WIPO Seminar: IP Is Spearhead Of Agricultural Innovation, Solution To Food Shortage 28/06/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization recently stepped into the agriculture field with its first seminar on the use of intellectual property to increase productivity. In the seminar, proponents of IP rights defended the value of protection and the necessity of relying on technology to answer the needs of an inflated world population.
Twelve More Nations, EU, Sign Nagoya Protocol 24/06/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Twelve more countries and the European Union have signed the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing of genetic resources.
Plain Packaging For Tobacco Raises IPR Questions At WTO 16/06/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments At the last session of the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council, the Dominican Republic challenged an Australian draft law requiring plain packaging for tobacco products as being incompatible with its WTO obligations, eclipsing other agenda items. The TRIPS Council also addressed other regular agenda items such as related to biodiversity and public health, according to sources.
Merck Donates Natural Products Library For Research 08/06/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck will donate its entire library of natural products to the Institute for Hepatitis and Virus Research along with a grant, the institute announced this week. The library, one of the world’s largest, will be open for researchers around the world.
New Fund To Help Ratify And Implement Nagoya Protocol 06/06/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new fund has been established to help developing countries ratify and implement the Nagoya protocol on access and benefit sharing, the UN Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) said last week.
Indigenous Peoples Won’t Be “Wished Away” In Traditional Knowledge Treaty Talks 14/05/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Colonial history says that indigenous peoples were in the past sometimes asked to sign treaties that may not have been in their best interest or that were not honoured. Now, under the aegis of the United Nations, some indigenous peoples fear it may be happening again, only this time they are fighting to be at the table as the subject is their traditional practices, and the outcome would apply on a global scale.
WIPO Members Tee Up Negotiation On Traditional Knowledge, Cultural Expressions 13/05/2011 by Catherine Saez and William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments World Intellectual Property Organization members this week set the stage for text-based negotiations for an international instrument on the protection of traditional knowledge, folklore and genetic resources.
New Texts In Play In WIPO Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources Talks 12/05/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Negotiators trying this week to advance talks for UN World Intellectual Property Organization treaties on traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and folklore have made progress on draft texts, but are facing sharp criticism from indigenous groups and some governments claiming their concerns are being ignored.
Nagoya Protocol: Key Signatories Take It Closer To Goal 12/05/2011 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The protection of genetic resources from misappropriation, institutionalised in October 2010 by the Nagoya Protocol, is getting nearer to realisation as eight new countries ratified the protocol yesterday.
WIPO Negotiators Work From New Text On Traditional Knowledge 11/05/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment World Intellectual Property Organization delegates negotiating this week for a possible agreement on protection of traditional knowledge have advanced the text from which they are working, according to a copy obtained by Intellectual Property Watch. Meanwhile, the brand-name pharmaceutical industry sought to explain an alleged biopiracy case at a side event at WIPO today.