US Isolated In Opposition To WIPO Treaty For The Blind, Group Says 03/12/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States now stands alone in its opposition to a World Intellectual Property Organization treaty on copyright exceptions for blind and and other print-disabled readers, the World Blind Union (WBU) said today.
ITU’s Touré Urges Syria To Restore Internet Access 30/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment UN International Telecommunication Union Secretary General Hamadoun Touré used a press conference on the eve of the much-anticipated World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) which starts in Dubai next week to call on the Syrian government to investigate problems of access to the mobile network and internet in Syria and do “anything necessary to restore the access.”
US Ambassador On WCIT: “ITU Is Not The Problem” 29/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment United States Ambassador Terry Kramer, head of the US delegation to the upcoming UN-led World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) in Dubai, in a press call today warned against proposals that would invite the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to get into the business of internet governance, be it routing interventions, content control issues, or changes in accounting for internet traffic. Yet reacting to an earlier call by ex-White House official Andrew McLaughlin at a New America Foundation conference to “dismantle the ITU”, Kramer said: “I do not think the ITU is the problem.”
Criminal IP Sanctions To Be Dropped From Canada-EU FTA, Documents Show 28/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Criminal sanctions for intellectual property rights infringement are to be dropped from the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), according to a set of documents leaked by Montreal daily La Presse.
South African Government Draws Many Views On Draft New National IP Policy 27/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Harmonisation of Africa’s seed laws: death knell for African seed systems The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has released its new report titled, ‘Harmonisation of Africa’s seed laws: a recipe for disaster- Players, motives and dynamics”. The report shows how African governments are being co-opted into harmonising seed laws relating to border control measures, phytosanitary […]
Event This Week: The Creation Of Unitary Patent Protection In The European Union 27/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Creation of Unitary Patent Protection in the European Union Paris, 29-30 November 2012 Maison de la Recherche 54, rue de Varenne 75007 Paris Find here (http://bit.ly/Vbb2CB) more information about the conference. After more than 30 years of negotiations, 25 of 27 Member States reached a conclusion on the future Unitary Patent System. The central aim of the two draft Regulations on the creation of unitary patent protection and on the applicable translation arrangements is to reduce the costs of patent protection and translation fees in the EU. The European Council on 28-29 June 2012 agreed to split the seat of the EU Patent Court between Paris, London and Munich. The Council’s suggestion to delete Articles 6-8 of the draft Regulation on the creation of the unitary patent provoked strong criticism in the European Parliament which postponed the vote on the proposal scheduled for 4 July 2012. A conference organised by the Academy of European Law (ERA) in cooperation with Queen Mary University of London in Paris on 29-30 November 2012 will offer a platform for discussion on the latest proposals which are now being discussed within the European Parliament.
UNITAID: Alternative Funding Mechanism For AIDS Drugs Saving Lives 27/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment UNITAID, an alternative funding mechanism for pharmaceuticals to the poor, said today that its work has helped develop new ways to treat children infected with HIV where there was previously little commercial incentive. The statement alongside the World AIDS Day announcement that the number of newly infected children continues to decline. UNITAID called for the international community to help children already living with the disease.
European Commission, ARIPO Sign Agreement On Agricultural GIs 27/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Commission and African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) yesterday signed a cooperation agreement on the protection of traditional agricultural products from specific geographical locations or with specific characteristics.
WHO Members Meet This Week To Address Global Gaps In Medical R&D 25/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments World Health Organization member states and official non-governmental observers will gather at the WHO headquarters this week for an open-ended meeting to analyse the feasibility of new models for financing research and development for diseases lacking sufficient market incentives and public policies.
WCIT Documents Published For First Time 24/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment All substantive documents filed for the UN-led World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) have been made public, many of them for the first time.