WIPO Members En Route To Diplomatic Conference On Treaty For The Blind 17/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment After several hours in informal consultations, delegates attending the 42nd session of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly (and 22nd Extraordinary Session) came out of the room this evening with good news.
WIPO Visually Impaired Treaty: Voices From Africa On Dire Situation 16/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization is on the verge of deciding on a high-level meeting paving the way for a new treaty to facilitate access to books to visually impaired people. Meanwhile, in Africa, far from plenary discussions, the situation on the ground reveals a dire need for change.
Publishers Seek Support For Their Approach To WIPO Treaty 16/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As the World Intellectual Property Organization prepares to hold an Extraordinary General Assembly this week to decide on convening a high-level meeting to negotiate a new treaty on limitations and exceptions for blind and other visually impaired people, publishers are defending their position.
Great Expectations For WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly On Treaty For Blind 16/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments An Extraordinary General Assembly will take place tomorrow at the World Intellectual Property Organization to decide on convening a high-level meeting in 2013 to agree on a treaty on exceptions and limitations to copyright for visually impaired people, enabling them to have a better access to works in special formats.
US IP Officials Blast NGOs In Geneva 16/12/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments Washington, DC – United States attachés stationed around the world in order to promote intellectual property rights reported on their activities to US industry here last week. And the attachès posted in Geneva had strong words for the work of non-governmental organisations operating at the World Trade Organization and the United Nations agencies.
WIPO Committee Actively Drafting Treaty On Designs; Technical Assistance Up Next 12/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The work on a potential new treaty on industrial designs law and practice is at full throttle at the World Intellectual Property Organization with delegates trying to agree on common rules and procedures. The new treaty is expected to make life easier for the millions of industrial designs applicants worldwide.
A Closer Look Into A WIPO Regional Workshop: Making An Instant IP Whiz 10/12/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Manila, Philippines – Another destructive typhoon was battering southern Philippines last week, but this did not stop the majority of the delegates coming from the provinces near the affected areas from flying to the capital to attend what organisers touted as a trailblazing programme that has the potential to raise awareness of sophisticated intellectual property tools and policies at the grassroots level in developing countries.
Survey On IP: Policymakers Believe Junk Statistics; North-South Divide Dissolving 05/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Preliminary findings of a survey aimed at mapping the current prevailing ideas on intellectual property confirmed recognised trends that academics and intergovernmental IP professionals look more favourably on weaker IP protection, and traditional North-South differences toward IP rights are becoming less clear cut. It also found that policymakers tend to rely heavily on statistics from industry to help them with their decisions, whether reliable or not.
WIPO Members To Decide On GI Protection: Revised Agreement Or New Treaty? 30/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment For most people, champagne evokes a sophisticated bubbly white wine, associated with luxury and celebration. Champagne is also a region of France where this particular wine originates. The protection of geographical indications, such as champagne, but also Darjeeling tea or Idaho potatoes, is being discussed in several fora, and next week at the World Intellectual Property Organization.
WHO Members Agree On “Strategic Work Plan” On Health R&D – But No Convention 29/11/2012 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments After three days and two nights of tough negotiations to address the global gap in research and development for neglected diseases at the World Health Organization, member states agreed to endorse a strategic work plan that includes proposals on the coordination, financing, and monitoring of R&D expenditures separately, but not to advance the idea of an overarching framework. The recommendation for a global R&D convention proved divisive to the very end of the negotiations.