Must All Foreigners Online Comply With US Copyright Law? (Part 2 of 2) 05/12/2017 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A case now before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, Spanski Enterprises v. Telewizja Polska, creates a legal dilemma. The court needs to find Telewizja liable for copyright infringement, or else the court will create a roadmap for pirates, enabling them to stream copyrighted works into the US with impunity. But if the court finds Telewizja committed infringement simply because the Polish company put online works that could be accessed in the US, the court will apply US copyright law in an extraterritorial manner that will create problems around the globe.
Global Biotech Industry Tests Policy Waters In Geneva 04/12/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A delegation of heads of biotechnology companies visited Geneva this month to present the International Confederation of Biotechnology Trade Associations (ICBA). The ICBA was created in 2012, but is now looking to make its voice heard in Geneva and inform policy discussions, and is finding it is not easy to become an observer in some organisations. They also underlined the importance of intellectual property for the biotech sector, in particular to attract indispensable capital. The delegation sat down with Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez to talk about their Geneva visit.
EU-MERCOSUR FTA Puts At Risk Access To Medicines In Brazil, New Impact Assessment Study Finds 01/12/2017 by Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The European Union (EU) is currently negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the four founding members of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), which comprises a chapter on intellectual property rights (IPR). A new round of negotiations is taking place from November 29th to December 8th in Brussels[1]. Word is that they aim to announce the closure of the agreement at the next World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference that will be held from 10-13 of December in Buenos Aires and the clock is ticking to close all the chapters before that. The authors have conducted a study that shows the adoption of the measures proposed by the EU could put the sustainability of access to health policies in Brazil at risk, as they could sharply increase public expenditures on medicines.
ARIPO Adopts Plant Variety Regulations, As Farmers Advocacy Groups Raise Concern 30/11/2017 by Hillary Muheebwa for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment KAMPALA, Uganda — The Forty-first Session of the Administrative Council of African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) held this month adopted the Regulations for the Implementation of the Arusha Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, amidst protest from civil society organisations and farmer representatives.
WTO General Council Agrees To 2-Year Extension For TRIPS Health Amendment Acceptance 30/11/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Trade Organization General Council today agreed to a two-year extension for countries to adopt an amendment to the agency’s intellectual property agreement intended to help small economies get affordable medical products. But a decision on non-violation complaints will be left to the December WTO ministerial in Buenos Aires.
Retransmissions Of TV Shows From Cloud Services Need Copyright Owner’s Consent, EU High Court Rules 30/11/2017 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment VCAST, a UK company that makes available to its customers internet retransmissions of Italian television programmes stored in the cloud, must obtain right holders’ consent first, the Court of Justice of European Union (CJEU) ruled on 29 November.
USPTO Director Nominee And IP “Evangelist” Iancu Could Get Committee Approval By January 30/11/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment President Trump’s nominee to be the next director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Andrei Iancu, could receive Senate committee approval by the holidays if things line up just right. If appointed, he told a nomination hearing today that he would “evangelize” the IP system and make possible reform of the patent review process a high priority.
UN General Assembly Committee Adopts Resolution On SciTech For Development With Nod To IP Rights 30/11/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A committee of the United Nations General Assembly this week adopted a resolution highlighting the importance of – and setting out member state tasks for – growing science and technology, including expansion of intellectual property rights and innovation tailored to countries’ development strategies.
European Commission Announces Guidance On Copyright Enforcement, SEP Licensing 29/11/2017 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The European Commission today announced plans to ratchet up the fight against counterfeiting and piracy, and to introduce more clarity in licensing standard-essential patents (SEPs). The first involves guidance on the 2004 EU directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRED); the second recommendations for making the relationship between patent owners and technology users more “balanced and efficient.”
Must All Foreigners Online Comply With US Copyright Law? (Part 1 of 2) 29/11/2017 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment US copyright law is supposed to apply only within US borders, not to actions done in Poland. But when a company in Poland streamed copyrighted TV shows into the US, that infringed US copyrights, according to a US trial court. This decision will be upheld on appeal, experts widely expect. Such an appellate decision, however, could expand the reach of US copyright law to a problematic extent. It will be tricky to find infringement in this case without also extending US copyright law to any online content posted anywhere on the globe.