USPTO Sees Filesharing Dangers; US Officials Echo Industry Enforcement Efforts 05/03/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 5 March announced a new report it said shows that distributors of the most popular filesharing programmes “repeatedly deployed features that they knew or should have known could cause users to share files inadvertently,” with potentially grave consequences for consumers and national security. […]
WIPO Committee Approves Proposals For Development Agenda 23/02/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By William New Two-and-a-half years after the introduction of proposals to make the World Intellectual Property Organization more favourable to developing countries, a preliminary agreement has been reached. “What we got was meaningful and balanced,” a Brazilian official said afterward. “So what we get in the next meeting becomes less of an issue.” Brazil was […]
Text-Based Negotiations On A WIPO Development Agenda Pick Up Pace 22/02/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are moving quickly on negotiating draft texts aimed at improving the organisation’s development focus, as a week-long meeting nears its end. Four days into the 19-23 February special session of the Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda […]
Study Highlights Needed Improvements For IP And Technology Transfer 22/02/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New A high-profile researcher in the United States this week presented analysis showing that work needs to be done to improve flows of technology transfer to developing countries, and is related to intellectual property rights. The author, Professor John Barton, emeritus of Stanford University Law School, presented the report at a 21 February […]
WIPO Members Move Closer To Narrowed Text On Development 22/02/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Member countries of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) discussing proposals to strengthen WIPO’s orientation towards development this week are moving closer to a draft text they could report to the September General Assembly. But there are still major disagreements about the content of such a text as well as […]
WIPO Panel Features Views On Patent System Flexibilities 22/02/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New A well-balanced colloquium at the World Intellectual Property Organization allowed views from two sides to be heard on the subject of flexibilities in the patent system. The presenters at the 16 February event appeared to split along lines of a developing country view and a view from developed countries, the primary patent […]
Abrupt Departure Of South Centre IP Expert Raises Questions 16/02/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New A key member of the international intellectual property community has been asked to leave his position without warning, prompting questions about the terms of his departure, according to sources. Sisule Musungu, a recognised IP expert who has bolstered the IP programme at the intergovernmental South Centre, was asked to leave on 15 […]
Internet Governance Forum: Is It More Than Talk? 15/02/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Multi-stakeholder “dynamic coalitions” of the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) are pushing to have privacy, intellectual property, open standards and freedom of expression on the agenda of the second meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next autumn. At a 13 February IGF stocktaking meeting in Geneva, several of […]
European Collecting Societies Under Fire From Cable Operators 09/02/2007 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch AMSTERDAM – The current scheme for clearing broadcast retransmission rights harms cable operators and should be revamped, speakers said at this week’s Cable Europe 07 conference in Amsterdam. An alternative to collective rights management organisations (CRMs) – central licensing or all-rights-included packages – could give the cable industry […]
Film’s IP Jewel In Peril, US Motion Picture Association Panelists Say 07/02/2007 by John T. Aquino for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By John T. Aquino for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – That the US movie industry’s intellectual property is essential for the economic well-being of the industry and the nation was one of two major themes in the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) all-day 6 February symposium, “The Business of Show Business” in Washington, […]