Ecuador, BRICS Moving Away From International Investment Dispute Regime, Paper Says 18/08/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment As part of a series of publications on investment treaties and investor-state dispute settlement, a developing country multilateral organisation released a policy brief focusing on Ecuador’s experience and action against the current dispute settlement system.
Was Google’s Unexpected Move To Create Alphabet About ‘Genericization’? 18/08/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment When Google announced on 10 August that it was creating an umbrella organisation called Alphabet, encompassing Google itself and its many satellite companies, word spread like fire. The unexpected move left everybody guessing, and some thinking about Google’s effort to protect its valuable brand and keep its name from becoming a generic term for searching the internet.
Conference Looks At Public Interest In South Africa’s Draft Copyright Bill 13/08/2015 by Linda Daniels for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – A conference here this week elicited a robust debate amongst intellectual property stakeholders in South Africa about the objectives of the far-reaching draft Copyright Amendment Bill.
Finding The Right Balance Between IP And Access To Science 03/08/2015 by Jos̩phine De Ruyck for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment STRASBOURG РAs UN Special Rapporteur Farida Shaheed prepares to finalise a second consecutive report on the connection between the right to science and culture and patent policy, two well-known academics took the floor at the University of Strasbourg Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) recently to share their views and hopes for this long-awaited paper.
No Deal Overall, But TPP Ministers Agreed Some IPR Issues In Hawaii, US Says 01/08/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments While the ministers of the 12 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) acknowledged they are still far apart on certain issues such as dairy, there were some areas of agreement in this week’s negotiation in Hawaii, they said. Some of them appear to have been related to intellectual property rights, with particular mention of geographical indications (GIs).
WIPO Patent Committee Agrees On Future Work, After Uncertainty 01/08/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee today agreed on work programme going forward that includes a balance of North-South issues such as patent quality, patents and health, client-attorney privilege, technology transfer, and exceptions to patents. Agreement on the work program was difficult despite a comparatively fast-moving week of progress on these same areas of work.
IP-Watch Seeks Part-Time Fundraising/Outreach Expert 31/07/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Intellectual Property Watch is seeking a dynamic person to help expand our fundraising and outreach activities. [Position closed]
WHO Heralds Breakthrough On Ebola Vaccine: “Turning Point In History Of Health R&D” 31/07/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Health Organization announced today that a vaccine preventing Ebola has proved efficacious in Ebola-stricken Guinea, hailing it as a “turning point in the history of health R&D.”
Medicines Patent Pool At 5 Years: Promises Kept, Changes Ahead – An Interview With Greg Perry 30/07/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Medicines Patent Pool in Geneva is celebrating five years of existence this month. MPP Executive Director Greg Perry sat down with Intellectual Property Watch Catherine Saez to describe progress made since its inception, the success of its licensing agreement model, and plans for the future, including a possible extension to other diseases such as tuberculosis and hepatitis C.
Special Feature: Differences Over GIs Threaten 2016/2017 WIPO Budget Approval 30/07/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The UN World Intellectual Property Organization is a member-driven agency set up to protect IP rights worldwide. In recent years, an area of dissension and debate has been how to make the organisation – and IPRs – friendlier to developing countries. This year, however, it has become a hotspot for the global debate between developed countries over protection of geographical indications, products of distinctive character deriving from specific locations.