European Commission Says It Deepens Commitment To Net Neutrality 19/04/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment With new European Union rules on telecommunications set to take effect next month, the European Commission today adopted a report which it said further commits it to principles of openness and neutrality on the internet.
Lessig At CERN: Scientific Knowledge Should Not Be Reserved For Academic Elite 19/04/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Free culture leader and Harvard University law professor Larry Lessig was at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) yesterday to talk about access to scientific knowledge on internet. In the symbolic place where the World Wide Web was invented and where scientists are now trying to unravel the creation of the universe, Lessig praised CERN’s open access initiative and in this temple of reasoning, said the copyright architecture was on the edge of absurdity.
Countering The US Internet Domain Clampdown 15/04/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A new technology purports to help users of websites taken down by the United States government to easily find the sites again when they resurface elsewhere.
WIPO Hails 2 Millionth International Patent Application 15/04/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment In its slick new office building in Geneva, the World Intellectual Property Organization this week celebrated the 2 millionth patent filing under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which it manages. In the foyer with white clad windows, a crowd was assembled to hear the praise of the international patent filing system.
Europe Creates Orphan Works Registry, Copyright ID System; Digitises EU Content 12/04/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A European Commission-backed project to identify copyright holders and define orphan works – whose copyright owners cannot be found – recently presented its results and is heading to a second phase with more partners. The project advances the European effort at digitalising content through the Europeana project, a competing project to the Google Books project.
WIPO Slowly Advances Industrial Design Treaty, Eyes ISP Liability For Trademarks 04/04/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Governments meeting last week to discuss a possible new treaty on industrial design harmonisation snagged slightly at the end over how to chart a course to a treaty negotiation, but otherwise reported a smooth week of talks. Officials also agreed to plan a meeting on internet service provider liability.
WIPO Says Cybersquatting Filings Sharply Up, Watches ICANN’s Domain Name Expansion 31/03/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Filing complaints about cybersquatting, which the World Intellectual Property Organization defines as the “abusive registration of trademarks as domain names,” is on an upward trend, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said today. Meanwhile, WIPO also launched a review of its dispute panellists.
WIPO Discusses Industrial Design Treaty, Trademark Protection On Internet 30/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment World Intellectual Property Organization members congregated this week to advance work on a potential treaty on industrial designs, and to look into trademark protection against infringement on the internet, including through social media. But they ended early after nominal progress in these promising new areas for the United Nations agency.
ICANN Suggests Moving Internet From US Control 27/03/2011 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments Comments on the future of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) – which makes the underlying changes to the internet – are slowly trickling in at the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), with five days to go to the end of a consultation period. In its comments, the body managing the IANA functions for the United States suggests moving control of those functions out of longstanding, singular US control.
Google, Authors, Will Need To Rethink Digital Book Settlement 23/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Google’s efforts to resolve questions of copyright infringement in its digital library project did not yield the hoped-for result as a district court judge yesterday rejected the agreement. But the judge left open the possibility that the parties could come back again with revisions.