High Level Task Force On Human Rights Turns Eye To Health And IP 03/04/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch and James Leonard for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Health Organization global strategy on health and intellectual property includes powerful and potentially paradigm-shifting elements, but it also has notable shortcomings for human rights, says a new document prepared for the United Nations group responsible for the right to development.
PFF On Cooling The World By Misappropriating Patent Rights 01/04/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Sidney Rosenzweig of the Progress & Freedom Foundation writes that some countries, such as China, want to take advantage of new environmental technologies without having to pay, and are advocating the use of compulsory licences to access them.
Agricultural Technology Could Feed Rising Population, But Who Will Own Crops? 20/03/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch and Catherine Saez 3 Comments The genetic revolution has come to food, as debates over how to deal with future pressures of population and climate change look to agricultural technology in hope of answers. But questions still remain over who owns the technology, who will do the research, and what forms of – and even whether – biotechnology is appropriate to human needs and the needs of smallholding farmers.
WIPO, UNCITRAL Team Up On IP And Finance 20/03/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Officials from two lawyerly United Nations agencies met recently to discuss their roles and build cooperation in intellectual property finance, especially in light of the global economic crisis.
WIPO Faces Possible Negative Annual Income Despite Record Trademark Filings 10/03/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization is facing the possibility of negative income for the first time in its history, the United Nations agency’s director general said Monday. Director General Francis Gurry made the remarks during a press conference on its annual report on trademark filings at WIPO in 2008 that showed a new record high for trademark registrations but signs of a slowdown late in the year.
Path Forward For UN-Led Internet Governance Forum Discussed 26/02/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment That there will be a future for the international Internet Governance Forum seems likely, though the form its future incarnation will take is not. Delegates to an open consultation on internet governance this week began to sort out some base modalities on how to evaluate the progress of the United Nations-led discussion venue, as a deadline approaches to decide whether and how the group will continue.
US Congressional, USPTO Officials See Geneva Policymaking Up Close 19/02/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments A small group of United States congressional staff and officials from the Obama administration working on intellectual property issues were in Geneva this week to discuss IP policy with representatives of intergovernmental organisations and industry, according to sources.
Taubman Of WIPO Picked To Head WTO IP Division 04/02/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Kaitlin Mara and William New Antony Taubman, acting director and head of the Global Intellectual Property Issues Division at the World Intellectual Property Organization, has been named to the top IP position at the World Trade Organization, the WTO has confirmed.
WIPO Ponders New Negotiating Style; DDG Positions Opening; Patent Filings Falter 29/01/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New The World Intellectual Property Organization saw record patent filings again in 2008, but the rate of growth is slowing, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the WIPO secretariat is privately exploring with member governments ways to break through a longstanding deadlock in policy negotiations underway at the UN institution, and […]
Potential Names For Obama IP Team Swirl; WTO IP Chief “Imminent” 27/01/2009 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Liza Porteus Viana for Intellectual Property Watch and William New Changes in several key international agencies and governments will bring a cadre of new faces to positions that address intellectual property policy, and some potential names for those spots have been circulating in recent weeks. The naming of the new chief of the World Trade Organization IP Division is “imminent,” according to sources close to the process. And as US President Barack Obama began his first weeks in office in late January, many IP-related positions also remain unfilled.