Libraries Can Digitise Books Without Consent, European Advocate General Says 05/06/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Libraries can digitise individual books in their collections without the consent of rights holders, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, Niilo Jääskinen, has written in his application in a case (C-117/13) pending at the Luxembourg Court.
Patentees Suffer Double Loss At US Supreme Court 02/06/2014 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States Supreme Court issued two important patent law decisions recently. Both unanimous rulings provided bad news to patentees, particularly patent trolls.
First Report Of The US Industry Copyright Alert System 30/05/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The groundbreaking Copyright Alert System set up a year ago by internet service providers and copyright holders to stop unauthorised music and film downloads, saw 1.3 million alerts sent out in it its first 10 months, according to a new report. And it expects to double in size this year.
UK IP Advisor Points To Online Search Engines To Do More Against Piracy 29/05/2014 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Search engines don’t cause internet piracy but they could do more to stamp it out, the UK Prime Minister’s intellectual property advisor says in a new paper.
Harmonising Protection Of Black And White Trademarks In The EU 28/05/2014 by Angela Garcia Medina for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The intellectual property offices of the European Union, in their commitment to harmonise practices, recently published a Common Communication establishing a common practice on the scope of protection given to black and white trademarks in the EU.
EU Council Agrees Approach For New Legal Framework On Trade Secrets 27/05/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Council today agreed on an approach for establishing a new legal framework for protecting trade secrets.
WIPO Committee On Development Has To Settle Again For Meagre Results 26/05/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on development closed last week with little to show after a week of unyielding opposing positions on every sensitive issue by several countries. Frustration was palpable as those issues were sent to the next session for further discussions, with the risk of renewed disagreement.
WHO Takes Step Toward Policy Of Engagement With Lobbyists, Foundations 25/05/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Health Organization today (24 May) adopted a one-year plan to come up with a policy on engagement with “non-state actors” – industry, nongovernmental groups, foundations and academics.
Crisis At WIPO Over Development Agenda; Overall Objectives In Question 24/05/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property finished a weeklong meeting yesterday having not achieved the week’s goals and with harsh words from delegates calling into question the very functioning of the organisation. At the heart of the dissent is WIPO Development Agenda and its implementation in the United Nations agency.
WHA: Experts Discuss Innovation, Access For Middle Income Countries 23/05/2014 by Joséphine De Ruyck for Intellectual Property Watch and Julia Fraser for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Country officials, academics and leading global health advocates this week raised one of the key concerns of this year’s World Health Assembly: innovation and access to medicines in middle-income countries. Government procurement strategies, voluntary and compulsory licensing, de-linkage models and UNITAID mechanisms were among some of the solutions put forward.