Company Takes A Fair Shot At Facebook, LinkedIn, With Social Networking Patents 15/01/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments A Virginia-based company in the midst of a multi-million dollar merger is asserting patents on fundamental aspects of social networking it says have been infringed by Facebook, LinkedIn and three other companies. But even if the patents have validity, they come at a time of what may be a backlash against such lawsuits.
UNITAID Wins Rights To Internet Domain Names 11/01/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Unitaid, the drug purchasing facility affiliated with the UN World Health Organization, has won the rights to a series of internet domain names using its name, including unitaid.org. A World Intellectual Property Organization dispute panel found the names had been registered by a private party with the apparent intent of demanding a significant payment from the well-funded Unitaid.
Reform Of EU Data Protection – Largest EU Lobbying Campaign Ever? 10/01/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment “We live in an age changed and characterised by the use of information about individuals and personalised data and we need clear and differentiated rules how to handle this,” Green Member of the European Parliament Jan Philipp Albrecht, one of the lead rapporteurs for the data protection reform in Europe, said today. “General principles alone are not sufficient.”
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.
Collaborative Capacity Building In Intellectual Property — Leveraging On African Diaspora Exchange 02/01/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Depending on where one locates its advent, contemporary globalization is now more than half a century old. It might be asked whether globalization has been beneficial to Africa. One quick and easy way of addressing this often asked question is to cursorily look at the regional dynamics of over half century of globalization. And this leads to an urgent call for “homeland-Diaspora” intellectual property training, says Prof. Chidi Oguamanam.
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.
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.
WIPO Visually Impaired Treaty: Voices From Africa On Dire Situation 16/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization is on the verge of deciding on a high-level meeting paving the way for a new treaty to facilitate access to books to visually impaired people. Meanwhile, in Africa, far from plenary discussions, the situation on the ground reveals a dire need for change.
Great Expectations For WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly On Treaty For Blind 16/12/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments An Extraordinary General Assembly will take place tomorrow at the World Intellectual Property Organization to decide on convening a high-level meeting in 2013 to agree on a treaty on exceptions and limitations to copyright for visually impaired people, enabling them to have a better access to works in special formats.
WCIT Split After Split “Vote” On Internet Governance Resolution 13/12/2012 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Dubai, UAE – A mere resolution, not part of the future International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR), led to yet another escalation at the ongoing World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai last night.