Ten Years Later, U.S. Report On IPR Compliance Still Questioned 12/05/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Ten years after the signing of a multilateral agreement pitched as a vehicle to help developing countries defend against unilateral actions against them by larger countries, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual report on trading partners’ protection of U.S. intellectual property rights is still questioned for its fairness or even legality, according […]
Key US Official On TRIPS And Public Health To Step Down 11/05/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Ambassador Linnet Deily, the United States representative to the World Trade Organization, has informed staff that she will be leaving office on June 15, according to a US trade official. Deily, who said she will be returning to the United States to spend more time with family, played a key role in the current round […]
Academic Panel Profiles Benefits of IP for Economic Development 10/05/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment On the coattails of last week’s multi-sided seminar on intellectual property and development at the World Intellectual Property Organisation came a half-day Georgetown University forum on “intellectual property, technology diffusion and economic development.” The Georgetown forum, held in Geneva outside WIPO on the day after the seminar, was largely attended by WIPO personnel and industry […]
WIPO Development Seminar Informs But Impact Unclear 09/05/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Many of the top experts on the subject of intellectual property and global development shared views in Geneva last week at a World Intellectual Property Organisation seminar. But while the event may have served to spell out the current debate on the issue, it is unclear how the two-day event advanced the issue from a […]
Reform Debate Trips Up WIPO Development Aid Meeting 15/04/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Members of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on Friday failed to agree on the proper role for a permanent committee on technical cooperation that could impact larger efforts by some to reform WIPO toward development issues. Debate focused on a proposal by developed countries (drafted by Canada) to broaden the scope of the existing […]
Non-Profits, Industry Offer Views On WIPO Development Agenda 14/04/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Non-governmental organisations from across the spectrum were elbow to elbow with members of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) this week as they wrestled with a proposal for an agenda to increase attention to the needs of developing countries. Private and non-profit sector representatives generally lined up on either side of debate between developed and […]
Nations Clash On Future Of WIPO Development Agenda 11/04/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Developed and developing countries faced off Monday over whether and how the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organisation’s mission should be transformed to better address the needs of developing countries. The basis for the three-day discussion ending Wednesday at the Geneva-based WIPO is a developing country proposal to change WIPO into a more typical U.N. organisation […]
Debate Heats Up Over WIPO Development Agenda 01/04/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Negotiators attending closed meetings at a UN body in Geneva in mid-April could shape the policy agenda for development and intellectual property for years to come, participants and observers say. It is not clear how the consecutive meetings at the World Intellectual Property Organisation will relate to one another. The first, an “intersessional intergovernmental meeting” […]
TRIPS Public Health Amendment Deadline Missed 31/03/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Governments negotiating to amend the World Trade Organisation intellectual property agreement to allow countries to export generic pharmaceuticals to other countries in need failed to reach agreement by a 31 March deadline, according to sources in Geneva. The deadline was set last year to replace a 30 August 2003 waiver for countries to manufacture products […]
US Trade Representative Releases Annual Trade Barriers Report 30/03/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Washington, D.C.—The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on Wednesday cited rising global piracy and counterfeiting as a top foreign trade barrier to U.S. products and services in 2005. “There is a discouraging upward trend [in piracy and counterfeiting],” a US trade official said in a telephone press briefing on the release of the […]