WIPO Director Gurry Highlights Value Of Indigenous Knowledge 21/08/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and creativity is a valuable source of inspiration for all, but might benefit from being better protected, the head of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization said this month. WIPO is currently negotiating an international instrument or instruments to better protect genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions (folklore).
US Postpones Domain Name System Handover At Least A Year, Maybe Four 19/08/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States Department of Commerce office planning to relinquish national control over a remaining key component of the internet domain name system has said it will take at least until September 2016, putting off the transition that had been targeted for next month.
For Ministerial, Developing Countries Seek Moratorium On TRIPS Non-Violation Complaints 19/08/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The ability for a member of the World Trade Organization to challenge another member for deprivation of benefits even though this member has not violated any given WTO agreement does not presently apply to intellectual property. For years, the issue has been debated in the WTO intellectual property committee, with no conclusive outcome. Last month, a group of 17 developing countries submitted a draft decision for the upcoming WTO ministerial conference in December to lastingly ban intellectual property-related non-violation complaints, stepping ahead of the next meeting of the WTO IP committee to be held in October.
Was Google’s Unexpected Move To Create Alphabet About ‘Genericization’? 18/08/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment When Google announced on 10 August that it was creating an umbrella organisation called Alphabet, encompassing Google itself and its many satellite companies, word spread like fire. The unexpected move left everybody guessing, and some thinking about Google’s effort to protect its valuable brand and keep its name from becoming a generic term for searching the internet.
IP-Watch Seeks Part-Time Fundraising/Outreach Expert 31/07/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Intellectual Property Watch is seeking a dynamic person to help expand our fundraising and outreach activities. [Position closed]
Special Feature: Differences Over GIs Threaten 2016/2017 WIPO Budget Approval 30/07/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The UN World Intellectual Property Organization is a member-driven agency set up to protect IP rights worldwide. In recent years, an area of dissension and debate has been how to make the organisation – and IPRs – friendlier to developing countries. This year, however, it has become a hotspot for the global debate between developed countries over protection of geographical indications, products of distinctive character deriving from specific locations.
The TPP’s Reckless Proposals For Damages Will Have Negative Impact On Future Reform Of IPR Regimes 28/07/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 13 Comments James Love writes: This week negotiators from a dozen countries are meeting to finalize the rules for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. When or if concluded, this massive regional trade agreement will set new standards for the grant of property rights in knowledge, and the enforcement of those rights. The TPP chapter on intellectual property covers all intellectual property types included in Part II of the WTO’s TRIPS agreement, plus some others, including not only patents, copyrights and trademarks, but also “undisclosed information”, test data for the registration of drugs, industrial designs, layout-designs of integrated circuits. The rules in the TPP are intended by the United States to become global norms, effectively replacing TRIPS. While there are plenty of issues in the TPP IP Chapter, this note only addresses one set of issues — those relating to the remedies for the infringement of intellectual property rights. The remedies include such topics as injunctions, damages, and the seizure or destruction of infringing goods.
Nairobi WTO Ministerial Conference Preparation On Track, Says Ambassador 27/07/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment “Membership is comfortable with the level of preparedness and what we have done as a country” to host the December trade ministerial, the Kenyan trade minister told press at the World Trade Organization today.
As TPP Ministers Meet, NGOs Make Urgent Push For Public Interest 27/07/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Trade ministers negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement meet this week in Maui, Hawaii to try to finish the deal. Along with them are numerous public interest groups strenuously lobbying to steer the deal away from single-minded corporate interest.
France Spearheads Push For Plain Packaging Of Tobacco Products 23/07/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The country that made smoking cool is now taking steps to make it uncool. France this week organised what it defined as “the first international ministerial meeting” on plain packaging for tobacco products, gathering countries that support the public health measure aimed at discouraging tobacco use.