New USPTO Post-Grant Review A Small Step For Patent Harmonisation 18/10/2012 by Steven Seidenberg for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment On 16 September, the United States made its patent system more like everyone else’s. The country began implementing a new patent office procedure for challenging the validity of recently issued patents. This was, however, only a modest step towards harmonisation because the US version of post-grant patent review has little in common with the corresponding processes available in other countries, according to experts.
Pro-Music Re-Launched After Nine Years 18/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Pro-Music, the international alliance of various stakeholders in the music industry promoting the use of legal services on the internet, has moved to give its website a facelift, nine years after it was launched back in 2003.
New Draft WIPO Visually Impaired Treaty Shows Progress, But “Clock Is Ticking” 18/10/2012 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment As a new revised working document on a potential treaty for visually impaired persons was issued this morning at the World Intellectual Property Organization, delegates retreated again into informal consultations for the day to try to advance the text further.
More Production Not The Way To Sustainable Agriculture, UN Study Says 17/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Sustainable agriculture needs a new paradigm in the face of the growing global population, away from the “more production” orientation, says a new study published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
WIPO Holds Annual Arbitration Workshop Off-Site For First Time 17/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The annual arbitration workshop of the World Intellectual Property Organization is taking place this year in Singapore, the first time the gathering has been held outside the United Nations agency headquarters in Geneva.
Honduras Requests WTO Panel On Australia Tobacco Law 17/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Honduras has submitted a request for the formation of a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organization regarding a tobacco plain-packaging law Australia has passed for public health reasons.
In Geneva, IP And The Catholic Church Are A Match Made In Heaven 17/10/2012 by Maricel Estavillo for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment With his distinctive clerical garb, Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi stood out in a sea of coat and tie-wearing dignitaries at the recent General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva. His presence is a glaring reminder to every stakeholder in the room that intellectual property, often associated with excessive and self-serving patent wars these days, has a place in the Catholic Church.
WIPO Members Meet To Advance Treaty Text On Visually Impaired 17/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Following the recent approval by the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly of a work plan toward a diplomatic conference in 2013, WIPO members are gathering this week to advance work on a draft treaty on exceptions to copyright for visually impaired readers.
Open-Access Journal eLife Publishes First Articles 16/10/2012 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A new open-access journal for science, eLife, has released its first collection of research articles.
Standards-Setting Organisations Increasingly Make IPR A Priority 16/10/2012 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Washington, DC – Standards guide many aspects of our lives. They instruct how telephones talk to each other, how the life sciences community shares information, how electrical devices are charged, and how the internet runs, among other things. It’s standard-setting organisations (SSOs) that facilitate discussions among stakeholders – including intellectual property owners and users – and produce common, typically voluntary technical standards to address needs and concerns of those using the technology. Companies need to make compatible or interoperable products that comply with these standards in order to compete in the global marketplace. And intellectual property is increasingly coming into play in the development of these standards.