a new and undemocratic precedent for international policymaking that could have long-term damaging effects on critical public policy issues, non-negotiating government representatives and civil society advocates said this week.
In Bilski Decision, US Supreme Court Adopts Tough But Vague Test for Business Method Patents 29/06/2010 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States Supreme Court yesterday handed down an important patent law ruling. By a narrow 5-4 vote, the court held in Bilski v. Kappos that business methods are patentable under US law. But the court provided only limited guidance on how to determine which business methods (and other types of inventions) are indeed patentable.
Dérégler l’horloge d’ACTA 29/06/2010 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment La petite ville guindée de Lucerne, en Suisse, accueille cette semaine le neuvième round de négociations visant à la signature de l’Accord Commercial Anti-Contrefaçon (plus connu sous sa dénomination anglaise, ACTA : Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). Pendant que les onze parties prenantes aux négociations devaient se retrouver au Palace Hotel, le Parti Pirate suisse et ses homologues allemands et autrichiens devaient organiser un rassemblement en gare de Lucerne.
Scope Of Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement Again A Big Issue In Round Nine 26/06/2010 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment MUNICH – The staid little Swiss town of Lucerne this week sees round number nine of the negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). While the 11 negotiating parties gather in the Palace Hotel, the Swiss Pirate Party together with their Pirate colleagues from Germany and Switzerland will organise a rally at the Lucerne train station.
New US IP Enforcement Plan May Have International Impact 23/06/2010 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments The Obama administration’s release of its national intellectual property strategy yesterday was welcomed by many groups representing businesses and intellectual property holders who said it could serve as an example to other countries.
Comparative Analysis Shows US Patent Office Scores Poorly On Patent Quality 18/06/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Quality across patent systems has been understudied but a new methodology put forward by the former chief economist of the European Patent Office suggests that the EPO provides higher quality services than its United States and Japan counterparts. Efforts at collaborative work between patent offices are being made but mutual recognition might not be possible or desirable without some harmonisation in the way the different systems operate.
The Biosimilars Pathway: An Invitation To Litigation 11/06/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Lynn C. Tyler writes: The litigation provisions of the recently-enacted legislation establishing a pathway to bring biosimilars to market contain “patent” ambiguities in key areas, particularly whether the various lists of patents to be litigated are exclusive. Courts will have to resolve these issues over the next several years, likely at great (and unnecessary) expense and uncertainty to litigants.
Health Waiver, IP Enforcement Discussed At Lively WTO TRIPS Council Meeting 10/06/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments After two days of lively discussion, members of a World Trade Organization committee this week agreed to devote a day in October to an in-depth discussion on a waiver to WTO intellectual property rules aimed at boosting access to medicines for poor countries. In addition, some member countries presented concerns about the possible effect of a global enforcement push by developed countries and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) under negotiation outside WTO, while ACTA proponent countries sought to allay fears.
UNITAID-Backed Patent Pool Final; Drug Licence Talks Can Begin 08/06/2010 by William New and Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 9 Comments The final step in the establishment of a patent pool under international drug-purchasing mechanism UNITAID was taken today, the UN body announced.
WHO’s Chan Responds To Allegations Of Misconduct On Flu Pandemic 08/06/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment “At no time, not for one second, did commercial interests enter my decision-making,” Director General Margaret Chan of the World Health Organization declaration in a letter today defending the organisation’s increasingly scrutinised response to an outbreak of H1N1, or ‘swine flu.’