ILO Decisions Said To Confirm EPO Staff Lack Fair Legal System 01/12/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The International Labour Organization Administration Tribunal (ILO-AT) on 30 November set aside two European Patent Office (EPO) decisions rejecting employee challenges to various internal rules. The judgments, which sent the complaints back to the EPO on the grounds that they had not been handled by the proper authorities, highlight the lack of a “fair and functioning” legal system for EPO staff, said an employee source who asked to remain anonymous.
Helping Patenters In A Sea Of PAEs: Interview With LOT Network’s Ken Seddon 01/12/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Patent assertion entity (PAE) activity has skyrocketed in the past decade and much discussion has occurred around what to do in response to patent holders whose strategy is more focused on legal battles than innovating. One notable group has risen up to bring together global companies to address the PAE issue with a novel sharing approach. In an interview with Intellectual Property Watch, Ken Seddon, CEO and President of LOT Network, talks about the group’s rapid growth, what’s coming next, and how not to bring a squirt gun to a nuclear fight.
Pfizer CEO Ian Read Elected To Rotating IFPMA Presidency 30/11/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Pfizer Board Chairman and CEO Ian Read has been elected as the next president of the Geneva-based International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), a two-year role.
Report: IP, Access To Science A Troubled Relationship 30/11/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A new academic report looks into the relationship between intellectual property and access to science and culture, in the wake of work on the issue by former United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed. Contributors to the report aimed at reflecting on how the intellectual property system can foster economic growth while encouraging non-economic values and objectives of human development.
Hundreds Of Civil Society Groups Urge RCEP Negotiators To Reject Imported TPP Clauses 30/11/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As 16 Asia and Pacific nations prepare to meet in Indonesia next week for the next round of negotiations for a large regional trade agreement called RCEP, more than 300 civil society groups signed a letter urging negotiators to reject efforts to bring in texts from the separate Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
UK Decision To Ratify EU Patent Court Leaves Key Questions Hanging 30/11/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The United Kingdom government is preparing to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement, it said on 28 November. The move took the patent community by surprise but failed to relieve uncertainty about what will happen when the UK finally Brexits the EU, according to patent attorneys in the UK.
CERN Staff Association Says There’s A “Loose Screw” At Top Of EPO 29/11/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Staff Association of the Geneva-based European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) this week issued a strongly worded statement in solidarity with staff at the European Patent Office. They called the EPO essential to Europe and said the EPO president’s repressive “19th century”-style anti-worker tactics are endangering the institution and the European economy.
EU Council Agrees To Remove Geo-Blocking Barriers To E-Commerce 28/11/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The European Union Council of member states today agreed on draft regulations to prevent blocking of cross-border e-commerce, but appears to retain copyright restrictions.
Kenya: Collective Management Organisations In Danger After Court Questions Their Role 28/11/2016 by Maina Waruru for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NAIROBI, Kenya — A ruling this month by a Kenyan court that artists, performers and musicians cannot be compelled or forced to join a collective management organisation (CMO) to collect royalties on their behalf could spell doom for CMOs in the country, experts fear.
New US Copyright Rule Sets Trap For Online Firms 25/11/2016 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The US Copyright Office is supposed to balance the interests of copyright owners with the interests of everyone else. However, the Office’s latest regulation, which takes effect 1 December, may be anything but fair and balanced. It could, according to critics, strip Facebook, YouTube, and other online companies of a vital statutory safe harbor, thus making these companies liable when their users post infringing material online. Online companies could face billions in infringement damages, driving them out of business.