OECD Sees New Angle On Innovation For Growth, Social Challenges 16/07/2010 by Catherine Saez and William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Innovation is a key factor in economic growth but is not only about research as it is a system with many different interacting parts including R&D as one of those elements, a senior developed nations group representative said this week. Governments need to promote policies that integrate the cross-cutting nature of innovation and favour evidence based decision making, he said.
Monsanto Soybean Patent Cannot Stretch To Processed Soy Meal, European Court Says 07/07/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Yesterday, the European Court of Justice ruled in a case pitching Monsanto against European importers of Argentinean soy meal, denying the US seed giant intellectual property rights over the exports of soy meal from Argentina to the European Union.
US Economist: US Financial Patents Litigation-Prone; Low Quality Makes Them Easy Targets 01/07/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Filing of financial patents seems to be on a parallel upward trend with litigation in the United States, with large companies being prime targets, and individual or small entities owning the patents, according to a well-known US economist. This could be the consequence of low quality patents being granted, he said.
ACTA A Sign Of Weakness In Multilateral System, WIPO Head Says 30/06/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments The plurilateral Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and other such regional negotiations are a “bad development” for multilateral agencies, the World Intellectual Property Organization director general has told Intellectual Property Watch.
High Expectations This Week For Progress On Exceptions And Limitations At WIPO 22/06/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Limitations and exceptions are once again a major topic at the UN intellectual property organisation’s meeting on copyrights and related rights. Delegations this week are discussing several draft proposals to improve access, in particular for visually impaired people, each with their own set of recommendation. With a fourth and new proposal from the African countries on the table, delegates are meeting to try to find common ground, raising the expectations of civil society.
Comparative Analysis Shows US Patent Office Scores Poorly On Patent Quality 18/06/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Quality across patent systems has been understudied but a new methodology put forward by the former chief economist of the European Patent Office suggests that the EPO provides higher quality services than its United States and Japan counterparts. Efforts at collaborative work between patent offices are being made but mutual recognition might not be possible or desirable without some harmonisation in the way the different systems operate.
The Biosimilars Pathway: An Invitation To Litigation 11/06/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Lynn C. Tyler writes: The litigation provisions of the recently-enacted legislation establishing a pathway to bring biosimilars to market contain “patent” ambiguities in key areas, particularly whether the various lists of patents to be litigated are exclusive. Courts will have to resolve these issues over the next several years, likely at great (and unnecessary) expense and uncertainty to litigants.
Health Waiver, IP Enforcement Discussed At Lively WTO TRIPS Council Meeting 10/06/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments After two days of lively discussion, members of a World Trade Organization committee this week agreed to devote a day in October to an in-depth discussion on a waiver to WTO intellectual property rules aimed at boosting access to medicines for poor countries. In addition, some member countries presented concerns about the possible effect of a global enforcement push by developed countries and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) under negotiation outside WTO, while ACTA proponent countries sought to allay fears.
UNITAID-Backed Patent Pool Final; Drug Licence Talks Can Begin 08/06/2010 by William New and Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 9 Comments The final step in the establishment of a patent pool under international drug-purchasing mechanism UNITAID was taken today, the UN body announced.
New Rwanda IP Policy Taps Information For Development 08/06/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment “Information is the lifeblood of development,” says the government of Rwanda in a recently-adopted intellectual property policy, part of the country’s comprehensive development strategy. The new policy attempts to integrate Rwanda into the international IP system while simultaneously safeguarding the freedom it needs to drive its own innovation system.