New Geneva Think Tank Features Developing Nation Research On IP 03/09/2008 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Kaitlin Mara A new think-tank in Geneva has found a unique way to bring the collective power of leading developing country thinkers and researchers to bear on Geneva policy-making, while allowing those thinkers to remain current by staying within their own national contexts. Its name is IQsensato. “We realised there was a missing component,” […]
India’s Section 3(d) Conundrum 02/09/2008 by Intellectual Property Watch 7 Comments Editor’s Note: This submission refers to the 2005 patent law in India, which amended India’s 1970 patent law and implemented the 1994 World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). India allowed proposed patent applications to be submitted in advance to a mailbox before the law’s passage. By Kamakhya Srivastava The […]
Experts Discuss The Role Of IP In Environmental Technology Transfer 29/08/2008 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Experts Discuss The Role Of IP In Environmental Technology Transfer
US Court Finds Open Source Licences Enforceable; Big Impact Seen On US Copyright Law 26/08/2008 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch The ruling has no precedential value. Nevertheless, the recent decision in Jacobsen v. Katzer will have a major impact on US copyright law, according to IP experts. Jacobsen held that open source licences can be enforced under US copyright law. “It is first time that a US court of appeals has directly addressed issues about the enforceability of open source licences,” said Jim Thatcher, Of Counsel in the Seattle office of Woodcock Washburn. “There isn’t anywhere else for [US] courts to turn for guidance on this issue, so they will turn to this case and its logic for the enforceability of open source licensing terms.” “[T]rust me, this is huge,” Lawrence Lessig, a copyright expert at Stanford Law School, wrote in his online blog.
August/September Edition of IP-Watch Monthly Reporter Now Available 21/08/2008 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Intellectual Property Watch Monthly Reporter features the most important news on international IP policymaking, the latest on who is coming and going in the IP community at the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Geneva missions, regional and national IP offices, industry and non-governmental organisations, plus News Briefs on reports and events that do not […]
Brazil Probes Pharmaceutical Industry For Building High-Cost Drug Demand 08/08/2008 by Claudia Jurberg for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Claudia Jurberg for Intellectual Property Watch RIO DE JANEIRO – An investigation was conducted recently by the civil police in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, against multinational pharmaceutical companies, in which the prosecution affirmed that laboratories pay lawyers to get patients the right to obtain high-cost medicines through the Brazilian health ministry. According to O […]
Anti-Counterfeiting Initiative Aimed At Protecting African Medical Industries 08/08/2008 by Wagdy Sawahel for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By Wagdy Sawahel for Intellectual Property Watch West African people should establish a medical anti-counterfeiting task force to promote local herbal medicines by protecting indigenous knowledge and genetic property and establishing benefit-sharing systems in addition to tackling the spread of cheap, fake medicines that are causing an unnecessary loss of life, according to the communiqué […]
International Seed Treaty’s Goals Of Biodiversity, Food Security Tough To Implement 07/08/2008 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Catherine Saez As the world struggles with a global food crisis, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is working to support biodiversity as a way to contribute to food security. To that end, the FAO has launched an initiative to ensure that this global genetic diversity is accessible, in the […]
New US Voucher Prize System For Neglected Diseases Launches Amid Doubts 06/08/2008 by Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tatum Anderson for Intellectual Property Watch As a novel prize system to encourage the development of treatments for diseases that disproportionately affect patients in developing countries launches in the United States next month, concerns are already being voiced as to whether it will provide the right incentives for desperately-needed drugs. Under system, drug developers […]
Global Patent Filings Continue Rise But May Level Off; Smaller Nations Slipping 05/08/2008 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Patent filings continue to rise globally, especially in a few nations, as do problems of high-volume application processing and quality assurance. But more attention is needed to bring smaller economies into the patent system, and patenting may slow down with tough economic times, officials at the World Intellectual Property Organization said last week.