WIPO: New Proposal On Disclosure Requirement In Design Applications 25/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment On the first day of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on trademarks and designs the focus was on a proposal from the African Group to include a disclosure requirement in international industrial design applications. Up to now the stumbling block preventing delegates from moving to a high-level treaty negotiation has been technical assistance. This additional parameter might come in the way of swift agreement.
ITU Looks Into Issues Of Counterfeit, Substandard ICT Products 18/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment This week, the International Telecommunication Union is holding an event highlighting the UN agency’s entry into what it describes as the growing problem of counterfeit and fake information and communication technology (ICT) products. Officials from the neighbouring World Intellectual Property Organization and World Trade Organization remarked during the meeting that counterfeit relates to an intellectual property right infringement, which is a different issue from substandard products.
WIPO Committee On Development Solves Two Standing Issues, Breaks Cycle Of Disagreement 15/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments After months of repeated difficulties in WIPO committees plagued by stalled decisions or inability to agree on future work, the World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) appears to have turned the odds and managed to agree on two longstanding issues.
WIPO’s Assistance To Developing Countries: Taking Forward The Unfinished Reform Agenda 13/11/2014 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Dr. Carolyn Deere Birkbeck writes: At this week’s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), WIPO Member States continue to debate next steps on the unprecedented 2011 External Review of WIPO’s assistance to developing countries. With a new Deputy Director General for the WIPO’s Development Sector due to start work this December, the prospect of new leadership also marks a time for Members to provide clear direction. They should act this week and in the coming months to set clear priorities for the Secretariat – and for themselves – that would give greater focus to the ongoing work of improving WIPO’s development cooperation activities, and to establish a mechanism for monitoring progress.
Zephyr Of Hope For Longstanding Issues At WIPO Committee On Development And IP 13/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A lighter mood seems to have set in at the World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), after a year of what was qualified as a cycle of disagreements by some. Although delegates reiterated previous positions on some longstanding agenda items, some middle-ground alternatives seem to have gained attention.
WIPO Committee On Development And IP Opens With Overloaded Agenda 10/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) opened today with a heavy agenda and open issues that carried over from past sessions. In particular, delegates are expected to find agreement on a list of speakers, which would unlock the convening of an international conference on IP and development. They also must agree on the terms of reference of an independent review of WIPO’s implementation of the 45 Recommendations of the 2007 Development Agenda.
Global Differences On Patents Lead WIPO Patent Law Committee To Stumble On Future Work 10/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Once again, differences over the role of a World Intellectual Property Organization committee last week came in the way of consensus and prevented delegates from agreeing on future work. At the heart of the discontent was the perceived imbalance of the proposed programme of work, which some said disregarded the interests of developing countries. A speaker for the African region gave a striking speech on the Ebola crisis as an example of the failure of the patent system.
WTO, WHO, WIPO Examine IPRs And Middle-Income Countries 06/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The current income-based grouping of countries needs to be changed or access to medicines in middle-income countries will worsen, several speakers said yesterday at a joint meeting between three international organisations on health, trade, and intellectual property. But middle-income countries should step up their engagement in organisations such as the World Health Organization, according to WHO and civil society.
US: WIPO Plan To Negotiate Higher GI Protection Sets “Deeply Troubling Precedent” 06/11/2014 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The United States is accustomed to having a strong say in multilateral negotiations, but in the case of a move by a small number of World Intellectual Property Organization members to negotiate higher protection for geographical indications without the full participation of the US and others, the US government is particularly fuming. Now it has questioned the very validity of the move.
Work-Sharing Between Patent Offices: Key To Reducing Backlog, Or Harmonisation Threat? 05/11/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Quality of patents is an issue that has been repeatedly discussed at the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on patent law, which is meeting this week.