ITU: Industries Battle For Greater Spectrum Allocation At WRC-15 10/11/2015 by Marianna Drake for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The mobile, satellite and broadcasting industries are campaigning for bigger shares of the finite resource that is radio-frequency spectrum at the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s treaty-making conference this month. And in an exhibition area alongside the conference, some of the world’s biggest tech companies are pitching their need for greater spectrum allocation in the hopes of influencing the conference’s outcomes. Among them is Facebook’s Internet.org project.
Users, Governments Give Views On Internet Governance Going Forward 10/11/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As governments at the United Nations negotiate outcome documents for the 10 year review of the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the rest of the stakeholders of the global internet are fighting for a voice, especially users. A recent event alongside the WSIS talks explored the user perspective, and discussed the future of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the annual meeting taking place this week in Brazil.
African Ministers IPR Conference Addresses Issues For African Creators 09/11/2015 by Sadibou Marone for Intellectual Property Watch and Babacar Dione for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment DAKAR, Senegal — The World Intellectual Property Organization 2015 African Ministerial Conference on Intellectual Property for Emerging Africa took place last week in Dakar, the Senegalese capital where around 50 ministers gathered as well as 200 participants. Among the many themes addressed, the conference called for better recognition of the rights of artists and creators. Musicians called for a strong musicians’ union to better defend their rights, advocating for a reform of African legislation on copyright. And Africa must boost its creativity and innovation to produce sports content by learning on what others are doing, panellists said.
WIPO Committee On Development Opens With Questions Of WIPO And UN SDGs 09/11/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The implementation of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda ranked high in the opening statements of developing country delegates attending this week’s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property. The participation of WIPO in the broader UN Sustainable Development Goals was also raised.
Key Issues At This Week’s WIPO Committee On IP And Development Meeting 08/11/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) meets this week with a full agenda, including guides on trademark licensing, open innovation networks, and IP commercialisation. Delegates are expected to approve new development project proposals and progress reports on existing projects. Also on the agenda is the spicy issue of coordination of the WIPO Development Agenda.
LDC Coordinator Thanks WTO For ‘Accountability To Humanity’ On Pharma IP 08/11/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Last week’s decision by a World Trade Organization committee to allow least-developed countries to not apply global IP rules for pharmaceuticals for 17 more years made WTO members accountable to humanity, the coordinator of the LDC Group has said. Pharmaceuticals are different from all other forms of IP, he said.
LDC Pharma IP Waiver Until 2033 Approved By WTO TRIPS Council 06/11/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments After two weeks of high level negotiations between the United States and the Group of Least-Developed Countries, the World Trade Organization committee on intellectual property rights today agreed to extend a waiver allowing LDCs to avoid applying and enforcing IP rights on pharmaceutical products until 2033.
Public Health Considerations Should Guide Patent Examination, Paper Argues 05/11/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Patent offices should align their work in support of national health and medicines policies when carrying out the examination of patents, a new South Centre paper argues.
Well-Designed IP Systems Can Benefit Africa, Leaders Say; WIPO Director Urges Action 04/11/2015 by Sadibou Marone for Intellectual Property Watch and Babacar Dione for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment DAKAR, Senegal — As Africa is emerging to become a centre of economic growth, strong and well-developed national intellectual property systems can help the continent unlock its citizens’ creativity and innovation and further boost economic growth, World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry said today in Dakar, the Senegalese capital where the African Ministerial Conference kicked off. Gurry was joined by top officials from a number of African nations.
UN Works Through Issues Of A Changed Internet 03/11/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Most nations in the world agree that all aspects of society now depend on the internet. But this year’s process of reviewing the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is showing how many challenges to the internet have arisen and how far apart nations are on the ways to address them.