V4 Countries Launch Visegrad Patent Institute As Region’s First ISA, IPEA 08/07/2016 by Jaroslaw Adamowski for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With the aim of strengthening regional cooperation in intellectual property, the four member states of the Visegrad Group, which comprises Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, launched the Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI) on 1 July. Applicants will be allowed to communicate with the institutions in their respective mother tongues, and fees for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications will be reduced by as much as 40 percent, according to Poland’s Patent Office (UPRP).
French Bill Could Open Door For Sharing, Selling Of Seeds In Public Domain 07/07/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Next week, the French Senate is due to consider a bill on biodiversity for the third time. That bill, which could be modifying several legislations, might allow for the sharing and selling by non-governmental organisations of seeds in the public domain to non-commercial buyers, which is so far not permitted under the current French legislation, according to sources.
UK High Court Upholds Blocking Of Infringing Websites In Trademark Cases 06/07/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Internet service providers can be ordered to block websites that offer counterfeit goods for sale despite the lack of an express law to that effect in trademark cases, the UK Court of Appeal for England and Wales said in a 6 July decision.
UK Proposes To Tighten IP Protections Online 06/07/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United Kingdom Digital Economy Bill, floated this week, aims to “enable access to fast digital communication services for citizens and businesses, to enable investment in digital communications infrastructure, to shape the emerging digital world to the benefit of children, consumers and businesses, and to support the digital transformation of government, enabling the delivery of better public services, world leading research and better statistics,” the UK government said in the document.
US Industry Airs Hopes, Frustrations On IP Rights In India 05/07/2016 by Patralekha Chatterjee for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment What do global innovators make of India’s new National Intellectual Property Rights Policy? A recent discussion on “India’s National IPR Strategy: A View from Global Innovators” in Washington DC attempted to assess the opportunities and challenges ahead from the perspective of American companies.
The Dutch & Pharma Policy: A Groundbreaking Presidency 05/07/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Netherlands’ Presidency of the European Council proved to be far from quiet in relation to pharmaceutical affairs. June 17 was the concluding Health Ministers Council (EPSCO) that signed off the most strongly-worded conclusions Brussels observers can recall. The meeting signaled the end of an overall successful and impactful Presidency in the highly sensitive field of medicines. The past semester has been eventful to say the least.
European Music Industry Presses Brussels To Solve “Value Gap” From User Uploads 30/06/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments More than 1,000 recording artists and songwriters from Europe, and artists who regularly perform there, have urged the European Commission to stop the “value gap” created by user upload services such as Google’s YouTube from “siphoning value away” from the music community. Google, however, said digital services aren’t the problem, and that greater transparency on royalties is needed.
US Sees Weak African IP Protection, But Not Enough To Lose Unilateral Trade Benefits 30/06/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today (29 June) released its annual report on the eligibility of African nations for unilateral trade benefits offered by the US. While some countries were praised for progress on intellectual property protection, others were found to be weak in this area, but none were removed from eligibility for that reason. Overall, reporting on IP rights varied widely in the report.
Russian IP Industry At Center Of Massive Scandal 29/06/2016 by Eugene Gerden for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The Russian IP industry is in the center of a massive scandal, caused by the yesterday’s arrest of Sergei Fedotov, director general of the Russian Authors’ Society (RAO), a public association, which is responsible for the collection and distribution of royalties among rights holders, on the suspicion of multi-million dollar theft and withdrawal of funds to abroad.
Embassy In London Under Siege, IP A ‘Neo-Liberal Pillar’, Ecuador Minister Says 29/06/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A top Ecuadoran official said today at the United Nations in Geneva that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s health is deteriorating after four years confined in the Ecuadoran embassy in London, while the United Kingdom and Sweden are ignoring the findings of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which called for Assange’s release. The Ecuadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs also said Ecuador will carry on issuing compulsory licences for medicines as it sees fit, underlining the increasing role of intellectual property and the greater privatisation of knowledge.