Intellectual Property Issues Remain In Play In WTO Negotiations 02/08/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Intellectual property issues may not be ‘make-or-break’ for the current round of trade-liberalisation negotiations at the World Trade Organization, but they continue to be a factor. At last week’s opening to the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said consultations on IP issues are continuing, a WTO session chairman […]
US Congressional Panel Mulls Royalty Right For Songs On Radio 31/07/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Well-loved American performers, members of Congress and the US Register of Copyrights squared off Tuesday against the country’s powerful broadcast lobby in a bid to change US copyright law to reward artists for songs played on terrestrial radio stations. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and […]
UN Body Offers Guidance To Governments On Boosting IP Systems 30/07/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization may be the biggest United Nations agency in Geneva working on IP issues, but another body also has taken up the effort. And in a recent conference held by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), panels of experts informed officials from economies in transition about technology […]
EU Seeks Stronger IP Enforcement At Every Level 30/07/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The growing problem of intellectual property rights piracy and counterfeiting requires global cooperation, and the European Union has elevated its focus on the issue at every policy level, an EU official told a recent intergovernmental gathering discussing IP and economies in transition. The official described efforts internally within its members, in bilateral […]
Europe Takes IP Enforcement Build-up To Intergovernmental Channels 30/07/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Advanced European countries are increasingly looking for channels to school their neighbours and worldwide free-trade agreement partners on the enforcement of western-style intellectual property rights. And in order to get them to bite, officials are promoting the benefits to countries themselves of creating and protecting their own ideas. Now an effort is […]
IPO Posts Comparison of US House, Senate Patent Reform Bills 27/07/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The Intellectual Property Owners’ Association, a Washington, DC industry association, has posted on its website a side-by-side comparison of the two bills to reform US patent law currently advancing in the US Congress. Both bills moved at the committee level last week but now face uncertainty. Both chambers are working furiously toward […]
Film Company Wins thesimpsonsmovie.com From Cybersquatter. Doh! 26/07/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch As the “Simpsons Movie” rolls out on silver screens across the United States and Europe, word comes that its maker, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, has won the rights to the domain name “thesimpsonsmovie.com” from a stand-up comedian who failed to strike the international arbitrator’s sense of humour. […]
Rwanda Pioneers Use Of WTO Patent Flexibility For HIV/AIDS Medicine 20/07/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Years after it was permitted under international trade law, the first country has notified the World Trade Organization that it will use a flexibility allowing it to address public health needs by importing a patented medicine produced without authorisation of the patent holder. Rwanda this week told the WTO it […]
Is Peace Breaking Out In US Internet Radio Royalty Rates Battle? 15/07/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch A Saturday agreement between US webcasters and SoundExchange, which collects digital royalties for artists and record labels, appears to have cooled some of the heat surrounding a 2 March decision by the US Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) setting new rates for Internet radio performances. With the new rates […]
WIPO Committee Extends, Adjusts Mandate On Traditional Knowledge, Folklore 13/07/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen After intense, last-minute discussions, a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) committee decided to renew its current mandate, with a slightly stronger emphasis on the direction of its future work. Meeting Chair I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, the Indonesian ambassador, told Intellectual Property Watch that “the old mandate still exists” but […]