USTR Offers Answers To Some Thorny Questions On ACTA 03/03/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A letter from the United States government answering a variety of sticky questions about the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has been released online. The 28 January letter is addressed to Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon) from US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
Conference: Access To Knowledge, Human Rights Can Learn From Each Other 19/02/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A treaty on copyright exceptions for visually impaired readers, open educational materials, use of the internet without surveillance, and early human rights movements around access to electricity were among issues debated at a recent academic conference on access to knowledge.
US Business Calls For IP Enforcement “Surge”, Seeks New Legislation This Year 18/02/2010 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The United States’ largest industry association today laid out an aggressive legislative agenda on intellectual property, calling for a dramatic increase in enforcement activities including pumped up customs and border authority.
ACTA Negotiators: Maximal Protection Proposals Unlikely In Final Text 18/02/2010 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The chapter on copyright protection in the digital environment under negotiation in the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is still in an embryonic state, said negotiators coming back from the recent ACTA negotiations in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Advisory Group: ‘Near Perfect Storm’ Coming On Gene Patents In The US 10/02/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments A report by a United States health department advisory group issued last week presents recommendations aimed at preventing patents on genes and licensing practices in the US from negatively impacting patient access to genetic tests that would allow them to establish their genetic dispositions to declare potential illnesses.
Year Ahead: Biotech And Patentability Under Debate In The US, EU 09/02/2010 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Biotechnology lies at the intersection of a wide spectrum of fields, such as agriculture, health and environment. Because biotechnology relates to life sciences, it is often the subject of ethical, sometimes intense political debates between stakeholders, in particular involving intellectual property rights. In 2010, as the first signs of global economic recovery are emerging, the debates are expected to increase.
Google Book Deal Still Needs Work, US Justice Department Says 05/02/2010 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The United States Department of Justice yesterday told the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that progress had been made on its concerns in the settlement allowing internet search giant Google to scan millions of books into a database. But the government lawyers continue to have doubts on copyright, class certification and antitrust issues, they said.
ACTA Negotiators Report No Breakthroughs On Transparency 31/01/2010 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Offering no details – as is their standard – government negotiators for a global anticounterfeiting treaty yesterday declared a commitment to try to find ways to increase transparency and inclusion of public input in the secretive talks. But they stopped short of actually committing to increasing transparency and inclusion.
ICANN Head Sounds Policy Alarm On Rapidly Shrinking Internet Space 29/01/2010 by Sharon McLoone for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment WASHINGTON, DC – The internet’s technical governing body plans to make a push to educate the global users of the internet on the network’s latest generation technology known as IPv6, Rod Beckstrom, president and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), said this week.
Global Anti-Counterfeiting Efforts Set To Rise Further 27/01/2010 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch 8 Comments NEW YORK – The problem of global counterfeiting has not diminished with the new year, experts said here yesterday, and 2010 promises to bring even more rampant intellectual property theft if countries do not do more to stem the problem. Some countries are mobilising to do just that.