Tech Industry Blasts Obama Administration, Says Legitimate Anti-Counterfeiting Efforts Being ‘Hijacked’ 17/03/2011 by William New and Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Legitimate efforts in the United States to address counterfeiting problems have been “hijacked” to benefit rights holders who should protect their own interests and change their business models, the Computer & Communications Industry Association has said.
US IP Enforcement Ambitions In Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement Stir Reactions 16/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An alleged official document leaked last week showed that the United States is taking the lead in escalating intellectual property rights enforcement in negotiations for a regional trade agreement among countries bordering the Pacific Ocean. But there may be some concern about IP protection going beyond existing international trade obligations.
Would US Senate Patent Reform Bill Harmonise US Law With The World? 16/03/2011 by William New and Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The bill to reform United States patent law recently passed by the Senate purports to bring US law closer to laws of other major patent-filing nations. But how close would it come?
UN Agencies Encourage Use Of WTO Measures To Lower HIV Medicines Costs 15/03/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Three United Nations agencies have joined together to explain to their member countries the little-understood but hard-won flexibilities to applying stiff international intellectual property rules. The focus of the new policy brief is on improving access to HIV treatment, and it offers a series of actions for governments and international organisations.
Copyright System Must “Adapt Or Perish,” WIPO Director Says 15/03/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments The traditional copyright system’s balance for encouraging yet controlling access to copyrighted works in order to extract value for them has met with a destructive force in the internet that it cannot overcome without changing itself, the head of the World Intellectual Property Organization said recently in a landmark speech. And he proposed several elements for the way forward.
International Seed Treaty Hears Concerns Of Corporate Concentration, DNA Patenting 14/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is holding the fourth regular session of its Governing Body this week in Bali, Indonesia.
EU Takes Actions On Patent Law; ACTA May See Legal Fight 12/03/2011 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments In a flurry of patent-related developments in Europe this week, plans for a single European patent moved a step closer, efforts to create a European-wide patent court faltered, the United Kingdom sought guidance in a case with implications for medicinal research, and the EU high court may be asked to review the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
World Blind Union Won’t Be Sidetracked In Quest For Treaty On Reading Access 10/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments In a significant development for ongoing copyright negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Blind Union has distanced itself from initiatives it sees as distractions from a primary goal at the international level: To get agreement on a treaty promoting better access to reading material for visually impaired readers.
Medicines Patent Pool Aims To Increase Access To HIV Drugs In Developing Countries 10/03/2011 by Tavengwa Runyowa for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments The newly created Medicines Patent Pool promises to increase access to HIV/AIDS medications in developing markets. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the pool operates a scheme in which pharmaceutical patent holders voluntarily licence their drugs to generic manufacturers who then produce more affordable versions for patients in poorer countries
UN Rapporteur On Food Offers Long-Term Answer To Food Crisis: Agroecology 09/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The annual report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, to the sixteenth session of the UN Human Rights Council yesterday is unequivocal. There must be a global agricultural shift toward more productive, environmentally friendly, sustainable modes of production, using natural resources to remediate world hunger, away from industrialised agriculture. In short, the world needs a shift to agroecology.