US Intellectual Property Law In 2016: A Preview 11/01/2016 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Familiar intellectual property concerns will continue to vex the United States in the coming year. The scope of patent-eligible subject matter, the requirements for safe-harbor protections against copyright infringement, and the registration of disparaging trademarks will be among the top IP issues to watch in 2016, according to experts.
TPP, India Most-Read IP-Watch Stories Of 2015 11/01/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The most-read stories of 2015 on the Intellectual Property Watch website fairly reflected the trends of the year, with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, India’s evolving intellectual property rights policies, European Patent Office patents on conventional vegetables, biologics, 3D printing, and some pop culture issues leading the way. In the coming weeks, IP-Watch will review in-depth what’s in store for 2016, already underway. But for now, let’s take a look at last year’s highlights.
New Year Brings New Faces To IP World, Bids Others Farewell 08/01/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The New Year brings some new faces in the intellectual property world as several changes were announced at the end of 2015, in particular at the European Commission, in the private sector and non-governmental organisations. In Geneva, the coordination of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries changes, and the UN Plant Treaty is working on intersessional committees. And a leading light in the IP publishing world has retired.
WIPO Survey Seeks Public Input On UN Agency’s Development Agenda 24/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Interested observers have a unique opportunity until mid-January to give their views on the landmark 2007 World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda, including its implementation, relevance, impact, effectiveness, efficiency in use of resources, and its sustainability.
WSIS+10: Roles, Responsibilities Remain Hot; Cybersecurity Treaty Demanded By Many States 16/12/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Between a lot of applause this week for the first post-WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) decade and especially for the negotiated agreement for the coming 10 years, some cracks appeared. These tell how differently regions still view roles and responsibilities for critical infrastructure management, and also the discrepancy between declaration and deployment of principles of the information society. In a notable statement, Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation, warned that governments still have to learn how to govern the connected.
EU Trade Secrets, Trademark Measures Advance 15/12/2015 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Parliament and Luxembourg Presidency today agreed provisionally on EU-wide rules for the protection of trade secrets and confidential information, the Presidency announced. The European Parliament also approved a trademark reform package that aims to make registration cheaper, quicker and more reliable, and will give a new name to the EU trademark office: the EU IP Office.
WSIS+10 Gets Underway Ten Years After UN Internet Summit 15/12/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Ten years after the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) member states and stakeholders are meeting this week for the WSIS+10 High Level Meeting in the UN headquarters in New York to review a decade of developments in internet governance.
Ahead Of WTO Summit In Nairobi, Kenya’s IP Laws Come Under Scrutiny 10/12/2015 by Fredrick Nzwili for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NAIROBI, Kenya- Ahead of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Summit in Nairobi, Kenya’s intellectual property laws are coming under scrutiny over what experts see as their inability to protect economic projects and inspire innovations.
Report: FAO To The Rescue In Global Agriculture And Trade Discussions 10/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization yesterday launched a report aiming at helping the current divide on the issue of trade and food security.
The Anniversary The World Trade Organization Would Rather Forget 06/12/2015 by Peter Ungphakorn for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The World Trade Organization (WTO)’s 20th anniversary celebrations are about to reach a climax with the 15–18 December Nairobi Ministerial Conference — the first to be held in Africa — following a celebratory Public Forum in Geneva in October. Just over a week before Nairobi, another anniversary is slipping by almost unnoticed. Today, December 6, is the 10th anniversary of a decision that the Director-General at the time, Pascal Lamy, hailed as confirmation “once again that members are determined to ensure the WTO’s trading system contributes to humanitarian and development goals.”