By William New The European Union on Saturday restated the necessity of including three intellectual property issues in any outcome of the World Trade Organization ministerial negotiations, even as the WTO director general signalled a need to prevent the IP issues from upsetting other achievements. “It would be politically very difficult for us if we […]

[Update: Ministers reached a tentative deal Friday night on some aspects of agriculture and NAMA, and will take up services on Saturday, according to ministers.] By William New Word went out Friday evening that there may have been some progress on the main issues under negotiation at this week’s World Trade Organization ministerial in Geneva. […]

By Kaitlin Mara and William New Compromise on intellectual property issues at this week’s World Trade Organization ministerial meeting has been hard to find, but the facilitator of the IP talks said Thursday night that the possibility remains if the broader talks can proceed. Countries with a range of views met bilaterally with the chair […]

By Kaitlin Mara and William New A meeting tentatively scheduled for late Wednesday evening to mediate differences of opinion on three intellectual property issues was postponed, at least until Thursday, when consultations may move into smaller groups, sources say. There have been several days of meetings and informal consultations in this week’s World Trade Organization […]

By Kaitlin Mara with William New Key stakeholder nations on intellectual property issues at this week’s World Trade Organization ministerial in Geneva are holding consultations with the Norwegian foreign minister facilitating to iron out positions before meeting later tonight with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, according to government sources. [Note: The meeting, which would have […]

By Kaitlin Mara United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab on Tuesday told reporters at the World Trade Organization that the United States does not plan to negotiate this week on the extension of high-level protections on product names associated with locations to products other than wines and spirits. “We are not currently engaged on that […]

By William New and Kaitlin Mara Intellectual property issues have been a topic of debate at the World Trade Organization ministerial negotiations since Friday and while there have been no changes in positions there has been some talk of looking for compromises, according to sources attending the event. Ministers from some IP-proponent countries raised the […]

[Note: IP issues may be the subject of meetings between ministers and WTO DG Lamy over this weekend, according to sources.] By Kaitlin Mara and William New A new draft of proposed modalities for negotiating three intellectual property issues at next week’s World Trade Organization ministerial shows that proponents have gathered the support of the […]