Near-Final Draft Of Rio+20 Outcome Document Shows Likely Commitments 20/06/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A draft of the outcome document for this week’s Rio+20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said to be close to the final version, shows where governments have placed their focus. It appears that technology transfer is well-recognised, intellectual property rights to a lesser extent, but firm actions in these areas may still be to come.
Rio+20 Conference Opens With IP, Tech Transfer, Underlying Debate 18/06/2012 by Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments As world leaders along with thousands of government, private sector and nonprofit participants, get ready to meet in Rio de Janeiro this week, 20 years after this Brazilian city hosted the historic first Earth Summit, there are fears that there may be no meaningful consensus on how the world can become more liveable and sustainable at the same time. And technology transfer, research and development, intellectual property rights are part of the debate.
UNCTAD Report Sees Sustainable African Growth In IP Flexibilities 15/06/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United Nations agency on trade and development this week published its Economic Development in Africa 2012 report, which argued, among other things, that the region’s sustainable future depends on using flexibilities in intellectual property rights as appropriate.
Plant Patentability Questions Deepen In EPO Tomato Patent Case 13/06/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 30 Comments While the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office is reviewing the so-called “tomato case,” collateral questions are being raised about the consequences on plant innovation of the non-patentability of some processes.
US Licensing Experts: Innovation Is Still Happening, Let’s Help It Along 18/05/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BOSTON – Early stage innovation is still strong in the United States, but parties need to work better together and address bottlenecks in the middle stages, a panel of university and private sector experts said this week. Meanwhile, the president of global biotechnology company Genzyme said the industry is not in crisis and the company is hopeful about its recent merger with Sanofi.
Negotiators Aim For Progress On Traditional Knowledge Protection Treaty 14/04/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Country delegates will try to make progress on a treaty text to protect traditional knowledge from misappropriation at the World Intellectual Property Organization next week. The hope of many is to bring it far enough for the annual members’ meeting in October to schedule a high-level treaty negotiation next year.
EPO Response: No Tricks On Patents On Seeds And Plants 05/04/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment In response to a report published on 3 April by civil society group No Patent on Seeds alleging that industry and patent examiners in the European Patent Office are finding legal loopholes to grant patents on seeds and plants, an EPO spokesperson told Intellectual Property Watch the patent office does not “apply tricks” to grant patents.
After Mayo, Is Patent Law More Restrictive In US Than Europe? 05/04/2012 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United States is known for taking an unusually expansive approach towards patentable subject matter. Compared with Western Europe, for instance, the US has been far readier to grant patents on business methods, medical diagnostic processes, and human genes.
Book Details IP Rights And Development 02/04/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Using on-the-ground research in Africa and the Netherlands, the authors of a recent book looked at the impact of intellectual property on agriculture and health in developing countries. The study made some surprise findings in relation to IP and development, such as IP-related obstacles to knowledge and technology transfer.
French IP Lawyers Prefer No Favours For Green Tech Patents; Welcome America Invents Act 20/03/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment PARIS – A meeting of IP professionals held in Paris last week reaffirmed the importance of intellectual property and its protection to the private sector. Meanwhile, panellists at the event argued that green technologies should not benefit from a special regime. They also hailed the new America Invents Act as facilitating patent applications in the United States.