Singapore IP Office Grants First Accelerated Patent Under New FinTech Initiative 10/12/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has granted its first accelerated patent under its new FinTech Fast Track initiative last week to Voyager Innovations, a technology company based in Southeast Asia, according to an IPOS press release. “While patent grants typically take at least two to four years, and in many cases even longer, […]
European Commission Introduces Its Inaugural IP “Watch List” 09/12/2018 by Emmanuel Legrand for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Echoing the United States’ Special 301 Report on alleged inadequacy of trading partners’ protection of US intellectual property rights, the European Commission has released its first ever Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List, which exposes rogue cyberlockers, stream-ripping sites as well as peer-to-peer and BitTorrent indexing sites among the threats to the EU’s legitimate intellectual property-driven businesses.
The Future Of The Ideas Business – The Rise Of Data-Driven Invention 07/12/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment New ideas are getting harder to find, and with less ideas there is a decline in organisational productivity and economic growth. This isn’t new, nor is the fact that to counterbalance the decline in idea generation, research and development have received and continue to require heavy investment. But with daily news of innovation centres opening up across the globe, the question remains whether initiatives like open innovation, crowdsourcing, or simply putting more scientific brains together will do this investment justice. Last month, leading representatives of the IP, R&D and technology arenas met in Switzerland to discuss a technology-based alternative to human only idea generation. Hosted by data-driven invention company Iprova, the 2nd Data-Driven Invention Forum saw attendees from companies, such as Panasonic, Philips and DuPont as well as many other global organisations explore the future of innovation and the role data-driven invention plays in it. Here are some of the conclusions of the conference.
Agreement At WIPO Patent Law Committee Signals Less North-South Contention 07/12/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Satisfaction was shared at the World Intellectual Property Organization yesterday as its patent law committee closed early with an agreement on its future work. According to delegates taking the floor, the subject of future work answers interests of different groups. Approval of proposals on patents and health were particularly noteworthy, according to sources.
Licensing Experts Share Experiences At WIPO 07/12/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Voluntary licences are cited by some as the best way to facilitate access to medicines. Terms of the licences are important, many factors have to be taken into consideration, and the earlier the better, as explained by licencing experts at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week.
OECD Report Presents Policies To Balance Innovation With Access To Medicines 05/12/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released a new report that presents policy options for countries to strike a better balance between promoting financial incentives for pharmaceutical innovation and ensuring affordable access to medicines. Finding this balance, the report explains, will be essential for ensuring the sustainability of health systems.
Transparency Of Patent Status Key For Health Actors: Databases Presented At WIPO 05/12/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Information on the status of patents can be key for medicines procurement agencies seeking to know if they can source cheaper generic products. Several databases providing free information on patent status were presented yesterday at the World Intellectual Property Organization. The World Health Organization, also invited, hailed the efforts, but warned against listing follow-on patents, which could confuse procurement professionals. And a prominent molecular biologist, chief executive of a patents-and-scholarly database, called for breaking silos to advance innovation.
Health Advocacy Groups Appeal EPO Decision To Uphold Gilead Hepatitis C Patent 05/12/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Six organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders), today appealed a European Patent Office decision to uphold Gilead Science’s patent on hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir.
As Blockchain Inventions Explode, EPO Says It’s Ready To Meet Patent Demand 05/12/2018 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — The number of blockchain inventions is mushrooming, and the European Patent Office wants to ensure it handles the increasing patent applications consistently, officials said at a 4 December conference that brought together around 350 patent examiners and practitioners.
US IP Stakeholders Seek To Strengthen Public Support For IP, Ensure Future US Competitiveness 04/12/2018 by David Branigan, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NEW YORK — United States intellectual property stakeholders from academic, business and legal backgrounds gathered recently to discuss how to increase public support to strengthen the intellectual property rights system in the US, in light of China’s steady rise in numbers of patent and trademark filings. US IP stakeholders argued that developing public awareness and understanding of IP is key to building this support, with some holding diverging views on how to go about this.