The Sri Lanka Tea Board, will seek intellectual property protection for Ceylon tea (which takes its title from a former name of the island nation), according to a business news source from the country. Protection is sought under the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement rules on geographical indications, or product […]

Brendan McGivern, a partner at White & Case law firm in Geneva, issued an analysis of the recent decision by a World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel on a case filed by the United States against China over copyright, customs and criminal matters. The outcome was mixed, with the US losing on its principal claim. […]

The UN International Telecommunication Union issued a report at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that found innovation, convergence and a little opportunism will lead the information and communications technology industry out of the current crisis. Read the report here.

It is often unfortunate to see what the public servants of the World Intellectual Property Organization domain name arbitration centre must sift through to make decisions on internet name disputes, which generally reflect consumer tastes. In this case, media industry giant Viacom lost its fight for the rights to jackass.com, which corresponds to its low-life […]

WASHINGTON – Timothy Kyle Dunaway, 24, of Wichita Falls, Texas, was sentenced today to 41 months in prison by US District Court Judge Reed O’Connor in Wichita Falls for selling counterfeit computer software through the internet in violation of criminal copyright infringement laws, Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of the Criminal Division and […]

A Turkish firm, Grup Ofis Patents & Trademarks, has highlighted key concerns in Turkey’s new trademark legislation, which it said came into force in January 2009. Click here to read document.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, representing much of the US copyright industry, has submitted its allegations of foreign governments’ inadequate protection of US IP rights to the annual Special 301 process of the US Trade Representative’s office.  In all, 48 nations are named, and key targets again include China, Russia and Canada. IIPA release here […]

Andrew Witty, CEO of pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, said in a speech Friday at Harvard Medical School that GSK will contribute to a patent pool intended to increase innovation on medicines for neglected diseases. A Reuters story on the event is available here.

The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, India’s online repository of traditional knowledge prior art, will now be available for the European Patent Office to use in its patent grant procedure. The digital library translates information from several languages, including Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Sanskrit, and Urdu, into English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish to help prevent misappropriation […]