US Senate Judiciary Committee 2013 Agenda Includes Privacy, Press Freedom 17/01/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States Senate Judiciary Committee in 2013 will address topical issues of gun violence and immigration, but will also take up issues of citizens’ civil liberties in light of ever-increasing security measures, and a push for government transparency, freedom of the press, digital rights, access to books for the visually impaired, and incentives for innovation.
Free Drugs Are “Crucial Part” Of Neglected Tropical Disease Fight 16/01/2013 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Health Organization reports that unprecedented progress has been made in addressing 17 parasitic diseases affecting the world’s poorest populations. The public health authority attributes the gains, in large part, to the contributions of global partners, including drug contributions made by research-based pharmaceutical giants.
Business’ Privileged Access To EU-India Trade Documents 16/01/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Corporate Europe Observatory and the European Commission presented their arguments in a case over access to documents about the EU-India free trade agreement before the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg last Friday.
IP-Watch Looks At The Year Ahead In International IP Policy 09/01/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment What will 2013 bring for international intellectual property and innovation policy? In the coming Intellectual Property Watch series for subscribers, our expert writers take a look at the top global policy issues and events in copyright, public health, legal battles, food security/biotech/biodiversity, trade, development, internet governance and more.
US Supreme Court Poised To Rule Human Genes Are Not Patentable 21/12/2012 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments For decades, the United States has pioneered the patenting of human genes, and other countries have followed this lead. But the US will soon perform an abrupt about-face, most experts predict. When the US Supreme Court hands down its decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, the justices appear likely to rule that human genes are not patentable subject matter. And the ruling may go even farther, holding that other forms of human DNA are not patentable.
UN Official Stresses Importance Of Civil Society In Internet Future 21/12/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Frank La Rue, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, in a statement about last week’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), underlined the importance of civil society in discussions about the future of the internet.
European Human Rights Court: Internet Restriction Violates Freedom Of Expression 20/12/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled this week that “restriction of Internet access without a strict legal framework regulating the scope of the ban and affording the guarantee of judicial review to prevent possible abuses amounts to a violation of freedom of expression.”
WIPO Treaty For Blind Negotiation Set For Mid-June In Marrakesh 19/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment After successfully agreeing to convene a high-level meeting in June to adopt a treaty creating copyright exceptions in the favour of visually impaired people, World Intellectual Property Organization delegates yesterday worked on modalities of the upcoming diplomatic conference.
WIPO To Negotiate Treaty For The Blind In June; ‘Still Some Distance To Travel’ 18/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments In a swift 15 minute session this morning delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization extraordinary assembly agreed to convene a high-level meeting in Morocco in June to finalise a treaty on international exceptions to copyrights on books in special formats for visually impaired people.
WIPO Members En Route To Diplomatic Conference On Treaty For The Blind 17/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment After several hours in informal consultations, delegates attending the 42nd session of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly (and 22nd Extraordinary Session) came out of the room this evening with good news.