Proposal For EPO Staff Bonus Raises Questions 13/11/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A proposal of the European Patent Office President Benoît Battistelli to pay a collective reward to EPO staff in 2012 in view of the positive operating result of 2011 has stirred concerns about the kind of incentive this might give to EPO examiners.
Philippines Heads Toward Expanded Copyright Law 13/11/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The Philippine Senate, the upper house of the country’s bicameral congress, has approved a bill that seeks to put teeth into its copyright law as the island nation fights a bad reputation as one of the Asian states with high piracy rates. But it also seeks to protect fair use of copyrighted material.
Southeast Asian States Move To Harmonise Their E-Commerce Laws 12/11/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Cebu City, Philippines – The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met over the weekend to advance the groundwork for what is perceived as a challenging but progressing task of harmonising their e-commerce laws, ahead of the region’s nearing deadline of creating an integrated economy by 2015.
EU Health Cooperation — Room For Improvement 09/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Union’s global plan for health, development cooperation includes the commitment that high-quality medicines and care in the developing world be available without restrictions. As such, despite its growing impact and strong investment in product R&D, the plan seemingly lacks adequate coherence, innovative financing, and coordination, collaboration with concerned parties. Filling these gaps would be a matter of priority and a way for the EU to achieve indisputable field leadership.
India Publishes Draft Guidelines For Patenting Of TK and Biological Material 08/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The government of India has released a set of draft guidelines to be followed in the patenting of traditional knowledge and biological material. Comments are due by 22 November.
Could US Election Result Reverse Ever-Stronger Copyright Protection? 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments US voters returned President Obama for four more years, and kept his party’s dominance of the US Senate as well as the opposition party’s dominance of the House of Representatives. While the Obama administration has generally allied itself with copyright interests, some see the possibility of a reversal in the US Congress of a trend toward stronger copyright protection.
Film Industry Praises Obama’s “Understanding” Of IP’s Importance 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last night quickly congratulated US President Barack Obama on his re-election for four more years, praising his “understanding” of the importance of intellectual property to the US economy. Observers have seen the Obama administration as strongly supportive of the copyright industry, and said Obama received significant campaign financial support from Hollywood while possibly losing ground with the technology industry. And some even see the possibility of a reverse in the US Congress of a trend toward stronger copyright protection.
Pirate Party Rep Tells UN Meeting: “F*** You, This Is My Culture!” 07/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments Baku, Azerbaijan – Amelia Andersdotter, member of the European Parliament for the Swedish Pirate Party, in no polite words today (6 November) told the participants of the 7th Internet Governance Forum in Baku what she thought about the lack of progress in adapting copyright to the digital age.
Sizing Up The “Ill-Conceived” PAIPO Draft Statute 06/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The text of the Draft Statute of the proposed Pan-African Intellectual Property Organization does not support a clear basis for criticism, but the lack of a clear need to put resources toward a centralised African registration system, and the lack of transparency about the process signal that the idea is “ill-conceived,” writes South African lawyer Sadulla Karjiker.
Landmark India IP Board Decision Against Hepatitis C Drug Patent 04/11/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments India last week saw a landmark public health decision on the evolving role of intellectual property rights in the context of the public interest.