EU Telecom Package Agreed With Safeguards But Three-Strikes Still Possible 10/11/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A compromise was found last week between the European Parliament and European Council on “internet access safeguards” in the last remaining open issue in the European Union telecommunications package, according to the Parliament. But public interest concerns remain that restrictive punishment measures might still be possible.
US Groups Duel Over Access To ACTA Negotiation 09/11/2009 by Robinson Esalimba for Intellectual Property Watch and William New 7 Comments During the most recent negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Seoul, Korea on 4-6 November, about which no information is available, US industry and public interest groups issued statements taking widely divergent positions on progress of the talks.
Panel Calls For Disclosure Of Industry Methodology Assessing Losses To Piracy 09/11/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Intellectual property rights enforcement has risen on the global trade and IP agenda, but greater transparency in the evaluation of piracy and counterfeiting and assessments of broader social implications may be needed, according to speakers at a side event last week.
IP Enforcement Work At WIPO Gets Boost From Developing Nations 06/11/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch and William New 2 Comments Developing countries this week increased their proactive involvement in the enforcement agenda at the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to participants at the 2-4 November Advisory Committee on Enforcement meeting.
ACTA Internet Chapter Leak Signals Far-Reaching Copyright Policy 05/11/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments As governments negotiating the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) meet in Seoul this week, public interest concern has surfaced over leaked information on internet enforcement.
ICANN Gives Green Light To .中国, .рф, .إمارات , But No Timeline For New Top-Level Domains 01/11/2009 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments The board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) this week opened up the root zone for non-Latin country-code top level domains (internationalised or IDN ccTLDs). Starting 16 November, ICANN will accept applications for ccTLDs in Chinese, Cyrillic, Japanese, Korean or Arabic characters. In addition to the Chinese ccTLD .cn there will be .中国, in addition to the Russian .ru there will be .рф, and in addition to the United Arab Emirates’ .ae, .إمارات will be possible. ICANN leadership qualified the step as historic, but also said it was only a first step.
Medicines Access Again Captures Attention At WTO As Progress Urged In Round 30/10/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Access to medicine and preservation of biodiversity topped the agenda at the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Council meeting this week, as a new alleged drug seizure in France, a concern over a largely-unused amendment to TRIPS intended to help developing countries gain access to medicine, and a renewed mandate on biodiversity at the World Intellectual Property Organization influenced the issues on the table.
Changing Winds For Gene Patenting In the US? Stakeholders React To Draft Report 29/10/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A United States health department advisory group this month produced a new draft report on gene patenting and licensing with recommendations suggesting that excessive patenting can limit patients’ access to gene testing and might not foster genetic research. The recommendations were supported by a variety of health professionals but put the biotechnology industry on edge.
French HADOPI Law, Now Complete, Can Brandish Its Weapons 23/10/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments The French Constitutional Council yesterday gave its ruling about the constitutionality of a French bill aiming to protect literary and artistic intellectual property rights online, and decided that the bill was in conformity with the French Constitution, asking only for a minor amendment, according to the Council ruling available here (in French). The legislation, nicknamed […]
European Union Prepares A New Intellectual Property Rights Strategy 15/10/2009 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments Intellectual property rights and their protection will be high on the agenda of the European institutions in the upcoming legislature, representatives from the European Commission, European Council and the European Parliament said at the first European Innovation Summit in Brussels yesterday. Stronger IP rights (IPR) protection was declared by representatives of all three institutions as indispensable to promote innovation and the knowledge society, while only a few voices were raised asking not to overreach in IPR regulation.