Questions Raised Over Proposed WIPO Secretariat Deals With FAO, IDB 01/10/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization has negotiated cooperation agreements with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and is seeking approval of its member countries at this week’s annual General Assembly. But at least one country, Brazil, has questioned on whose authority WIPO negotiated the arrangements, […]
India At The Forefront Of Knowledge Commons Debate 03/09/2006 by Frederick Noronha for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments By Frederick Noronha for Intellectual Property Watch NEW DELHI – What do seeds have in common with software? Or age-old medicines with copyright lawyers? And, what’s the link between ayurvedic medicines and techies talking free software in Bangalore? Such issues are getting closely enmeshed in a deepening debate on how knowledge is shared or controlled […]
Brazil Publishes Biodiversity Generic Name List 04/08/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Brazil has published a list of more than 5,000 generic terms from the Portuguese language related to Brazilian plant biological diversity to raise awareness and prevent further misuse of trademarks that hinder Brazilian exports. The Brazilian government has been, and is, involved in a number of trademark disputes with companies that, for example, take a […]
WTO Doha Round Suspended Indefinitely, IP Issues May Be Kept On Table 24/07/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment After some five years of negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) free-trade talks were halted today as ministers of key countries left the negotiating table. But key intellectual property issues will be kept on the table for whenever they return, sources said. Ministers of six key members – Australia, Brazil, the European Union, India, Japan […]
Indonesia Strives To Acquire Bird Flu Medicines Despite No Patent 05/07/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment With eight recently confirmed cases of avian influenza, Indonesia is scrambling to build up its stockpile of medicines. The preferred product to fight bird flu in humans is not under patent in Indonesia, which raises questions as to why production has been off to a slow start in the country. Roche, the Swiss producer of […]
World Bank Report Urges Caution In Adopting Plant Breeding IP Policy 21/06/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Developing countries should use international law on plant breeding but not necessarily sign up to binding conventions as they could have a negative impact, argues a new World Bank-commissioned report presented at a joint event on 20 June at the World Trade Organization. The report was authored by Niels Louwaars of the Centre for Genetic […]
EU Gets Little Support For Enforcement Proposal at WTO; CBD Issue Unresolved 16/06/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Union got little support for its proposal to add further enforcement measures into international trade law on intellectual property at a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting on 15 June, according to participants. This was the last day of the 14-15 June meeting of the Council on the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of […]
Brazil, India Get Developed Country Support For TRIPS Amendment On Biodiversity 15/06/2006 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Two new proposals on the relationship of international agreements on the protection of biodiversity were discussed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) yesterday, one of which supports a developing country view. But member states still disagree as to whether there is a conflict between international rules. The new proposals were tabled by Japan [Japan Proposal] […]
Brasil lucha por la protección internacional de la biodiversidad 15/06/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Por Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen Brasil cuenta probablemente con la fuente de biodiversidad más rica del mundo, y lucha por obtener apoyo a nivel internacional para proteger estos recursos naturales de lo que considera una explotación injusta a través del uso de patentes por parte de empresas y otros dentro y fuera del país. Mientras […]
Biggest Developing Countries Present TRIPS Amendment Proposal 07/06/2006 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The world’s largest developing countries are seeking an amendment to international trade rules to provide more protection for genetic resources and traditional knowledge used in patent applications, and have presented the amendment proposal to other governments with mixed results. Brazil, India and China are among the eight countries that have publicly supported the proposal to […]