How Listing Ukraine As A Priority Foreign Country In Special 301 Violates WTO Agreements 13/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Prof. Sean Flynn asks whether US sanctions of Ukraine under the US Special 301 program violates World Trade Organization rules. He also asks whether the operation of watch lists threatening sanctions for intellectual property matters could be challenged under the WTO even prior to any sanction going into effect.
South Africa To Launch National Traditional Knowledge Recording System 10/05/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments While diplomats are trying to find consensus on an international instrument to protect traditional knowledge at the World Intellectual Property Organization, some countries are establishing systems to protect their traditional knowledge domestically. South Africa will be launching on 24 May its National Recordal System to catalogue its indigenous knowledge.
A Battle For Open Public Data In South Africa 08/05/2013 by Linda Daniels for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Cape Town, South Africa – Amid growing calls for the controversial Protection of State Information bill to be referred to the Constitutional Court of South Africa, open data activists are fighting a separate but related battle for government to release its data to the public.
Viewing Cached Copyrighted Content Isn’t Infringing, UK Supreme Court Says 07/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Internet users who merely read or view copyright-protected webpages enjoy a temporary copying exception under European Union and United Kingdom law and do not need permission from rights holders, the UK Supreme Court said in a 17 April ruling.
Cuba Files WTO Dispute Against Australia Over Tobacco Plain-Packaging 06/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Cuba has joined several other World Trade Organization members in filing a dispute settlement case against Australia over its new rules requiring tobacco products to be sold in plain packages. The measure was instituted this year as a means of reducing use of tobacco products.
Petition Fights Proposal For Digital Rights Management In Internet Core 03/05/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Just days after the celebration of 20 years of an open WorldWideWeb, more than two dozen advocacy group are circulating a petition to prevent the World Wide Web Consortium from accepting a proposal to allow restrictive new copyright measures on the key technology for accessing the internet.
Experts Offer Perspectives On R&D Policies In The Public Health Domain 01/05/2013 by Tiphaine Nunzia Caulier for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A panel of experts gathered at the Graduate Institute in Geneva last week discussed how to secure collective action to provide global public goods through research and development (R&D) for the particular public health needs of low and middle income countries.
European Parliament Trade Committee Backs Cultural Exclusion From EU-US FTA 26/04/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The International Trade Committee (INTA) of the European Parliament yesterday passed a resolution welcoming negotiations for a Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union and the United States (23 in favor, five against, one abstention). While most of the 198 amendments to the report of the rapporteur, the INTA Committee Chair Vital Moreira (Socialists and Democrats Group) were rejected by the majority, an amendment asking for the “exclusion of the cultural and audiovisual services, including those provided online” in the negotiation mandate was adopted.
In “Great Shame,” WIPO Fund For Indigenous Peoples’ Participation Running Dry 26/04/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The participation of indigenous peoples at the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization has become compromised as the funds allowing the organisation to invite indigenous peoples representatives is running dry. At the outset of this week’s WIPO committee seeking to produce an international instrument providing protection to traditional knowledge, an indigenous panel mapped out international agreements recognising their specific rights.
WIPO Committee Issues Revised Text On Traditional Knowledge Protection 24/04/2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment After an intense day of drafting led by member country experts in small groups in closed rooms, the World Intellectual Property Organization secretariat released a new set of draft articles of what could become an international instrument aimed at protecting traditional knowledge.