French Fashion Industry Eyes Ways To Better Use IP Rights For Protection 15/12/2014 by Magda Voltolini for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment PARIS – Fashion industry representatives and others in France are mulling ways to use the intellectual property system more effectively to protect innovations in fashion, with the support of the French government.
WIPO Members Conclude Year Positively With Copyright Committee, Despite No Changes To Text 14/12/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization’s last committee meeting of the year finished on an amiable note last week. The committee on copyright did not advance on text drafting but, according to the chair and a number of delegations, the weeklong meeting was an opportunity for extensive discussions on substance, the best in a long time.
Copyright Exceptions For Libraries: WIPO Should Step Up Before Someone Else Does, Researcher Says 12/12/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 8 Comments The author of a World Intellectual Property Organization-commissioned study said this week that WIPO should take the lead on the issue of limitations and exceptions to copyright for libraries, before the debate and the solution are left to other actors.
Report Explains Rapid Rise In Chinese Patents; Compares Innovation Quotient 11/12/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 10 Comments China has been filing patents at far greater rates than any other nation on earth in recent years. This week, a Thomson Reuters report broke down that growth and compared it with other leading nations on the basis of innovation.
EPO Supervisory Body To Face Fears Over Patent Quality, Judicial Independence 10/12/2014 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments As staff strikes continue and the European Patent Office’s Administrative Council prepares for what could be a contentious 11 December meeting, opinions are split over the effect of the turmoil on the office’s role in Europe’s unitary patent.
Will India, US Bridge Divide Over Intellectual Property Rights? 10/12/2014 by Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments There is an uptick in India-United States relations. US President Barack Obama will be in India in January as the chief guest at the country’s Republic Day Parade. Obama, who hosted India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington in September, will become the first US president to attend such a celebration, a display of India’s military might and ethnic diversity, as well as the first to visit India twice while in office.
Limitations And Exceptions For Libraries, Archives And Education At WIPO: What To Know About The Africa Group Proposal 10/12/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The 29th Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights at the World Intellectual Property Organization is currently underway. On the agenda, inter alia, will be discussions on Limitations and Exceptions to Libraries, Archives and Educational, Teaching and Research Institutions. Against the backdrop of the success with the Marrakesh Treaty, the trajectory looks set for these further exceptions and limitations to succeed.
At WIPO This Week: Broadcasting Treaty, Copyright Exceptions And Limitations 08/12/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment After two difficult meetings, the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee is meeting this week with the hope of getting closer to a treaty protecting broadcasting organisations, although questions remain on scope and level of protection. The committee is also expected to find ways to work on exceptions and limitations to copyrights for libraries, archives, education and research, as developed countries oppose normative work, and developing countries want international instruments.
One Bite At The Apple: PTAB Closes IPR Joinder Loophole 08/12/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments As a result of the America Invents Act enacted three years ago, the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) now handles inter partes reviews (IPR)—a new trial proceeding used to challenge the validity of patent claims based on patents and printed publications. Recently, the PTAB has caused a split concerning the proper scope of the IPR joinder provision, which grants the PTAB discretion to join a “party” to a previously-instituted IPR. In the past, the PTAB interpreted the term “party” expansively to include petitioners for whom it had already instituted an IPR. Petitioners were quick to jump on this loophole, and have since sought to raise new arguments in an instituted IPR by filing a subsequent petition and seeking joinder with the in-progress proceeding.
WIPO Seminar: For Access To Hepatitis C Treatments, Look At HIV Lessons 08/12/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A seminar on innovation and access to medicine last week examined the issue of access to hepatitis C treatment, looking at the HIV/AIDS path. Voluntary licences, such as the one entered by Gilead for its hepatitis drugs, have been applauded but such licences often do not cover middle-income countries, which are home to the bulk of hepatitis C patients, and whose poor populations remain unable to access treatment.