For UNCTAD Ministerial, NGOs Call For Development Focus, Not Trade Rules Enforcement 14/07/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Days before a major meeting of the governing body of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), over 100 non-governmental organisations worldwide are calling for the organisation to maintain its development role and not help implement international and regional trade rules.
New Book On Price-Reducing Strategies For Essential Medicines Under IPRs 13/07/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A new book and website examine the impact of intellectual property rights on access to new essential medicines and call for measures that were used to reduce prices of patented HIV medicines to be applied in the case of essential medicines.
Opposition To Kenyan “Anti-Innovation” ICT Bill Grows 13/07/2016 by Maina Waruru for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A bill introduced in Kenya’s parliament intended to streamline, govern and regulate the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector has been met with opposition from different quarters over fears that it could put ICT technicians out of practice and stifle the country’s innovation capacity if passed into law.
CopyCamp 2016 Open Call 12/07/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Modern Poland Foundation is pleased to launch an Open Call for Speakers at the 5th International CopyCamp Conference (October 27-28, 2016 in Warsaw).
Privacy Shield May Not Be “Schrems-Proof”, But Passage Approved 11/07/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Commission is expected to pass a controversial declaration on the “adequacy of US data protection standards” on 12 July, making transfers of personal data from the European Union to the United States legal once more. [Update: Privacy Shield was announced today by the US and EU.]
UK High Court Upholds Blocking Of Infringing Websites In Trademark Cases 06/07/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Internet service providers can be ordered to block websites that offer counterfeit goods for sale despite the lack of an express law to that effect in trademark cases, the UK Court of Appeal for England and Wales said in a 6 July decision.
New Book: Ways To Address CBD, Nagoya Protocol Hurdles For Public Research 04/07/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A new book provides ways for public research to avoid legal battles over genetic resources in the fields of agriculture, biomedicine, environmental management and microbiology by making best use of an international protocol on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing.
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.
WIPO Treaty On Copyright Exceptions For Visually Impaired Enters In Force 30/06/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization treaty to facilitate access to books in special formats for visually impaired people will enter into effect, as the 20th member state acceded to the treaty today.
Embassy In London Under Siege, IP A ‘Neo-Liberal Pillar’, Ecuador Minister Says 29/06/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A top Ecuadoran official said today at the United Nations in Geneva that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s health is deteriorating after four years confined in the Ecuadoran embassy in London, while the United Kingdom and Sweden are ignoring the findings of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which called for Assange’s release. The Ecuadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs also said Ecuador will carry on issuing compulsory licences for medicines as it sees fit, underlining the increasing role of intellectual property and the greater privatisation of knowledge.