Top-Level Domain .Africa Becomes Object Of Bitter Fight 03/11/2012 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A dispute over the .africa regional geographic top-level internet domain (TLD) may have escalated. The Kenya-based DotConnectAfrica trust (with headquarters in Mauritius) in a press release this week applauded the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for granting a change request to their application. DotConnectAfrica by mistake had applied for .dotafrica instead of .africa in its application during the new gTLD process in April.
US Makes New Exemptions To Digital Millennium Copyright Act Provision 01/11/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States has made new exemptions to a provision in its copyright law that prohibits the circumvention of technological measures to gain access to protected digital works.
Petition Urges Delay, Discussion Of Pan-African IP Organization 24/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A new petition circulating worldwide urges the delay of a suddenly fast-moving proposal to create a Pan-African Intellectual Property Organization (PAIPO). The delay effort – which seeks an open discussion of the proposal to make it more tailored to local African needs – comes just weeks before African Union representatives meet to consider its adoption.
Greens Call For ‘Social Contract For Digital Age’; Lessig Calls US Hopeless On Copyright Reform 22/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BERLIN–The United States is hopeless when it comes to a copyright reform for the internet, US Law Professor Lawrence Lessig told the German Green Party’s congress on internet politics on Saturday. Europe, Lessig said, could take the lead with regard to that reform, which is needed but blocked in the US by vested interests.
Peace, Love, and Private Practice: Film Industry Lawyer Ted Shapiro To Depart MPA 22/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Ted Shapiro, a long-time copyright industry advocate in the European legal trenches for the Motion Picture Association, will leave at year’s end for a private law firm in Brussels.
Sources: European Telecom Operators’ Proposals Run Aground At WCIT 19/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch European Telecommunications and Network Operators (ETNO) proposals for accounting changes between internet providers – namely a “sender-party-pays regime” and provisions to foster end-to-end quality of service management on the net – did not make it into the joint proposal of Greater Europe for the World Conference on Telecommunication […]
South Korea Lends IP Training Support To China 19/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment In a move that goes beyond territorial disputes and past atrocities, the Republic of Korea this week hosted a training session for Chinese civil servants on protection of intellectual property rights.
US Court Rules On Fair Use For Blind Users, Digitisation, Amid Treaty Talks 19/10/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Coinciding with the marathon negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization for a potential treaty for the visually-impaired persons, a United States court handed down a ruling this month that goes in favour of copyright exceptions in the digitisation of books for the purposes of preservation, text search and access for the blind.
New USPTO Post-Grant Review A Small Step For Patent Harmonisation 18/10/2012 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On 16 September, the United States made its patent system more like everyone else’s. The country began implementing a new patent office procedure for challenging the validity of recently issued patents. This was, however, only a modest step towards harmonisation because the US version of post-grant patent review has little in common with the corresponding processes available in other countries, according to experts.
Pro-Music Re-Launched After Nine Years 18/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Pro-Music, the international alliance of various stakeholders in the music industry promoting the use of legal services on the internet, has moved to give its website a facelift, nine years after it was launched back in 2003.