WIPO Traditional Knowledge Committee Agrees To Intensify Text-Based Negotiations 08/05/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources drew to a close today with an unusual ending: applause, and an agreement.
WIPO Traditional Knowledge Committee Moving Toward Legal Agreement 07/05/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A World Intellectual Property Organization committee tasked with finding an international instrument to prevent the misappropriation of traditional knowledge, folklore, and genetic resources has begun in earnest text-based discussions and is now working to find an agreement on extra meetings intended to speed the process towards creating an international legal instrument.
First Arabic Domains Join Internet 06/05/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment For the first time in the history of the internet, non-Latin top-level domains are available in the domain name system. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers yesterday concluded the process to insert Egypt: مصر (Egypt), Saudi Arabia: السعودية (AlSaudiah) and the United Arab Emirates: امارات (Emarat) to the central root zone. In the […]
India Overturns Patent On AIDS Patient Drug 05/05/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The Chennai Patent Office in India last week overturned the patent on Valganciclovir, an expensive drug used to prevent an infection to which people with HIV/AIDS or organ recipients are susceptible, an Indian lawyers’ group said today. The patent office decided that the patent held by Swiss company Roche lacked inventive step and did not […]
Initiative For Harmonisation Of Copyright Exceptions In Europe 05/05/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new economically driven effort called the Copyright for Creativity Initiative is advocating the harmonisation of copyright exceptions across Europe, and is calling on the European Commission to act upon its 2008 Green Paper “Copyright in the Knowledge Economy” [pdf]. The initiative today released a declaration entitled “Copyright for Creativity – A Declaration for Europe,” […]
Indian Official: ACTA Out Of Sync With TRIPS And Public Health 05/05/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch All the “noble announcements” made by EU and US officials about respect for the Doha Declaration on intellectual property trade and public health when negotiating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) does not match the ACTA text, warned Ashutosh Jindal, adviser at the Embassy of India to the EU […]
Biotech Convention Pays Homage To IP, Pledges To Increase Access To Medicine 04/05/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Intellectual property rights and access to medicines were on the agenda at the first day of a biotechnology industry group’s annual convention yesterday. The group held a panel on IP rights and also released a policy statement on access to medicine in developing countries. The director of the US Patent and Trademark Office commented positively on the initiative.
Health Initiative Proposes Rewarding Innovation On Impact Results; Some See Hurdles 04/05/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An alternative initiative to promote access to medicine with a method mimicking market mechanisms means to create additional incentives for health innovation, authors of the proposal said yesterday. But other health actors have reservations. A public event was organised yesterday to discuss how the Health Impact Fund (HIF) could fit within existing structures and what challenges it could face.
WIPO Traditional Knowledge Committee Opens With Hope For Text-Based Talks 03/05/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Negotiators at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week will address longstanding efforts by many WIPO members to begin in earnest text-based negotiations for a tool to better protect traditional knowledge and genetic resources.
A Prescription For Failure — Health And IP In The Dominican Republic 03/05/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment In the United States, trade policy is generally considered an economic issue. But for developing countries like the Dominican Republic, it can be a matter of life and death, write Tanya Baytor and Patrick Griffith of Georgetown University Law Center.