Privatize, Don’t Internationalise, Internet Oversight, Academics Say 04/03/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 8 Comments The Snowden revelations have spurred yet another discussion on how to internationalise or globalise the oversight over the management of core infrastructures of the internet, namely the so-called IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) functions. Why not let the private sector decide?
WIPO Enforcement Committee Gains Ground As “Marketplace Of Ideas” 03/03/2014 by Julia Fraser for Intellectual Property Watch and William New Leave a Comment World Intellectual Property Organization members this week are meeting to discuss efforts to better protect intellectual property rights worldwide, including some new proposals for discussion and an exhibition on national programmes.
WHO Bulletin Article On Local Pharmaceutical Manufacturing In Africa 03/03/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An article published in the March 2014 issue of the World Health Organisation Bulletin discusses the evolving issue of access to medicines in Africa.
UN Internet Governance Discussion: Why Did It Fail To Agree And Why Will Discussions Continue?” 03/03/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation held what was supposed to be its last meeting in Geneva on 24-28 February. However, as explained below, the group failed to agree certain key issues, so it agreed to meet again on 7-9 May. Richard Hill offers an explanation.
Will ICANN Be The Next International Organisation In Geneva? 02/03/2014 by Maëli Astruc for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment During a visit to France last week, Fadi Chehadé, the CEO and president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), announced that his Board of Directors has given him the green light to further explore reforms of ICANN. Among them is the possibility of creating a parallel ICANN international structure, likely based in Geneva.
TRIPS Council: Discussion Of IP And Innovation Irritates India: Other Issues Unchanged 27/02/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment World Trade Organization members at the WTO intellectual property committee this week held fast to positions on longstanding issues, but engaged in discussions on issues such as innovation in relation to universities, and so-called “non-violation complaints” against countries that may cause harm to another country but don’t violate a WTO rule. Also discussed was the ongoing dispute over plain packaging requirements for tobacco products.
US Congress Committee Issues Report On “Highly Invasive” FDA Surveillance Of Employees 26/02/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today released a report detailing the US Food and Drug Administration’s “highly-invasive” surveillance programme that monitored employees who contacted Congress and the media, according to a press release from the committee leaders. Surveillance was unauthorised and whistleblowers were not given sufficient protection, the report found.
UNITAID Assesses Potential Implications Of Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement 26/02/2014 by Julia Fraser for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments UNITAID is expected to soon publish a report on the implications of the leaked provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) on public health and access to medicines.
Novel Legal Attack On Patent Trolls Falters In US 25/02/2014 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment It began last May, when a tiny state in the United States launched a novel legal attack against a notorious patent troll. Other states and the federal government soon followed, all asserting that the troll’s efforts to licence its patents violated consumer protection laws. At first, this new legal strategy produced some significant victories. Many experts and government officials embraced consumer protection law as an important new tool against patent trolls. But a recent court ruling has cast doubt on the future of this once-promising strategy.
EU Trademark Reform Delayed; Debate Includes Goods-In-Transit, Harmonisation 25/02/2014 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Efforts to update European Union trademark law have slowed amid political differences and squabbles over some provisions of the reform package, representatives from the European Commission (EC), European Parliament and trademark community say. Contrary to the wishes of the EC and lawmakers, the legislation will not be completed before European parliamentary elections in May.