Leadership Changes At Free Software Foundation Europe 25/06/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), a high-impact nonprofit organisation focussed on access to software in the broader scope of participation in the digital society, this week named named new leadership for the first time in nearly a decade since its inception.
La crise financière présente des opportunités et des risques pour l’innovation verte 25/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment LAUSANNE – « Rien ne vaut une bonne crise », si l’on en croit la sagesse populaire. Voilà une formule que les décideurs pourraient reprendre pour inciter le monde à adopter une économie plus verte et davantage fondée sur la connaissance. Telle est la conclusion à laquelle a abouti un groupe de discussion à l’École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EFPL) le 18 juin. La crise financière actuelle et l’éveil des consciences vis-à-vis de la crise écologique sont l’opportunité unique pour l’innovation, notamment l’innovation verte, de prendre les devants de l’économie du futur.
WHO Or Who Should Guarantee The Right To Health? 24/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment With implementation of the World Health Organization strategy on intellectual property and innovation beginning in earnest, international experts this week debated how human rights could be infused into global health strategies – including the possibility of new international agreements on research and development – and whether WHO is up to the task.
Thailand Seeks To Toughen IP Laws to Punish Buyers Of Pirated Or Fake Goods 19/06/2009 by Sinfah Tunsarawuth for Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments BANGKOK – Thailand plans to toughen its intellectual property protection law to punish, for the first time, buyers of products that breach copyright and trademark laws, aiming primarily at pirated music and movies and fake brand-name goods, a senior Thai official said Thursday.
Santa Cruz To Head Chilean IP Office; Kappos Named USPTO Director 19/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch and William New Leave a Comment A well-liked and influential IP policymaker in Geneva will head Chile’s national IP office, a US lawyer responsible for perhaps the world’s biggest industry patent portfolio will head the US IP office, and a fixture in the Geneva international trade negotiating and lobbying community is heading home to Canada.
WIPO Works Out Plans For Staff Separations, Financial Disclosure 19/06/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment After months of private consultations, it was no surprise that the World Intellectual Property Organization Coordination Committee – the 83-member executive body – easily approved the director general’s new cabinet this week, albeit with a few notes for the future. And a previously prepared plan for financial disclosure by upper staff also sailed through. But the bulk of discussions over the intense two-day meeting were on details of a proposal by the director general to encourage a reduction in staff in the face of the global economic crisis, which members approved after long consideration and some modifications.
Financial Crisis Provides Opportunity, Pitfalls For Green Innovation 18/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment LAUSANNE – One should not waste a good crisis, goes the common wisdom – a piece of advice policymakers might use to spur the world closer to a green, knowledge-based economy, said a panel at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Wednesday. The current financial crisis and an awakening recognition of the ecological crisis have presented a unique opportunity for innovation – and particularly green innovation – to take a lead role in driving future economies.
Nations Work To Make IP Systems Combat Climate Change 18/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With less than a year to complete a new global plan to combat climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is under pressure to be able to move to a decision at the end of the year. But it is in the longer-term action plans that intellectual property issues are featuring most prominently, as parties to the UNFCCC aim to satisfy the need for growth in poor countries, and to mitigate effects of growth on the environment – a move that will require effective technology transfer.
OECD Report: “Creative Destruction,” Innovation Focus Needed In Economic Crisis 16/06/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments As members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) prepare to meet for their annual ministerial meeting in Paris next week, the organisation has issued a report calling for a strategic, innovation-driven response to the economic crisis.
UN Special Rapporteur: IP In Health Helping Those With Most Means, Less Need 16/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Nearly two billion people lack access to the medical care they need, and in the developing world those who do manage to have access are overwhelmingly paying out-of-pocket, often triggering a fall into poverty. The monopoly-making power of patents to drive the cost of medicines beyond affordability is a significant contributor to this disturbing trend, says a report of the United Nations rapporteur on the right to health presented at last week’s Human Rights Council.