WTO Ministerial Set For November 27/05/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Trade Organization on Wednesday announced that the next ministerial-level negotiating meeting will be held on 30 November to 2 December at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. The ministerial will have a theme of “The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic Environment.” The decision to have a broader economic focus […]
Same WTO Deputy DGs Named To New Terms 26/05/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy on Tuesday named his four existing deputies to new terms. Alejandro Jara of Chile, Valentine Rugwabiza of Rwanda, Harsha Singh of India and Rufus Yerxa of the United States will be retained in their positions. Their terms of office will begin on 1 October. Yerxa has overseen consultations […]
IP Enforcement As US Foreign Policy 18/05/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments The United States Chamber of Commerce, the largest US business group, on Monday issued a release applauding a new bill introduced into the US House of Representatives by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (Democrat, California) that would “enhance State Department resources and training for intellectual property enforcement efforts in countries not meeting their […]
UK Patent Office To Fast-Track Green Inventions 14/05/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United Kingdom will now fast-track patent applications for inventions that could have a significant impact on combatting climate change. The “green” patent initiative was launched on 12 May by David Lammy, UK Minister for Intellectual Property. It will enable UK businesses working in green technologies to get patent rights faster, according to the UK […]
HADOPI Bill Adopted Tuesday By French Deputies 12/05/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The much-disputed French HADOPI legislation on the diffusion and protection of works on the internet was adopted Tuesday by the French National Assembly by a majority of 296 in favour and 233 against. With Tuesday’s passage, alleged copyright infringers now face, among other things, suspension of their internet access while still having to pay for […]
US Weighs New Exemptions To Copyright Law 08/05/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States Copyright Office held two days of hearings this week to consider new fair use exemptions to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which prohibits breaking encryption on copyrighted digital material. Every three years, the Copyright Office considers possible exemptions to the DMCA, and held those hearings this week. The American University […]
EU Parliament Signals Against ‘Three-Strikes’ Filtering 06/05/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The EU Parliament on Wednesday underlined its position that any limitations of the fundamental right of access to information is subject to a prior check by a judge. By voting for amendment No. 138/46 in the report of French Socialist Catherine Trautmann, the Parliament rejected a last-minute compromise Trautman had worked out with the Council […]
US First-to-File Price Tag: $10M 05/05/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment If the United States enacts reform of its patent law, S 515, this year as proposed, it would cut discretionary spending by US$173 million over the period 2010-2014, according to a 30 April US Congressional Budget Office cost estimate. This in part arises from an expectation of increased volume of patent applications, on which fees […]
Pascal Lamy Reappointed WTO Director General 30/04/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment World Trade Organization (WTO) members Thursday agreed to a second four-year term for current Director General Pascal Lamy. Prior to joining the WTO, Lamy was Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission, and also previously served as CEO of the bank Credit Lyonnais prior to its privatisation and worked in the French civil service. At […]
NTIA Seeks Comments On Letting Go Of Internet Control 28/04/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has published a notice of inquiry regarding the expiration of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between the agency and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees technical aspects of the internet domain name system. The 2003 JPA that followed an earlier Memorandum […]