How Are Licensors And Licensees Adapting To New Scenarios? 12/07/2016 by Magda Voltolini for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BARCELONA, Spain — A recent industry conference panel here covered topics of changing intellectual property scenarios perceived from different angles, in particular from operating companies which manufacture products or services and patent assertion entities (PAEs).
Brexit Threatens Legal Uncertainty, Higher Costs For Trademarks, Lawyers Say 08/07/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Two weeks after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the potential impact of “Brexit” on patents and trademarks is becoming marginally clearer, intellectual property lawyers said in interviews and a 7 July webinar. Among other things, Brexit would delay the EU unitary patent and unified patent court (UPC) and result in great uncertainty –and higher costs — for trademark owners, they said.
V4 Countries Launch Visegrad Patent Institute As Region’s First ISA, IPEA 08/07/2016 by Jaroslaw Adamowski for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With the aim of strengthening regional cooperation in intellectual property, the four member states of the Visegrad Group, which comprises Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, launched the Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI) on 1 July. Applicants will be allowed to communicate with the institutions in their respective mother tongues, and fees for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications will be reduced by as much as 40 percent, according to Poland’s Patent Office (UPRP).
US Industry Airs Hopes, Frustrations On IP Rights In India 05/07/2016 by Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment What do global innovators make of India’s new National Intellectual Property Rights Policy? A recent discussion on “India’s National IPR Strategy: A View from Global Innovators” in Washington DC attempted to assess the opportunities and challenges ahead from the perspective of American companies.
Trade Experts: Financing Not IP Slows Adoption Of Clean Energy Tech 04/07/2016 by Priti Patnaik for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Constraints on financing, restrictions on services and not so much access to technology emerged as one of the biggest challenges in the innovation, deployment and diffusion of clean energy technologies during an unusual session last week in Geneva which brought together climate scientists and trade policy wonks. Technologists and chemical engineers also came together to discuss how unlocking trade could help clean technologies in the context of the implementation of the Paris agreement on climate change.
WIPO Patent Law Committee Adopts Work Programme; Good Omen, Some Say 30/06/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment World Intellectual Property Organization members attending this week’s patent law committee meeting agreed on a work programme, reflecting divergent views on patents and health, exceptions and limitations, and patent quality.
European Music Industry Presses Brussels To Solve “Value Gap” From User Uploads 30/06/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments More than 1,000 recording artists and songwriters from Europe, and artists who regularly perform there, have urged the European Commission to stop the “value gap” created by user upload services such as Google’s YouTube from “siphoning value away” from the music community. Google, however, said digital services aren’t the problem, and that greater transparency on royalties is needed.
US Sees Weak African IP Protection, But Not Enough To Lose Unilateral Trade Benefits 30/06/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today (29 June) released its annual report on the eligibility of African nations for unilateral trade benefits offered by the US. While some countries were praised for progress on intellectual property protection, others were found to be weak in this area, but none were removed from eligibility for that reason. Overall, reporting on IP rights varied widely in the report.
Africa Regional Group Proposes Patents And Health Programme At WIPO 29/06/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This week in the World Intellectual Property Organization patent law committee, the African Group submitted an updated proposal for a work programme on patents and health that would help developing countries tailor patent law to their circumstances.
Russian IP Industry At Center Of Massive Scandal 29/06/2016 by Eugene Gerden for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Russian IP industry is in the center of a massive scandal, caused by the yesterday’s arrest of Sergei Fedotov, director general of the Russian Authors’ Society (RAO), a public association, which is responsible for the collection and distribution of royalties among rights holders, on the suspicion of multi-million dollar theft and withdrawal of funds to abroad.