World Health Assembly Agrees On IP And Innovation; US Abstains 23/05/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen After much discussion and hard-won willingness to shift positions on what a chair referred to as a “difficult resolution,” member states concluded the 2007 World Health Assembly on 23 May with the adoption of an agreement on innovation of medicines and intellectual property. But it was done without support from […]
Support In US For WIPO Broadcasting Treaty Appears To Wane 21/05/2007 by Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Drew Clark for Intellectual Property Watch WASHINGTON, DC – Practically no one participating in a recent government forum here liked the proposed broadcaster protection treaty under negotiation at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. Computer companies didn’t like it; telephone companies didn’t like it; the National Football League didn’t like it; consumer […]
Developed Countries Seek Clarification Of Idris’ Alleged Age Discrepancy 15/05/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By William New Citing concerns over accountability and leadership at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Switzerland are pushing for answers to allegations that WIPO Director General Kamil Idris purposely misrepresented his age on official documents for years. “We are by no means losing interest in this issue,” a […]
The WIPO View On Enforcement, Idris And Development Agenda 14/05/2007 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Wolfgang Starein is the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) official with primary responsibility for enforcement of intellectual property rights. In a series of recent interviews with Intellectual Property Watch, Starein talked about WIPO’s enforcement agenda for the coming year, a January 2007 enforcement conference, access to knowledge, WIPO’s relationship to the World Trade Organization (WTO) […]
Industry: Criminal Checks Needed For Tasting, Kiting, Spying 03/05/2007 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch International organisations should step in to prevent the “tasting,” “kiting” and “spying” related to Internet domain names, say representatives from the US telecommunications and trademark industries. These new activities are dramatically altering online commerce and impacting legitimate businesses, and the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), World Intellectual […]
WIPO PCT Reform Ends As Swiss Disclosure Proposal Suspended 30/04/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By William New Switzerland is known for its neutrality in many international forums, but when it comes to intellectual property rights, it generally has an opinion in favour, unsurprising given its high number of rights holders. Last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the government showed how it can make a move to favour IP rights in an international forum while retaining that special art of Swiss diplomacy. The Working Group on Reform of the WIPO Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) held its ninth session from 23 to 26 April. The PCT, which allows recognition of a patent filed in one nation to be recognised in all PCT members, is an important contributor to WIPO’s finances through fees it charges. At the meeting, Switzerland again prepared to put forward a proposal to amend the PCT regulations to “explicitly enable the national patent legislation” to require the declaration of the source of genetic resources and traditional knowledge in patent applications. This would leave it up to the national level to decide whether to make disclosure part of national law. It would allow that disclosure could take place at the national level or later during the international phase, said the proposal, PCT/R/WG/9/5.
WIPO Broadcasting Treaty, EU-Wide Patent Generate Debate 16/04/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen NEW YORK – Two “old” intellectual property policy issues are continuing to generate new debate among legal and policy experts, namely the broadcasting treaty under negotiation at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the recent move by the European Commission to re-launch the debate on a single European patent […]
Panellists Disagree About Future Of IP System, WIPO 13/04/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen NEW YORK – Speakers at an intellectual property conference here disagreed on the future of the IP system and what role the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will play during the next 10 years. But there seemed to be agreement on less rather than more new IP regulation. The 12-13 […]
WIPO Addresses Rapid Rise In Patent Information Use 19/03/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen The use of an online, searchable patent-information system run by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has tripled in the past 12 months, according to WIPO. But a recent colloquium on the topic showed that patent information is still an untapped resource that could be better utilised, and WIPO is […]
Sharp Increase In Internet Domain Name Disputes Last Year, WIPO Says 13/03/2007 by Tove Iren S. Gerhardsen for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Stephen Flug for Intellectual Property Watch The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said there was a 25 percent increase in “cybersquatting” complaints – the registering and use of domain names to profit from another party’s trademark – last year compared with the previous year, making this the highest number of cases since 2000. A […]