WIPO Members Inch Toward Visually Impaired Treaty 19/10/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments After three days of mostly informal discussions and a set of succeeding draft texts of what could become a treaty for visually impaired persons, World Intellectual Property Organization members tonight closed discussions with yet another version of the text showing agreement in some areas and work still to be done.
US Court Rules On Fair Use For Blind Users, Digitisation, Amid Treaty Talks 19/10/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Coinciding with the marathon negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization for a potential treaty for the visually-impaired persons, a United States court handed down a ruling this month that goes in favour of copyright exceptions in the digitisation of books for the purposes of preservation, text search and access for the blind.
Subscriber Update: New Document On Visually Impaired Treaty At WIPO 19/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new working document on an international instrument on copyright limitations and exceptions for visually impaired persons being negotiated at the World Intellectual Property Organization has been issued this morning. The document is below.
New USPTO Post-Grant Review A Small Step For Patent Harmonisation 18/10/2012 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On 16 September, the United States made its patent system more like everyone else’s. The country began implementing a new patent office procedure for challenging the validity of recently issued patents. This was, however, only a modest step towards harmonisation because the US version of post-grant patent review has little in common with the corresponding processes available in other countries, according to experts.
Open-Access Journal eLife Publishes First Articles 16/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new open-access journal for science, eLife, has released its first collection of research articles.
Standards-Setting Organisations Increasingly Make IPR A Priority 16/10/2012 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Washington, DC – Standards guide many aspects of our lives. They instruct how telephones talk to each other, how the life sciences community shares information, how electrical devices are charged, and how the internet runs, among other things. It’s standard-setting organisations (SSOs) that facilitate discussions among stakeholders – including intellectual property owners and users – and produce common, typically voluntary technical standards to address needs and concerns of those using the technology. Companies need to make compatible or interoperable products that comply with these standards in order to compete in the global marketplace. And intellectual property is increasingly coming into play in the development of these standards.
Civil Society Network Issues Proposals On Climate Change And IPRs 15/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An international network of civil society groups has issued a set of proposals for governments to encourage innovation and access to key technologies against climate change while taking intellectual property rights into account.
Panellists: Global Health Justice Needs Government Commitment, New Innovation Models 15/10/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Global health needs innovation but also to ensure equitable access for the world population, panellists at a roundtable said last week. At issue is the capacity of the pharmaceutical industry to innovate, and the potential barriers to access in a context of widespread diseases that blur the boundaries between developed and developing countries. Most panellists concluded that governments should hold primary responsibility for the health of their populations.
No Deal For Now On WIPO Design Treaty, Patent Law Work Plan 08/10/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization this week could not agree on a work plan for the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP), leading to a likely postponement of the next committee meeting. In addition, the annual WIPO General Assemblies failed to agree to hold a diplomatic conference on a Design Law Treaty, but did agree on an expedited way forward. And the Assemblies took note of the work of the committees on standards and enforcement.
At WHO, Pharma Suggests Payment Plan For Influenza Virus Use 08/10/2012 by Rachel Marusak Hermann, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Health Organization advisory group on pandemic influenza preparedness met with pharmaceutical industry representatives, civil society members, and other stakeholders last week to move toward a recommendation on a partnership contribution formula to determine payment modalities for influenza virus sharing.