WIPO Traditional Knowledge Committee On Way To New Mandate 22/07/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Delegates working on an international instrument to protect traditional knowledge and folklore against misappropriation today agreed this afternoon to ask the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly in September to extend the mandate of the committee working on those issues.
Traditional Knowledge, Folkore Treaty Texts Still Advancing At WIPO 22/07/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week continued work on evolving draft texts of treaties to protect genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs), or folklore. But more work will be needed to complete them, according to participants.
Corporate Self-Interest And Strategic Choices: Gilead Licenses To Medicines Patent Pool 21/07/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Gilead’s recently announced ARV licenses to the Medicines Patent Pool, although positive in some respects, still unreasonably limit the geographical access of key middle-income countries and restrict the sourcing of APIs and products to Indian companies, meaning that both generics companies and excluded countries will need to make strategic decisions to bypass the defects in the licenses, writes Brook Baker.
Parliament Study: ACTA Not Fully In Line With EU Rules 20/07/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) under negotiation by a group of countries including those in the European Union is more ambitious than current EU law and risks problems for access to medicines, concluded a recent study commissioned by the European Parliament Committee on International Trade. But the study stops short of calling for a flat rejection of the agreement.
EU Announces €7B For Innovation, R&D 20/07/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Commission yesterday announced the availability of nearly €7 billion euros (nearly US$10 billion) to boost innovation, its biggest grant ever for research and development. The move is predicted to create 174,000 jobs in the short-term and some 450,000 jobs and €80 billion in economic growth over the next 15 years.
WIPO Calls On Film Industry Stars To Promote Audiovisual Treaty 20/07/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The UN World Intellectual Property Organization yesterday invited a panel of international film producers and star Spanish actor Javier Bardem to sing the praise of an international treaty to help the audiovisual industry address the problem of unauthorised downloads of content that is a hallmark of the digital age.
Extension Of WIPO Committee On TK, Genetic Resources Appears Likely 20/07/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments As the mandate of the World Intellectual Property committee on the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and folklore is reaching its end, diplomats meeting this week seem to be coming to agreement on its extension. Meanwhile, a group of developing countries submitted proposals for each of the three legs of the committee, to be considered as delegates go through draft negotiating texts produced at the last session of the committee.
US Arrests 16 Alleged Hackers Defending Wikileaks 20/07/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A major action was announced today by the United States Justice Department as it arrested 16 people and executed 35 search warrants for alleged hackers mostly said to be involved in retaliation by the group Anonymous against PayPal for blocking payments to Wikileaks after it released a large number of classified documents late last year. Five arrests were also made in Europe.
WIPO Takes A Shot At ICANN’s Domain Dispute Reform 19/07/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The official responsible for the staid World Intellectual Property Organization internet domain dispute resolution procedures has again come out strongly against efforts by another international body to reform those dispute procedures.
Kenya Opens Region’s Door To GM Maize 19/07/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In the face of a severe food shortage, Kenya’s Cabinet has approved imports of genetically modified maize, though it has drawn the line on use of GM maize as seeds, a regional newspaper reports.