Study Shows Drug Patents Can Be Extended For Decades 09/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The industry practice of extending patent protection on pharmaceuticals by obtaining additional patents on other features of the drug ingredients can lead to decades of delay in generic competition, a new study argues.
Could US Election Result Reverse Ever-Stronger Copyright Protection? 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments US voters returned President Obama for four more years, and kept his party’s dominance of the US Senate as well as the opposition party’s dominance of the House of Representatives. While the Obama administration has generally allied itself with copyright interests, some see the possibility of a reversal in the US Congress of a trend toward stronger copyright protection.
Film Industry Praises Obama’s “Understanding” Of IP’s Importance 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last night quickly congratulated US President Barack Obama on his re-election for four more years, praising his “understanding” of the importance of intellectual property to the US economy. Observers have seen the Obama administration as strongly supportive of the copyright industry, and said Obama received significant campaign financial support from Hollywood while possibly losing ground with the technology industry. And some even see the possibility of a reverse in the US Congress of a trend toward stronger copyright protection.
Top-Level Domain .Africa Becomes Object Of Bitter Fight 03/11/2012 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A dispute over the .africa regional geographic top-level internet domain (TLD) may have escalated. The Kenya-based DotConnectAfrica trust (with headquarters in Mauritius) in a press release this week applauded the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for granting a change request to their application. DotConnectAfrica by mistake had applied for .dotafrica instead of .africa in its application during the new gTLD process in April.
Pharma Outlook: Don’t Yield On IP, Work On Trust-Building, Call For Global Cooperation 01/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) held its 26th assembly this week and elected its new president. He presented the future orientation of the industry group, saying will work on trust-building and needs predictability in the regulatory process, policies that sustain and encourage innovation, and a strong intellectual property system, he said.
Horticultural Breeders Call For Stronger Protection Of Innovations 23/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The protection of intellectual property for plant innovation was at the heart of a recent conference on patents and modern plant breeders rights in horticultural breeding.
Greens Call For ‘Social Contract For Digital Age’; Lessig Calls US Hopeless On Copyright Reform 22/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BERLIN–The United States is hopeless when it comes to a copyright reform for the internet, US Law Professor Lawrence Lessig told the German Green Party’s congress on internet politics on Saturday. Europe, Lessig said, could take the lead with regard to that reform, which is needed but blocked in the US by vested interests.
Peace, Love, and Private Practice: Film Industry Lawyer Ted Shapiro To Depart MPA 22/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Ted Shapiro, a long-time copyright industry advocate in the European legal trenches for the Motion Picture Association, will leave at year’s end for a private law firm in Brussels.
Pro-Music Re-Launched After Nine Years 18/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Pro-Music, the international alliance of various stakeholders in the music industry promoting the use of legal services on the internet, has moved to give its website a facelift, nine years after it was launched back in 2003.
EU Rights Owners Blast ICT Industry For Trying To “Hijack” Copyright Levy System Talks 15/10/2012 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Copyright collective management and creators’ organisations Monday accused digital technology industry group DIGITALEUROPE of trying to hijack a mediation process aimed at straightening out the EU’s messy system of private copying and reprographic levies. In its 4 October paper setting out alternatives to device-based copyright levies, DIGITALEUROPE urged the European Commission to initiate comprehensive reform that includes replacing levies with some other forms of compensation to rights holders.