US Industry View: Can Content Survive Online? (Podcast) 21/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A forum called the Intellectual Property Colloquium has posted an open-access podcast of a discussion about online business models with Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel, Scott Martin, executive vice president of Paramount Pictures, and Dan Cooper, vice president of business and legal affairs at MySpace. The discussion is hosted by Doug Lichtman, professor at the […]
European Commission Communication On Copyright Online 21/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Commission on 19 October published a communication on copyright in the knowledge economy that sets out the plan for changes in European copyright over the coming month and in 2010. Three issues the Directorate General Internal Market and Directorate General Information Society want to tackle are: preparation of a EU-wide legal instrument on […]
Academics Debate Patent “Exhaustion Doctrine” 20/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Can a patent-holder ask for royalties from third-party purchasers? The United States Supreme Court said ‘no’ in the 2008 landmark case Quanta Computer Inc. v. LG Electronics Inc. (IPW, US Policy, 25 June 2008). But what does this decision mean for both patent law and rights holders? Five academics – Richard A. Epstein, F. Scott […]
Lamy Reports On TRIPS Consultations 20/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Director General Pascal Lamy of the World Trade Organization reported today to member states on his most recent consultations on outstanding issues of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). He was speaking in his capacity as chairman of the high-level Trade Negotiations Committee. His 8 October consultation addressed questions posed by […]
EFPIA Unveils Anti-Counterfeit Authentication System 20/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A pilot project intended to counter the challenge of counterfeit medicines entering the legitimate supply chain has been launched this week in Sweden by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. The project involves individually identifying packs of medicine through the use of a small “data matrix” which, when scanned, can give pharmacists information […]
German Internet Blocking Bill Suspension 18/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In a “turn back the clock” action, the German Liberal Party (FDP) – which is negotiating with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU) on the programme of the coalition government – is pushing a suspension of the blocking bill some feared would hamper information flow on the internet. The much debated bill, passed earlier […]
ACTA Text Revealed To 42 Select Insiders 15/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments In the weeks leading up to the next negotiating session (first week of November in Seoul) of the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, 42 Washington, DC-area insiders, mostly from industry, were invited by the United States Trade Representatives to see copies of its text on the internet, according to a new report. In response to a […]
Agenda For Next WIPO Traditional Knowledge Meeting Online 15/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The next meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore will be from 7-11 December. The draft agenda is online and available here. The committee recently received its strongest mandate yet from this year’s General Assemblies (IPW, WIPO, 3 October 2009).
Anti-Counterfeit Medicines Convention Foreseen In 2010 14/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations have been called on by a meeting of international leaders to “take full measure of the public health and public safety stakes linked to the scourge of counterfeit medication and to decide at the national level of the appropriate measures to be applied.” Stakeholders were invited to an as-yet […]
Sarkozy Government Allegedly Caught Red-Handed Infringing DVD Copyrights 13/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment While the French Constitutional Council is considering the constitutionality of the rabble-rouser HADOPI 2 law (IPW, Coopyright policy, 2 October 2009), pushed by the French government to authorise legal authorities to suspend internet access of alleged copyright infringers, French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s services allegedly made 400 unauthorised copies of a DVD over the summer. The […]