The Role Of Social Media In M&A Transactions 13/02/2015 by Caitlin McGivern for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Despite the ever-increasing use of social media by businesses, social media assets are often overlooked in merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions. When addressing a company’s assets in a purchase agreement, social media assets tend to be explicitly addressed only very briefly, or not at all. It is important to address such assets explicitly, as they do not always constitute intellectual property rights covered by IP representations and warranties.
European Parliament Votes For Renewal Of Mandate For Internet Governance Forum 11/02/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The European Parliament today adopted a resolution calling on the UN General Assembly to renew the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), while strengthening its resources and the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.
Political Windows Open And Close, Says ICANN President; Seeks End Of Prep For IANA Transition 10/02/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment At the opening of this week’s 52nd meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Singapore, the ICANN leadership supported by former President Bill Clinton aide Ira Magaziner, pushed for urgency in finalising the proposal for the future oversight of the private names and numbers regime.
Copyright Policy And The Right To Science And Culture 09/02/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Reposted from Afro-IP and infojustice.org: A report entitled ‘Copyright policy and the right to science and culture’ authored by the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, has been released, writes Prof. Carolyn Ncube.
Geneva Forecast On Internet Governance: 2015 Expected To Be A Decisive Year 30/01/2015 by James Cote for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A Geneva expert has offered his view on the top internet governance issues likely to come up in 2015. These include: cybersecurity, privacy, internet neutrality, and the proposed transition of control over a key underlying aspect of the internet.
The Challenge Of Complying (Or Not) With Communication Laws Online 28/01/2015 by James Cote for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Is it possible to fully comply with all the laws surrounding online communication? Michel Jaccard, founder of id est avocats says, “The answer is, ‘no.’” Speaking last week at the Club Suisse de la Presse, Jaccard made the case that when it comes to the online world, we should look beyond legal compliance and start thinking more strategically.
The Year Ahead In Internet Governance: Of Competing Institutions, IANA Transition, And A New Crypto War 25/01/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment For many years Electronic Frontier Foundation Policy Analyst Jeremy Malcolm has been predicting the next year would be the pivotal year for the UN-led Internet Governance Forum (IGF). With the NetMundial Initiative being constructed these coming months and governments having not yet agreed to prolong the IGF mandate, the decade-old forum might be challenged to either move or become just one of many internet governance conference venues. And while some hope the future oversight over the internet’s underlying IANA function could become an experiment in shared global governance, others point out that more and more of the interesting questions of internet politics are decided elsewhere: national governments, trade negotiators, big data giants and cyberdominance strategists.
The Copyright Manifesto: How The EU Should Support Innovation And Creativity Through Copyright Reform 22/01/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Teresa Hackett writes: “Copyright divide in numbers”, the graph on the first page of the newly launched ‘The Copyright Manifesto. How the European Union should Support Innovation and Creativity through Copyright Reform’ tells a story. In an illustration of the results of the European Union’s (EU) 2014 consultation on copyright, publishers, authors and collective management organizations express strong support for the current system, while end users and institutional users (such as libraries) are strongly in favour of copyright reform. So if copyright is supposed to benefit everyone, the copyright system sure isn’t working for everyone.
Uganda: International Standard Book Number Helps Authors, Readers Identify Publications 21/01/2015 by Hillary Muheebwa for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The publishing industry in Uganda is a fast-rising sector, gauging by the many emerging publishing houses and self-publishers. With many titles on display, one of the ways authors and readers identify published works is the use of International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
Year Ahead: Copyright Reform, EPO Governance, Trade Secrets Among Top European IP Issues In 2015 19/01/2015 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Review, and possibly reform, of the European Union copyright system tops the list of “hot” European intellectual property issues this year. The new European Commission has made modernising copyright rules a major priority, while fresh debate has broken out over the need for levies on digital copying devices to remunerate rights holders. Meanwhile ongoing unrest between European Patent Office (EPO) staff and management looks likely to continue, as do efforts to finalise the unitary European patent and Unified Patent Court. EU legislation to protect trade secrets could be adopted and trademark law updated. In addition, several important IP-related decisions are expected from the European Court of Justice (ECJ).