Trade Works, Says WTO Head, But Only If Right Policies, Transparent Trade System In Place 30/09/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The annual World Trade Organization Public Forum opened today with a plenary session on making trade work more inclusively. The Doha Round, agriculture, and environmental technologies were part of the conversation.
WIPO Working On Voluntary International Collective Management Standards 30/09/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Collective management organisations have often been the subject of criticism both from artists and end users. Some international federations have set up professional rules, but there is no international standard. The World Intellectual Property Organization is working to set up a voluntary international recognition of good practice for those organisations.
CEIPI Launches Training Program For Technical Judges Of Unified Patent Court 29/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment One of the major imminent changes in the international patent system is the establishment of the Unified Patent Court. The agreement to create this tribunal was signed by 25 European Union States in 2013, and it is foreseen that the Court will be operational by the end of 2016. Setting up of a single tribunal with competence to decide on both validity and infringement disputes is an old European aspiration, and must be seen in the context of the global trend of creating specialized intellectual property tribunals. In this case, the aim is to respond to the high costs, forum shopping and lack of legal certainty that are generally attributed to the current system of adjudicating disputes concerning European patents. Among the many new features of the Court, the presence of technical judges is particularly notable.
US Court Adds Confusion To #Trademarks 29/09/2015 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Once, hashtags (like #cute_cat) merely identified topics on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. No longer. A rapidly growing number of companies are using hashtags (like #HowDoYouKFC) as trademarks. There is one problem, however. A court in the US has recently ruled that hashtags can never receive trademark protection.
IFRRO Comments On European Copyright Society Opinion In Reprobel Case 29/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment IFRRO, the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations, has issued comments on the recent opinion offered by the European Copyright Society on European Court of Justice Case C-572/13, Hewlett-Packard Belgium v. Reprobel.
IANA Transition: Trapped Between Demands For Detail, Simplicity 29/09/2015 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Later this week (30 September) the original deadline for the so-called IANA transition runs out. But despite stern warnings from US Assistant Commerce Secretary Lawrence Strickling and former Clinton aide Ira Magaziner that further delays could put the planned change of oversight over the management core internet infrastructure assets at risk, tensions could not be laid to rest over the weekend. After a two-day weekend “dialogue” in Los Angeles between the ICANN Board and the group in charge of developing new accountability mechanisms, it became clear that final text cannot be expected before early next year.
Russian Court Orders vKontakte To Stop Infringement, IFPI Says 29/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The London-based International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) today announced that a Russian court has ordered popular Russian social network vKontakte to use technology to effectively block infringement of two record companies.
Obama To UN: Real Measure Of A Nation’s Strength Is Its People’s Knowledge, Innovation 28/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment US President Obama told world leaders at the United Nations today that a nation that tries to repress its people is doomed to failure, and that the new measure of the strength of nations is the success of its people, including their knowledge and creativity. Access to information cannot be defeated due to technology and social media, and the desire of people to choose how they are governed, he said.
WTO Public Forum: Trade Works – Taking Stock After 20 Years 28/09/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This week, the World Trade Organization is holding its yearly public forum with a focus on the contribution of the organisation to global trade since its inception 20 years ago. Some 90 sessions are planned, on issues such as intellectual property, global value chains, agriculture, trade for development, and the WTO dispute settlement system.
India: Poor Man’s Intellectual Property Is Hijacked 28/09/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments It is a healthy trend that the awareness on GI is on the rise in India. However, the misuse of GI legislation also is rampant. Recent past has witnessed many instances of inappropriate GI Registrations, writes Praveen Raj.