A Brief Look At Botswana’s New IP Law 20/09/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Botswana’s new industrial property act, which came into force earlier this month, has been applauded by IP commentators as an important step in the development of a strong IP system that is in line with international trends. Copies of the new law and implementing regulations are below.
Hope To Advance Industrial Design Treaty At WIPO Meets Reluctance From Developing Countries 19/09/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry set the tone at the 18 September opening of a WIPO committee on industrial designs, calling on countries to keep the treaty-signing momentum built up last June with the adoption of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. However, developing countries have been reluctant to engage in an international treaty on industrial designs and this week delegates will have to agree on how to pursue discussions on the subject.
ITU’s Line Of Defence On WCIT 18/09/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The International Telecommunication Union in a press briefing Monday evening tried to dispel what it is describing as “myths and misinformation” about the upcoming World Conference on International Communication (WCIT, December 3-14 in Dubai). “Although there are many important issues before the conference, unfortunately they are not receiving the media attention they deserve due to a paranoia created by claims that ITU wants to take over the internet,” Standardization Bureau Director Malcolm Johnson said.
Internet Providers, Trademarks Owners Need Collaboration And Trust, WIPO Panel Says 18/09/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The responsibility of internet intermediaries in cases of intellectual property rights infringement has long been debated. Wedged between rights holders and internet users, intermediaries are asked to provide surveillance from the first and to preserve an open internet by the second. An information meeting organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization tried to gather different points of view on the role and responsibility of internet intermediaries in the area of trademarks.
Designated ICANN CEO Takes Over Early 14/09/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced that designated CEO Fadi Chehadé has assumed his new position.
ACTA: Will It Ever Become A Valid International Treaty? 13/09/2012 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments A quiet and little-publicised ratification process might be the last hope for those pushing for international adoption of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). But while the Japanese legislature managed to finalise their ratification recently, processes in several ACTA signatory states seem to be stalled. Some may ask whether ACTA will ever become an international treaty.
US Ambassador Sees Hope For WIPO Visually Impaired Treaty This Year 13/09/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment United States Ambassador Betty King told a gathering of journalists at the US mission yesterday of the important work being done at the international institutions under her responsibility in Geneva, including the World Intellectual Property Organization and World Health Organization.
How To Reboot WIPO 12/09/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments By this point, I’m sure the entire intellectual property community knows that WIPO has problems, from an investigation of sanctions-busting in its technical assistance programmes going back years to allegations of vote-buying through abuse of the hiring process. It harkens back to the dying days of the term of the last Director-General, Kamil Idris, who left office early under a cloud, writes Nick Ashton-Hart.
Syria Denounces Madrid Agreement On Trademark Registration 12/09/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) today announced that it has received notification that Syria will withdraw from the international trademark treaty known as the Madrid Agreement.
Review Of WIPO Shipments To Iran, North Korea Issued; US Calls For New Safeguards 11/09/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments An independent study of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s technical assistance to countries sanctioned by the United Nations was released today, and while it did not conclude whether WIPO violated UN protocol or whether there was any personal gain involved, it did raise questions as to how such behaviour could have been perpetuated from the early 2000s right up to this year. Separately today, the United States government made a sharp statement in a members-only WIPO meeting raising concerns about WIPO’s technical assistance activities and its viability as an organisation if it does not attain “an appropriate level of oversight, accountability and transparency.” The US called for new safeguards to ensure monthly, quarterly and annual reviews of its technical assistance involving sanctioned member states, and assurances that WIPO staff can speak with risk about past activities.