Groups Decry Impact Of IP And Health Terms In US Trade Agreements 03/03/2006 by Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Martin Vaughan for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Public health activists are condemning recent terms agreed to by Colombia, Peru and Central American countries in bilateral trade negotiations with the United States, that bind those countries to offer patent protections that exceed standards in multilateral agreements. The groups now are hoping for a […]
Opposition Heavy To US Environmental Health Agency Plan To Privatise Open Access Journal 28/02/2006 by Steve Gibb for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Steve Gibb for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – The director of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is facing overwhelming opposition to a plan to privatise an open-access environmental science journal NIEHS publishes, according to public comments on the plan. NIEHS last September proposed privatizing Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), www.ehponline.org, […]
Public Health Groups Sue US Government For Lack Of Consultation 15/12/2005 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A United States law firm representing public health groups filed suit against the US government on 14 December for a failure to be consulted by industry-heavy government advisory groups on trade policy. The case was filed in US District Court in San Francisco by environmental law firm Earthjustice against the US government, including the Office […]
US Congressional Delegation In Geneva Focuses On Trade, Avian Flu 30/11/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Members of the United States House of Representatives visited Geneva this week to learn more about ongoing trade negotiations and policy related to the possible avian influenza pandemic. The bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats met on 28 November with World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy as well as with officials at the World […]
US Privatisation Plan For Open-Access Journal Challenged 16/11/2005 by Steve Gibb for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Steve Gibb for Intellectual Property Watch Washington, DC–A US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) plan to privatise a prestigious open-access environmental science journal is drawing criticism from Democrats in the US Congress and activists who say public funding provides key information in environmental debates. But some environmental science experts say the journal […]
U.S. Patent Reform Effort Narrowed in Congress; Could Resurface In Supreme Court 29/09/2005 by Sarah Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Sarah Lai Stirland for Intellectual Property Watch A wall of opposition from the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and independent inventor communities this year gutted some of the most controversial provisions from an ambitious patent reform bill introduced in July in the U.S. House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress. But one of the […]
Ten Years Later, U.S. Report On IPR Compliance Still Questioned 12/05/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Ten years after the signing of a multilateral agreement pitched as a vehicle to help developing countries defend against unilateral actions against them by larger countries, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual report on trading partners’ protection of U.S. intellectual property rights is still questioned for its fairness or even legality, according […]
Key US Official On TRIPS And Public Health To Step Down 11/05/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Ambassador Linnet Deily, the United States representative to the World Trade Organization, has informed staff that she will be leaving office on June 15, according to a US trade official. Deily, who said she will be returning to the United States to spend more time with family, played a key role in the current round […]
US Trade Representative Releases Annual Trade Barriers Report 30/03/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Washington, D.C.—The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on Wednesday cited rising global piracy and counterfeiting as a top foreign trade barrier to U.S. products and services in 2005. “There is a discouraging upward trend [in piracy and counterfeiting],” a US trade official said in a telephone press briefing on the release of the […]
U.S. File-Sharing Case Could Have International Impact 26/03/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Washington, D.C.–The biggest copyright case in the United States in decades will be felt around the world and have an impact on the future of the Internet regardless of the outcome, both sides of the case say. The case, MGM v. Grokster, goes before the U.S. Supreme Court for oral arguments on March 29. Entertainment […]