Mixed Reactions To Leaked Section Of Key UK IP Report 29/11/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen While the music industry said it is a “big disappointment” that the United Kingdom will not extend copyright protection to sound recordings beyond its current 50 years as stated in a leaked section of a draft government-commissioned report, those in favour of content entering the public domain welcomed it. The […]
Developed Countries Keep Patent Harmonisation Issue Alive 29/11/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen At a Tokyo meeting last week of the developed countries of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the issue of patent harmonisation was kept alive though no specific decisions were reached, a source said. Kenichiro Natsume of the Japanese mission told Intellectual Property Watch that the group, referred to as […]
Consultation On WHO IP Group Shows Polarised Debate; Challenge For Group 16/11/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Submissions to the World Health Organization (WHO) online public consultation on the intergovernmental working group on public health, innovation and intellectual property show that the debate is quite polarised, and that the group is therefore in for a challenge. Among the nearly 30 submissions posted to the WHO website within […]
Sources: Internal Memo Suggests Shift In WHO Handling Of US Criticism 10/11/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen A World Health Organization (WHO) director has taken the unusual step of writing a memorandum directly to the head of the WHO, seeking clarity on the organisation’s handling of a United States complaint involving WHO staff, according to anonymous sources. The memo was prompted by concern that the organisation is […]
Hamadoun Touré Of Mali Elected ITU Secretary-General 10/11/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Development and Internet governance issues may have gotten a boost at the United Nations International Telecommunication Union today as members elected Hamadoun Touré of Mali to be the next Secretary-General. Touré has been director of the ITU Telecommunications Development Bureau since 1999. In a third round of voting on 10 November, Touré […]
Margaret Chan Of Hong Kong Chosen As Next WHO Director General 08/11/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Margaret Chan of Hong Kong (China) has been elected the next director general of the World Health Organization by a large majority of member governments, according to sources. “It is not a surprise that Chan was chosen but with such a big margin – that is a surprise,” a source […]
Group B+ Draft Patent Harmonisation Treaty Emerges 07/11/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By William New and Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The wealthy members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have created a draft patent harmonisation treaty to be negotiated outside WIPO in the hope of removing basic differences in national and regional practices. But while the countries say they have the momentum and political will to […]
WHO Short-lists Five Candidates For Director General Post 06/11/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a short list of five candidates for the post of director general, sources said. The list includes: China, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico and Spain. A number of sources have indicated to Intellectual Property Watch that the candidates who are most likely to replace Lee […]
Copyrights, Knowledge Access, Democracy Debated At Internet Forum 01/11/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New ATHENS – Whether intellectual property rights protection is inhibiting the free flow of information was hotly debated at the Internet Governance Forum on 31 October. “Just about every aspect of the free flow of information is now hampered” by technologies, laws and other reasons, said Joichi Ito of Creative Commons. “Suddenly the […]
UN-led Conference Grills Corporations On Support For Restrictive Internet Regimes 31/10/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New ATHENS – Participants in this week’s Internet Governance Forum here saw strong support for ensuring public access to knowledge as tough questions were put to technology corporations for their apparent support of restrictive government practices. But representatives of the corporations, including Cisco Systems, Google and Microsoft, held their own in the debate. […]