Protection Of Local GI Products Can Benefit Women, Speakers Say 04/06/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Geographical indications, a European invention, have attracted interest in a number of developing countries. According to several speakers at a recent industry conference on the subject, GIs can provide economic sustainability for rural families. In Africa, two cases were provided to illustrate the role of the valorisation of a particular resource and the ancestral know-how of women, promoting their social and financial autonomy.
EU Anti-Terror Data Retention Directive Meeting Resistance In EU Courts 01/06/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Court of Justice in a decision dated 30 May ordered Sweden to pay a lump sum of €3 million euros for its delay in transposing the controversial 2006 EU data retention directive into national law in time.
Latest EU Mandate For EU-US FTA Shows Priorities 31/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Audiovisual content should be out of scope for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), but protection of European geographical indications is covered and intellectual property issues in general “explored,” European Union governments wrote in their draft negotiation mandate for the Commission, dated 21 May.
Country Names An Easier Road Than Technical Assistance For WIPO Trademark Committee 30/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The protection of country names was discussed today by World Intellectual Property Organization members with a more amiable approach than on how to include technical assistance in a draft treaty text on industrial designs. The question of the convening of a high-level meeting to adopt the potential treaty was also discussed with dissension between developing and developed countries.
Food Culture Clash: EU, US Conflicting Concepts For GIs; Both Covet Asian Market 29/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Geographical indications were born in Europe and still remain a widely used means to protect products from a particular region, with particular characteristics. The European Union has been a strong advocate of GIs in international negotiations, while their efforts have been countered by countries such as the United States which favour a trademark system. Now both sides are trying to impose their views through bilateral trade agreements, including with each other, according to speakers at a recent conference. And now a US trade association for generic names is raising concerns in Europe.
Despite Economic Growth, Africa Struggles To Meet All MDGs 28/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Despite increased economic growth over the past decade, Africa will not reach some of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets set forth in 2000 by the United Nations, including halving poverty by 2015, according to a UN report released yesterday.
GIs The “Darling” of Europe, But Protection A Challenge For All, Producers Say 28/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Bordeaux – The challenges for geographical indications in the 21st century were explored at a recent conference co-organised by two organisations promoting this type of intellectual property protection. Among issues presented were the protection of geographical indications, and the value of geographical indications at the European level.
World Health Assembly: Committee Breaks Deadlock On Poor Quality Meds Mechanism 26/05/2013 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Breaking six months of deadlock, WHA members reached a compromise in committee on the issue of which country should preside over the global mechanism on poor quality medicines by supporting Brazil’s proposal to rotate the steering committee chairmanship. The Assembly will likely approve the decision.
World Health Assembly: Members Debate US Proposed Advisory Meeting On Health R&D 24/05/2013 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Taking the World Health Assembly by surprise, the US delegation today made a proposal to advance progress on the monitoring, coordination, and financing of health R&D in committee discussions today. Their suggestion to convene an advisory meeting is being discussed in an informal drafting group in a side room. The committee has adjourned until Monday, but the drafting group will continue over the weekend.
At WTO, LDC Fight For Extension Of TRIPS Transition Continues 24/05/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Over the past week or so, least-developed country (LDC) members of the World Trade Organization have held their own in a closed room with the world’s biggest economies as they worked out details of a request by the LDCs to extend the deadline by which they must enforce WTO intellectual property rules.