Coalition Asks WIPO To Follow Proposed Guidelines To Better Defend IP Rights 22/07/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An international coalition of intellectual property rights defenders wrote a letter to World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry yesterday providing suggested international guidelines to protect IP rights.
WIPO Program And Budget Committee Works Through Issues 22/07/2015 by Catherine Saez and William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee (PBC) last week took note of WIPO’s mostly positive 2014 progress report, walked through its proposed program and budget for 2016-2017, and addressed issues of investment, governance, new external offices, and development. Many issues will be carried forward to the next PBC meeting in mid-September, just prior to the annual WIPO General Assembly.
Treaty On ‘Medicines Crime’ Not Best Response To Counterfeit/Substandard Medicines, Paper Says 22/07/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A recent paper by public health experts argues that a treaty on ‘medicines crime’ to combat counterfeit and substandard medicines may not be the best step forward. Rather, it proposes to form an international agreement to “ensure that all proven effective and necessary medicines are affordable, available, and of assured quality,” if the goal is to protect the interests of people and public health.
ITU Secretary General Visits Old Archrival IETF 21/07/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC — International Telecommunication Union Secretary General Houlin Zhao today called for more cooperation between his organisation and other standardisation bodies, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
Investor-State Cases Could Have Cost Cash-Strapped Argentina $80B, Paper Says 21/07/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A new developing country policy brief warns against use of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, arguing that it has a low capacity to adapt to exceptional circumstances that can afflict developing countries.
Cuba Says It Has Protected 5,000 US IPRs, While US Violates Its Rights 20/07/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Cuba has been trying for many years to get the United States to undo a law that prevents Cuba from defending a rum brand trademark in US courts. This week at the World Trade Organization, the Caribbean country said during this time it has dutifully protected the intellectual property rights of more than 5,000 US products, while the US has allowed violations of Cuban patents and trademarks.
UNCTAD Official: Need For Policy Coherence In Local Pharmaceutical Production 17/07/2015 by Ani Mamikon for Intellectual Property Watch and Rishi Dhir for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Despite progress in recent years to boost local pharmaceutical production in developing countries, policy coherence across the countries is lacking, according to an official at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
TISA Stocktaking Meeting Reveals There Is Still Ground To Cover 16/07/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The ambassadors for the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) have endorsed a deadline of notifying any additional new annexes by 31 July, and submitting completed offers by 15 September. This is the result of the most recent meeting of negotiators of the 25 TISA parties, according to a spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Australia hosted the TISA round from July 6-10 in Geneva.
A Geneva Look At Jurisdiction, Dispute Resolution And The Internet 15/07/2015 by Eimear Murphy for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A conference on jurisdiction and dispute resolution in the age of the internet raised topical issues of concern to internet-based public policy, such as the notion of how jurisdiction and internet governance is a question of power, and an update on the International Law Association guidelines project. In addition, a debate arose as to the state of the patent system.
WIPO Committee Tackles Program, Budget Issues 13/07/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee (PBC) is meeting this week with a full agenda of issues relating to planning for the next biennium as well as management matters.