WSIS+10: Roles, Responsibilities Remain Hot; Cybersecurity Treaty Demanded By Many States 16/12/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Between a lot of applause this week for the first post-WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) decade and especially for the negotiated agreement for the coming 10 years, some cracks appeared. These tell how differently regions still view roles and responsibilities for critical infrastructure management, and also the discrepancy between declaration and deployment of principles of the information society. In a notable statement, Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation, warned that governments still have to learn how to govern the connected.
Alongside WTO Ministerial, Officials Stress Gains On TRIPS And Health 16/12/2015 by Fredrick Nzwili for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments NAIROBI, Kenya — On the sidelines of the World Trade Organization Ministerial Summit this week in Nairobi, senior officials from the Kenya government, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), civil society and others discussed a WTO intellectual property rights amendment on public health to better enable poor nations to access essential medicines.
UN Launches High-Level Panel On Access To Medicines 16/12/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments A United Nations high-level panel of experts has set a process in motion to find solutions to increase access to medicines. Following its first meeting last week, the panel will call for proposals to recommend solutions that can promote innovation, but preserve human rights and public health interests.
US Agency Stripped Of Power To Regulate Internet 16/12/2015 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment America’s International Trade Commission is a tempting venue for US intellectual property owners. The agency acts quickly, has a history of supporting IP owners, and offers a powerful means to stop infringing products from entering the US. So when the ITC expanded its jurisdiction last year, claiming the power to stop online infringements, many IP owners cheered. And many internet companies fretted. Until last month, when the Federal Circuit had its say.
EU Trade Secrets, Trademark Measures Advance 15/12/2015 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Parliament and Luxembourg Presidency today agreed provisionally on EU-wide rules for the protection of trade secrets and confidential information, the Presidency announced. The European Parliament also approved a trademark reform package that aims to make registration cheaper, quicker and more reliable, and will give a new name to the EU trademark office: the EU IP Office.
Unease Over Seconded Philanthropic Foundation Staff To Top Management At WHO 15/12/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Third World Network reports: Philanthropic foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation have seconded their staffers to top management positions at the World Health Organization.
WSIS+10 Gets Underway Ten Years After UN Internet Summit 15/12/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Ten years after the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) member states and stakeholders are meeting this week for the WSIS+10 High Level Meeting in the UN headquarters in New York to review a decade of developments in internet governance.
New Standard For Online Linking Of Rights Data Emerges, But Will It Take Off? 15/12/2015 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new standard developed and tested by the Linked Content Coalition’s Rights Data Integration project could revolutionise the way copyrights are managed online, one of its technical advisors has said in an interview. The question now is whether organisations are willing to use and pay for it.
Artists’ Call For Rights Wakes Up WIPO Copyright Committee 14/12/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Two new proposals concerning the rights of artists seemed to bring new energy to the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee last week. Proposals encouraged delegates to create a legal framework to help artists benefit from use of their works and royalties by intermediaries.
WIPO Copyright Committee Holds Pragmatic Talks On Broadcasting Treaty; New Text Coming 14/12/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee closed last week without a definite work programme for the next session but two new projects seem to have stirred up the committee after years of inconclusive talks on a proposed treaty protecting broadcasts, and exceptions to copyright for libraries, archives, education and research. The new subjects relate to exceptions for museums, and resale rights. Meanwhile, a new text on broadcasting is being prepared for next session.