Indigenous Groups Allege Canadian Obstructionism To Biodiversity ABS Protocol 21/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NAGOYA, JAPAN – With the clock ticking and less than a day to go before a draft of a legally binding instrument to prevent biopiracy is due to be presented to the assembly of a major United Nations meeting on biodiversity, delegations kept trying to find acceptable language, with different echoes coming from the negotiating room. Meanwhile, Canadian indigenous people convened a press briefing today (21 October) to charge that Canada was trying to block the negotiations and deny their human rights.
Stakeholders Restless About Biodiversity Benefit Sharing Protocol 21/10/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NAGOYA, JAPAN – Negotiations on a legal international instrument to prevent biopiracy and ensure that resource holders are compensated on Thursday continued to demand the attention of delegates in the closed-door discussions here. Meanwhile, civil society argued that the Convention on Biological Diversity is at a critical point while a research institute provided a model agreement for providers and users of genetic resources.
WTO Paragraph 6 Meeting Aims At Improved Use Of Health Waiver 16/10/2010 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The agenda has been circulated for the upcoming annual World Trade Organization review of an amendment to international IP trade law that has so far failed to increase access to needed medicines for the poorest economies. It shows a deeper look at existing measures and opens the possibility of new solutions to the issue.
Sign Up For Email Alerts Of IP-Watch Briefs! 13/10/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Now available for Intellectual Property Watch readers: Email alerts for the IP-Watch Burble microblog, our breaking news briefs. A free service available to all, just sign up for email alerts here if you don’t already receive them. If you already receive IP-Watch email alerts, just scroll to the bottom of any email you receive (like this one) and click the link under “If you would like to modify the settings of your subscription,” which takes you to your individualised settings. Then add Burble to your categories. And of course you can also follow us on Twitter or by RSS feed, see www.ip-watch.org. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@ip-watch.ch.
A Rights-Poor Protocol For Biodiversity Access & Benefit-Sharing 08/10/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A leading indigenous negotiator for a UN protocol on biodiversity access and benefit sharing says the process will likely yield a highly diluted, rights-poor protocol and that Indigenous Peoples’ negotiating leverage is slipping.
Internet Access And Human Rights Highlighted Alongside UN Human Rights Council 28/09/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Can the digital environment be used in a way that promotes real human rights? A group of activists speaking yesterday alongside the ongoing UN Human Rights Council believes that it can, and provided several examples of work they are doing to make that happen.
Special Report: Global Internet Governance Work At A Turning Point 22/09/2010 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Five years after the tale began in Athens, the United Nations Internet Governance Forum returned to Europe last week to ask itself what has been achieved. The answer was encouraging enough to prompt a range of internet stakeholders to suggest continuation of the group, this time with a greater focus on concrete outcomes.
Campaign Aims To Take Back Consumer Rights Over IP-Protected Products 14/09/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Copyright and patent laws “are often misused” for reasons that have “more to do with limiting competition and preventing consumers from making innovative uses of their products” than they do with stopping piracy, global consumer advocacy group Consumers International plans to tell a UN internet meeting today. Such misuse includes limitations on the use of third-party content on devices such as the iPhone, and regional codes that prevent consumers from playing DVDs bought legally abroad in a consumer’s home country.
African Traditional Knowledge And Folklore Given IP Protection Despite Warning Of TK Commodification 12/09/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Some African nations signed a protocol on the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore at the beginning of August gaining the praise of the World Intellectual Property Organization. However, a United Nations report launched in January warned against the application of western legal and economic principles to collectively owned knowledge in traditional communities.
Experts, Policymakers Debate Solutions For Counterfeit Products 30/07/2010 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A group of policymakers and other experts met this month in Geneva to discuss counterfeit and unsafe products and wrestled with possible balanced solutions to the problem. The event was hosted by the United States mission and supported by the US Chamber of Commerce. It included US Ambassador to the UN Betty E. King, among dozens of others.