“IP Authorities” Pay Homage To PCT, Call For Action On Harmonisation, Backlog 21/09/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Improved searches and application quality and a focus on backlog reduction are necessary to improve the patent system, patent authorities concluded at a World Intellectual Property Organization symposium last week. This will require patent offices around the world to work together, and the WIPO Patent Cooperation Treaty, most speakers said, is the path forward for global patent coordination.
Technology Transfer Will Be Part Of Copenhagen Climate Deal 16/09/2009 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment COPENHAGEN – Technology transfer is bound to be part of a possible new international climate deal at the high-level meeting in Copenhagen in December, according to officials. Meanwhile, international economists have concluded that such transfers constitute a win-win situation for developed and developing countries when it comes to combating climate change.
Early Drafts Show Disagreement On UN Framework For Climate Services 04/09/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Senior officials from well over 100 nations at a five-day United Nations conference on Thursday issued a succinct declaration committing them to establish a global framework on the delivery of products and services related to climate change. But earlier negotiating versions of the declaration from the week obtained by Intellectual Property Watch show substantive disagreement and the removal of pages of draft text.
Gene Patenting In Question In The US, EU; New Resistance Effort 02/09/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments A recent lawsuit involving patents on human genes related to cancer brought against the United States patent office, a biotechnology company and a foundation has attracted international attention to the issue of gene patenting, and on 27 August a group of influential associations voiced their opposition to such patents.
EU, US Bristle As Drug Innovators Pay To Delay New Generics 25/08/2009 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Authorities in the European Union and the United States have recently taken a tougher stance against reverse payments – patent settlements whereby, according to many competition experts, dominant drug companies buy off potential rivals.
August/September Edition Of IP-Watch Monthly Reporter Now Available 11/08/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Intellectual Property Watch Monthly Edition features top news on international IP policymaking, the latest on who is coming and going in the international IP community, news briefs and more. The August/September edition is now available for subscribers.
US Supreme Court Review Of Bilski Could Reverberate Through Patent System 31/07/2009 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Last October, a United States appellate court shifted the country’s patent law dramatically, moving the nation closer to other countries’ standards on what inventions can be patented. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (often called America’s “patent court”) overruled its own seminal precedent and sharply cut back on the types of methods and processes that are eligible for patent protection. The ruling put thousands of patents under a cloud, including many business method patents and financial method patents. This controversial ruling will soon be reviewed by the US Supreme Court. The resulting decision in Bilski v. Doll could become a milestone in US patent law, with repercussions around the world.
US Biologics Debate Heats Up As Congress, Obama, Wrangle With Healthcare Reform 27/07/2009 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As the United States Congress prepares to recess in early August, there’s hope – and dread, depending on which “side” of the debate you’re on – that legislation creating a regulatory pathway for follow-on biologics may be pushed through as part of the broader healthcare reform package.
Life-Saving Mosquito Nets Subject Of Tiff Over Trade Secrets 17/07/2009 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment COPENHAGEN – While sales of insecticide-treated bed nets have skyrocketed in recent years and boosting their use is among the UN Millennium Development Goals, two producers of the nets have been caught in a rigorous legal case involving trade secrets. Now the English High Court has ruled that one of the companies, Bestnet, has misused the trade secrets of the other company, Vestergaard Frandsen (VF).
July Edition Of IP-Watch Monthly Reporter Now Available 13/07/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Intellectual Property Watch Monthly Edition features top news on international IP policymaking, the latest on who is coming and going in the international IP community, news briefs and more. The July edition is now available for subscribers.