WTO Inquiry Launched Into US Complaints Against China’s IP Record 27/09/2007 by Paul Garwood for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Paul Garwood A World Trade Organization panel will formally investigate United States complaints that China has failed to adequately protect intellectual property rights on goods such as software and movies, a move criticised by Beijing. WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on 25 September established a panel following Washington’s second request to look into its […]
October Edition of IP-Watch Monthly Reporter Now Available 27/09/2007 by William New, 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 […]
Negotiator: Ethiopian Coffee Trademark Victory To Reap Millions 27/09/2007 by Paul Garwood for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Paul Garwood Ethiopia’s victory to trademark its major coffee brands could earn the east African country more than US$100 million annually and increase incomes for hundreds of thousands involved in the industry, a negotiator for the Ethiopian government said Tuesday. Ron Layton, chief executive of the Light Years IP non-governmental organisation, told a luncheon in Geneva that agreements ground out between Ethiopia and companies like Starbucks will allow the poverty-stricken country to benefit more from the speciality coffees it produces. There are still some who doubt that Ethiopia got the best deal, however.
Development Agenda Tops Policy Issues For WIPO General Assembly 26/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New As delegates to the annual World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies work through questions of organisational leadership and credibility this week, they may be looking forward to a return to agenda items related to policy. And according to a number of participants, the set of proposals for a WIPO Development Agenda may […]
WIPO Assembly Strikes Short-Term Deal On Director General Issue 25/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Tuesday reached an agreement on how to address concerns raised about Director General Kamil Idris during this week’s annual General Assembly. According to participants, a broad agreement was struck to set up a “Friends of the Chair” group on the issue. The […]
High-Level Group Debates Idris Issue As WIPO Assails Charges 24/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By William New The annual General Assemblies of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization member states snagged the first day on a proposed agenda to discuss potential wrongdoing by the WIPO director general. By day’s end, a high-level group formed earlier in the day to address the issue was continuing closed-door negotiations. Among those in […]
WIPO Conference Tackles IP-Health Dynamic 21/09/2007 by Paul Garwood for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Paul Garwood Intellectual property can help improve public health, but drug research costs must be controlled so patients in poor countries can afford urgently needed medicines, a World Intellectual Property Organization symposium heard Wednesday. The Geneva-staged event, at which representatives of United Nations bodies, foreign missions, non-governmental bodies and industry spoke, was held in […]
Pressures High On Eve Of WIPO General Assembly; DG Under Fire 20/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New Tensions are high at the World Intellectual Property Organization leading up to the annual General Assemblies next week with member states discussing the fate of the WIPO director general, who developed country member states claim has lost the ability to govern the organisation. Other issues under debate include budget overruns and surpluses […]
Concern Rises Over EU Bilaterals With Developing Countries 20/09/2007 by David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch BRUSSELS – Concern is growing in both Europe and developing countries about whether a series of free trade agreements slated for signature later this year will contain overly stringent rules on intellectual property. The European Union’s executive, the European Commission, has proposed that the Economic Partnership Agreements it […]
China Proposes Fund To Help Its Firms Fight IP Litigation 19/09/2007 by Jia Hepeng for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Jia Hepeng for Intellectual Property Watch BEIJING – China is proposing a fund to help its enterprises cope with rising international litigation related to intellectual property rights (IPRs). The message, together with other measures, was delivered by Zhang Qin, deputy director of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) at a national corporate IPR meeting on 2 September, but it was not made public until 10 September. Sun Pingping, a spokeswoman of SIPO, confirmed the news, saying the scale and detailed operation of the fund have not been finalised. Zhang told the corporate meeting that international legal cases on IP that Chinese enterprises face have been growing. While some of the lawsuits arise from Chinese enterprises’ poor IPR awareness and ownership, it is possible that some multinationals are abusing IPR to block the rise of Chinese firms, he said.