Strong Application Of GIs May Be Detrimental To Generic Products, Speakers Say 14/04/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The protection of geographical indications could impede the ability of long-term producers to continue using what they consider as being generic names, according to several speakers at an event last month at the World Intellectual Property Organization. The discussion is also ongoing at the World Trade Organization in the context of barriers to trade. The side event focused on the case of danbo cheese, a Danish cheese manufactured in several countries, particularly in Uruguay.
Looking Long-Term, Lisbon System Members Reach Into Wallets To Bail System Out 07/04/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Pressed to come up with solutions to eliminate the deficit of a World Intellectual Property Organization treaty protecting appellations of origins, members reached into their pocket and came up with close to two-thirds of the needed sum of US$1.5 million.
WIPO Committee Moves Ahead On Country Names, Tech Designs, Not GIs 03/04/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Establishing a work programme on geographical indications at the World Intellectual Property Organization last week proved elusive. A tentative text and time frame by the chair of the committee on trademark and geographical indications (GIs) issued on the last day of the committee did not meet the approval of some member states. The committee did agree on a set of tasks for the WIPO secretariat on the protection of country names against registration as trademarks, and on the protection of new technological designs, such as icons and type fonts.
New Draft Work Programme On GIs At WIPO; Industrial Design Pushed To General Assembly 29/03/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A tentative way to continue conversing about geographical indications (GIs) at the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on trademarks and GIs was tabled by the committee chair today. The suggested approach includes a questionnaire to member states on the different ways GIs are addressed by national and regional systems. Meanwhile, a potential design law treaty was pushed off to the next WIPO General Assembly, held in autumn.
Country Names As IP, Geographical Indications, Industrial Designs At WIPO Next Week 23/03/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment What can you do if you are a country and a private company has registered your name as a trademark, preventing even your own companies from using your name? The issue is expected to be discussed at next week’s World Intellectual Property Organization’s committee on trademarks. The meeting also includes a special session illustrating practices of national and regional protection of geographical indications. However, the question remains whether or not delegates will discuss a draft treaty text on industrial designs, after that conversation was pushed back in the fall.
EU Parliament: No Commercial Availability Or Compensation In Marrakesh Implementation 23/03/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments The European Parliament announced today that its Legal Affairs Committee approved new draft legislation to bring European Union law into line with an international treaty providing copyright exceptions for special format books for visually impaired people. Limitations to the scope of the treaty, such as commercial availability or compensation, were disregarded by Parliament members.
WHO Advisory Group Report On Fair Pricing Forum Released 22/03/2017 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The report from a meeting of a World Health Organization informal advisory group on challenges of medicines pricing and organising a Fair Pricing Forum this spring has been made public. The report shows the analysis and assertions of the diverse group, as well as questions and plans to take forward.
Leaked Text: Is EU Tempted By Too Many Safeguards Limiting The Scope Of Blind Treaty? 21/03/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As the ratification by the European Union of an international treaty creating an exception to copyright for visually impaired people nears, a leaked text shows that the directive implementing the treaty in the EU might come with safeguards limiting the scope of the treaty, allegedly pushed by the publishing industry.
Marrakesh Treaty For Blind Readers Jeopardised By EU Publishing Industry Lobbying, Group Says 21/03/2017 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The treaty adopted almost four years ago in Marrakesh allowing for exceptions to copyright for the benefit of visually impaired people was hailed as a victory for human rights over private rights. However, as the European Union is preparing to ratify the treaty, according to a civil society group report, intense lobbying by the publishing industry is influencing the debate and might diminish the hard-gained ground in the treaty on copyright exceptions. The World Blind Union, meanwhile, said it finds the report “revealing and shocking”.
WIPO: China Soon To Overtake US In Patent Filings; Cybersquatting Climbs To New Record 16/03/2017 by Peter Kenny for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment It’s a question of when, not if, that China will overtake the United Sates as the largest user of international patent systems, says the World Intellectual Property Organization, which has also announced a record number of “cybersquatting” cases.