WHO Elevates IP Issues To Director General’s Office; Zucker To Depart 20/11/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The World Health Organization, which has intensively debated intellectual property rights issues in recent years, has restructured its management of the issues, elevating IP to the director general’s office. “[The restructuring] shows the importance that the director general is giving to this particular issue, and reinforces what WHO is already doing in […]
Open Standards, Access To Knowledge Discussed At IGF 19/11/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch RIO DE JANEIRO – Intellectual property-related issues were a topic avoided by governments during the 2003-2005 World Summit on the Information Society, which gave way to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). But at the second IGF in Rio de Janeiro last week there were several IP-related workshops. Organisers […]
French Industry Attacks Private Copy Fees As Levy Debate Grows 16/11/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Makers and distributors of digital storage products and audiovisual media last week urged France’s highest administrative court to kill private copy levies on technologies for transferring data such as USB keys, external hard disks and memory cards. The challenges, filed 9 November in the Conseil d’Etat by e-merchant Rue du Commerce and the Syndicat des Industries de Mat�riels Audiovisuels Electroniques (SIMAVELEC), contend that the lack of harmonised levies among European Union countries violates EU law and hurts online sellers. The legal action came one day after the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) argued that non-payment of levies should be made a criminal offence.
Internet Governance Forum: Test Of A New Global Governance Model 14/11/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch RIO DE JANEIRO – The debate over whether the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) should grow beyond its no-decisions, dialogue-only capacity was under consideration from the opening of the meeting here Monday. While a majority of participants from the various stakeholder groups at the meeting agree with the mandate, […]
Developed Countries Close Some Gaps Between Patent Systems 13/11/2007 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – The patent offices of the United States, Europe and Japan have agreed to coordinate work-sharing, improve the quality of patent applications and work on other ways to standardise procedures aimed at reducing the offices’ workloads. The memorandum of understanding was announced on Friday at […]
WHO IP And Health Group Ends Meeting With Substantive Progress 10/11/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New The member governments of the World Health Organization finished an intensive week of negotiations on ways to improve access to healthcare for poorer populations with significant progress on a framework. But difficult work remains for the next session, participants said. “I’ve been very much impressed by the level of engagement,” WHO Director […]
WHO IP And Health Group Turns To IP; Meeting To Continue In 2008 09/11/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Negotiators at this week’s World Health Organization meeting on intellectual property, innovation and public health appeared to reach preliminary agreement Friday on principles establishing that IP rights should not negatively impact public health and should fit with the needs of developing countries. On Friday, talks moved to the controversial section of the […]
WHO Session On IP And Health Clashes On Vision, Practicalities 09/11/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New with Kaitlin Mara Government officials tasked this week through the United Nations with finding ways to develop and deliver treatment for overlooked diseases afflicting the globe’s poor are making uneven but persistent progress in negotiations. Debate has been slow at times, according to participants, sticking on the lofty introductory language to the […]
US, EU, Japan To Sign Understanding On Patent Applications 09/11/2007 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch The United States Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office and Japanese Patent Office on Friday will announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on patent applications, Intellectual Property Watch has learned. The MOU between the three patent offices comes after several days of meetings […]
US Lawmakers Seek To Fuel International IP Enforcement Activities 08/11/2007 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON – Lawmakers in the United States concerned that global counterfeiting and piracy are hurting American business on Wednesday introduced two bills aimed at curbing the practices, and said they want more international cooperation to do so. Senators Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, and George Voinovich, a […]