EPO Staff Welcome Withdrawal Of Unpopular Disciplinary Proposals 18/10/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Pressure from staff and now from members of the European Patent Office governing body has forced EPO President Benoît Battistelli to withdraw controversial proposals for disciplining and investigating employees, the Staff Union of the EPO (SUEPO) said on 17 October. The action was welcomed but the situation is far from resolved, staff members say.
CETA Still Not At Finish Line As Belgian State Halts Process 18/10/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments CETA, the Canada-Europe trade agreement, is still not at the finish line yet. The European Commission has all but one member state on board for the signature of the Comprehensive Economy and Trade Agreement (CETA), Slovak Economy Minister Peter Ziga said today after a meeting of the trade ministers of the EU member states.
WHO Pandemic Influenza Advisory Group Meeting In Secret This Week 18/10/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Health Organization pandemic influenza framework advisory group is meeting this week, behind closed doors. A consultation is expected to take place on 20 October with stakeholders, and an information session has been organised on 21 October on the work of the advisory group, but no press is allowed in either meeting nor able to obtain any information about any aspect of the week’s events.
55 Civil Society Groups Ask US Government To Allow Export Of Affordable Version Of Prostate Cancer Drug Xtandi 17/10/2016 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A range of 55 civil society organisations from around the world today sent a letter asking the United States Department of Health and Human Services to accept an offer from a Canadian generics company, Biolyse Pharma, to manufacture and export high-priced cancer drug Xtandi to countries with a per capita income of less than one-third that of the United States.
USTR Froman: ‘We Have Begun A New Chapter In The History Of The Multilateral Trading System’ 17/10/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Outgoing United States Trade Representative Michael Froman in Geneva today gave a look back and ahead for the multilateral trading system and the World Trade Organization. His prediction was pragmatic and optimistic.
FTC Recommends Legislative Fixes For Nuisance Patent Lawsuits But Some Question Study 17/10/2016 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment LONDON — Procedural and substantive legislative reforms are needed to keep nuisance patent infringement lawsuits at bay, the United States Federal Trade Commission said in an October report. The question is whether the size of the study on activities of “patent assertion entities” (PAEs) was large enough to prove there’s a problem, say some patent attorneys, including speakers at the 13-14 October London IP Summit.
Panel: WIPO Assistance Should Provide Developing Countries With Choices On Plant Variety Protection 17/10/2016 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A side event to last week’s annual General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization looked at ways for developing countries to design sui generis system for protecting new varieties of plant. The event also looked into the technical assistance provided by WIPO, which, according to the groups, focuses only on the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) system.
Licensing, Choice And New Players: Keys To Fostering Local Film Production 17/10/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Audiovisual producers at a side event to the recent World Intellectual Property Organization General Assemblies shared experiences and exchanged best practices in the use of copyright and related rights’ frameworks. Speakers said they seek an enabling environment, where makers of audiovisual works can achieve economic sustainability and contribute to local employment and growth through the creation and supply of local audiovisual works.
Industry Seeks Policy Change To Strengthen Protection for GIs, Country Names Online 14/10/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Calls for the international community to promote and strengthen the protection of geographical indications and country names on the internet were made at the first side event of the annual General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization that ended last week.
Industry Offers Rankings, Recommendations On Illicit Trade In Asia 14/10/2016 by Alexandra Nightingale for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong lead the way on preventing illicit trade, followed by Japan and South Korea, according to an industry index released this week. China came in slightly above midpoint on the index, while Lao and Myanmar were at the bottom. Among the recommendations by industry were to establish custom information systems and infringement procedures to deter illicit trading. Intellectual property protection was rated as fundamental in the fight against such trade.