A Question Of Balance In IP Rights In South Africa 21/11/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA – There are human rights issues with intellectual property, Mmboneni Muofhe, deputy director-general for international cooperation and resources at the South African Department of Science and Technology, said at an industry-driven conference here this week.
India Weathering Doubts About Its Approach To Intellectual Property 18/11/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 11 Comments NEW YORK – The US Chamber of Commerce has been on a campaign to show that India’s recent treatment of intellectual property is harming foreign investment and its economy. Last week, the heavyweight Washington industry group brought its argument directly to the investment community in Manhattan.
Comments Received On South Africa’s Process For New IP Policy 18/11/2013 by Linda Daniels for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments CAPE TOWN – The much-anticipated process of public submissions into the draft South Africa National Intellectual Property Policy has come to a close. The country’s trade minister says the office is busy collating the 100 documents submitted by interested stakeholders and plans to submit a formal policy to cabinet for approval in the first quarter of next year.
South African Government Draws Many Views On Draft New National IP Policy 15/11/2013 by Linda Daniels for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment CAPE TOWN – The much-anticipated process of gathering public submissions on the draft South Africa National Intellectual Property Policy has come to a close. The country’s trade minister says the office is busy collating some 100 documents submitted by interested stakeholders, and plans to submit a formal policy to cabinet for approval in the first […]
“Licences For Europe” Stakeholder Dialogue Ends With Some Agreement, Some Criticism 13/11/2013 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Licences for Europe, a European Commission-launched stakeholder dialogue intended to make more copyright-protected content available online, ended today with some concrete proposals but also some criticism. The exercise – which focussed on cross-border access and portability of services, user-generated content and micro-licensing, audiovisual cultural heritage, and text and data mining – brought applause from book publishers and commercial broadcasters, but complaints from civil society groups and internet companies.
US Civil Society Demand To Know If They Were Spied On: ‘Core American Principles’ At Stake 12/11/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Nearly 40 US civil society groups – including some household names in consumer protection – today sent a letter to the heads of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) demanding to know if their activities related to US trade policy have been spied on. The groups said core American principles are at stake and that they have a right to the assurance that their operations are not under surveillance by US government agencies.
FSFE On Rockstar vs. Google: “Software Patents As A License For Privateering” 07/11/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) today issued a warning about the rise of Rockstar, a consortium of large companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Sony, formed to assert former Nortel patents. The consortium recently sued Google and other companies for infringement of several of those patents.
US Chamber Event To Rally Support For Trade Deals, Patent Litigation Bill 07/11/2013 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A US Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) event tomorrow will include efforts to bring industry forces closer together to get congressional support for the nearly completed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and for proposed legislation on patent litigation.
Expert: US ‘Benign Dictatorship’ Of The Net Is Over; Age Of Encryption Begins 07/11/2013 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Cypto-guru Bruce Schneier, who has analysed thousands of documents provided by Edward Snowden on the secret surveillance programmes of the US National Security Agency, has called on the technical community to add encryption to the network and also come up with a new model for internet governance.
Industry Groups Urge Congress To Boost Arsenal Against Patent Trolls 02/11/2013 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A growing list of US industries has sent a letter to the leaders of the US House of Representatives and Senate judiciary committees urging them to combat patent assertion entities (PAEs), also known as patent trolls.