Gilead To Appeal India Patent Rejection, Hails Regulatory Approval 16/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Pharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead has given its side to this week’s story of the rejection of its patent on a hepatitis C treatment in India, and it insists it will prevail in making its medicines available in India on its terms.
Report Looks At Open Access From Perspective Of Authors, Institutions, Publishers 15/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new industry report explores ways authors, research institutions and publishers are grappling with the increasing move toward open access mandates by governments.
Key Hepatitis C Patent Rejected In India 14/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 10 Comments Today’s rejection by the Patent Office Controller of India of a patent application by Gilead company for a key drug against hepatitis C is being hailed by advocates as a path to dramatically lower costs of treatment for the disease. Hepatitis C has been noteworthy for exorbitantly priced medicines over the past year. A look at the decision shows that a provision in India’s law continues to stop patent applications if they fail to show sufficient novelty and inventive step – and are subject to opposition.
Panels Look At Proposed EU, French Trade Secret Legislations 13/01/2015 by Magda Voltolini for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment PARIS – French government officials and industry representatives gathered here recently to debate proposed new rules to protect trade secrets against unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure.
India’s Draft IP Policy Shows Major Changes Coming, While Fitting IP System To Local Needs 08/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The first draft of a national intellectual property rights policy being developed by a “think tank” of Indian IP experts shows adherence to the country’s principles of bending the IP system to its local needs. But it also shows signs of major change toward more international goals of enforcement and promotion of strong IP rights.
Most-Read IP-Watch Stories In 2014: A Tale Of Staff Issues, India, Hot-Button Topics 07/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment All year long, Intellectual Property Watch expends great energy and resources to bring hundreds of carefully written, detailed stories on policymaking – technical committee meetings, legislation, negotiations, legal cases, and latest reports and papers. But in what is perhaps typical of readers everywhere, many of the best-read IP-Watch stories of 2014 were those few that involved elections and personnel issues and India, followed by a range of hot button issues such as high-priced medicines, copyright and knowledge access, patent valuation, or internet surveillance.
Top European Copyright Experts Urge Reform, Unification Of Copyright 05/01/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Copyright Society, an august group of copyright experts from across Europe, has issued a letter to new European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Günther Oettinger supporting his mandate to pursue copyright reform and calling for a unification of European copyright laws.
ISPs In US Face New Copyright Attack 22/12/2014 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments It is a novel way to attack online copyright infringement. Two music companies have sued an internet service provider, alleging that because the ISP failed to terminate the accounts of repeat infringers, the ISP is guilty of secondary infringement. This lawsuit troubles many copyright experts and its success is far from certain, but the music companies may achieve their aims regardless.
Uganda Adopts Free And Open Source Software For E-Governance 19/12/2014 by Hillary Muheebwa for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The population in Uganda has been growing rapidly. The country now has 35 million people. In order to provide quality services to its citizens and to improve the national competitiveness through administration innovation, the government has adopted free and open source software as the preferred mode of operation for electronic government (e-government) services and platforms.
At WIPO, Study On Copyright Exceptions Stimulates Broad Discussion With Author 18/12/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments During the recent meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee, a study was presented on exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries and archives at the national level. The presentation spurred a full day of discussion about how to ensure libraries can continue to provide an indispensable service, and a substantive exchange with the author.