Superconductivity Is Celebrated This Year, Further Work Needed To Tame It 09/04/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment A hundred years ago, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and his student Gilles Holst discovered a property that was to launch decades of fervent research to understand the phenomenon: Superconductivity. Today, researchers are still trying to find ways to use this remarkable property, but are celebrating the centenary of its discovery.
FAO Seed Treaty Carries Hope, Addressing Country Contributions, Farmers Concerns 30/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments Funding mechanisms and farmers’ rights were among the issues that captured the attention of member countries of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture during the biannual meeting of its Governing Body.
US Farmers Sue Monsanto Over GMO Patents, Demand Right To Conventional Crops 30/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 23 Comments The Public Patent Foundation filed suit yesterday against Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seeds with farmers asking to be protected against the biotechnology giant’s potential lawsuits in case of accidental contamination from plants grown with its seeds.
Committee Nears Final Review Of WHO Performance On H1N1 Pandemic 29/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments The committee reviewing the World Health Organization’s response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and whether the international organisation was unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry in its response is working this week to formulate its final report.
India, WIPO Connect On Traditional Knowledge Protection, With Or Without Patents 28/03/2011 by William New and Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The World Intellectual Property Organization went to India last week to highlight the country’s success in creating a digital library of Indian traditional knowledge, which it uses to prevent illegitimate patenting of its resources. But whether WIPO found a way to fit the Indian project into the UN agency’s mission to protect and promote intellectual property rights was unclear.
Experts Meet To Weigh Health And Environment Scientific Innovations 28/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Scientific advances in life sciences, in particular health, are being evaluated by experts this week in Lyon, France, with the stated hope of bringing new answers to global health challenges, such as funding, costs, and innovation.
Google, Authors, Will Need To Rethink Digital Book Settlement 23/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Google’s efforts to resolve questions of copyright infringement in its digital library project did not yield the hoped-for result as a district court judge yesterday rejected the agreement. But the judge left open the possibility that the parties could come back again with revisions.
Pharma Industry Seeks To Bring A Fresh Face To Public Health Policy 23/03/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The research-based pharmaceutical industry is working to bring a fresh face to the international public health policy arena in Geneva, most recently through a new initiative on technology transfer. Working through the industry’s Geneva-based trade association, the effort to be seen in a more positive light comes after years of doubts about the transparency of its involvement in these issues and could change the tenor of international negotiations.
US IP Enforcement Ambitions In Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement Stir Reactions 16/03/2011 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An alleged official document leaked last week showed that the United States is taking the lead in escalating intellectual property rights enforcement in negotiations for a regional trade agreement among countries bordering the Pacific Ocean. But there may be some concern about IP protection going beyond existing international trade obligations.
UN Agencies Encourage Use Of WTO Measures To Lower HIV Medicines Costs 15/03/2011 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Three United Nations agencies have joined together to explain to their member countries the little-understood but hard-won flexibilities to applying stiff international intellectual property rules. The focus of the new policy brief is on improving access to HIV treatment, and it offers a series of actions for governments and international organisations.