WIPO Committee Discusses Boosting Client-Patent Adviser Secrecy 01/02/2010 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A key committee focused on patent law at the World Intellectual Property Organization in seeking to establish its new work programme last week discussed a proposal to better protect the confidentiality of information passed between patent advisers and their clients. But the meeting ended in no decision, and the issue is expected to come up again when the patent committee next meets in October 2010.
African Plant Extract Freed From German Patent 01/02/2010 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Patent Office’s recent revocation of a German company’s patent on a plant extract is being seen by some as a step toward fighting biopiracy related to intellectual property rights. In its 26 January decision, the EPO considered the compliance of the company with the Conventional on Biodiversity rules on access and benefit sharing. […]
Latest WIPO Draft Shows Options For Work Programme On Patents 28/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch and William New Leave a Comment The latest available text on future work at the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on the Law of Patents is available from the IP Watch website. The draft emerged this evening.
WIPO Patent Committee Prepares To Discuss Future Work Programme 27/01/2010 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization patent committee this week are focussed on a series of new studies, though one of the more difficult issues on the table – exceptions and limitations to patent law – will not be substantively dealt with until the next meeting in October. Discussions on future work for the committee, with a proposal on the table from Brazil for a new work programme on exceptions and limitations, are soon to begin and are likely to be the most difficult topic of the week.
2010 US Industry Group Priorities: Patent Reform, USPTO Funds, Genes, Green Tech 26/01/2010 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Along with a domestic agenda that includes patent reform and improving the efficiency of the US Patent and Trademark Office, the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) this year also is eyeing issues at the international level, such as genetic resources, environmental technologies and international patent harmonisation.
Microsoft Loses Key Patent Judgment 23/12/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Computer technology giant Microsoft has lost an appeal on a patent case that now could see the company withdrawing the current versions of two of its widely-used software programmes from the market. The dispute concerns a computer language for document programmes, called XML, that allows for the editing of certain structural information in a document. […]
Take Two — China’s Proposed Regulations For Patent-Involving National Standards 21/12/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The Standards Administration of China patent policy proposal fails to strike the desired balance and undervalues the intellectual property included in a standard. If implemented as worded, it will discourage the contribution of innovative technologies for use in national standards and the participation of patent holders, writes George Willingmyre.
China’s Standards And Patent Innovation Proposals — Problems For IPR And Global Trade? 21/12/2009 by Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Although the Standardization Administration of China is trying to balance the requirements of society, which include the rights of individuals, owners of IP and institutional investors to invest in innovation by earning a reasonable fair return on their patented products with the right of all members of society to benefit from innovation and new technologies; the balance by all accounts has not been made with its recently proposed legislation, writes Dr Ruth Taplin.
Civil Society, Elected Officials Rally Behind UNITAID Patent Pool 14/12/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments This week’s consideration of an implementation plan for a medicines patent pool by the board of oversight body UNITAID stirred a stream of stakeholder letters from around the world.
UNITAID Drug Patent Pool Implementation Hinges On Board 11/12/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Implementation of a United Nations-related patent pool initiative that independent reviewers say could save millions of lives (and dollars) is set to be approved next week by the initiative’s board, though some observers fear resistance from strong patent beneficiaries, such as the foundation run by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. A confidential report on the initiative prepared for board approval is expected to show multiple benefits to implementation of the pool, but also some concerns, according to informed sources.