Panel Calls For An Ethical Framework For IP And Climate Change 16/10/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments BANGKOK – Normal negotiation strategy is unlikely to result in an impact on climate change, since the most important stakeholders in fighting it – not yet born – have no seat at the negotiating tables, said a panel last week in Bangkok. An ethical approach is a better way to achieve results, speakers said, and an ethical take on intellectual property rights and alternative forms of innovation may have a place in new climate-friendly economic models.
ITU Panels: Innovation Makes ICTs A Moving Landscape; IP Dispute Resolution Rising 14/10/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Innovation in information and communications technologies during the economic downturn has brought shifts in the landscape with new technologies and newcomers in the market, according to speakers at a symposium organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center on 8 October. Meanwhile, dispute resolution involving intellectual property rights is on the rise, they said.
Internet Domain Dispute Resolution Working, Needs Updates, WIPO Told 12/10/2009 by William New and Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments One of the features of the multi-faceted United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization is its arbitration and mediation of disputes over internet domain names. At a conference at WIPO today, supporters and lawyers who use the system said it is working but suggested some further improvements and a fear of more new domains being introduced.
WTO Forum: Bypassing International Agreements May Hamper Medicines Access 11/10/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Access to medicines in developing countries may be put at risk by European customs regulations and more broadly by trade provisions in most free trade agreements between developed and developing countries, said speakers at the recent World Trade Organization Public Forum.
IP Rights In Agriculture: High Stakes, Entrenched Positions At WTO Public Forum 08/10/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments The economic, climate and food crises were on the lips of speakers at the 2009 World Trade Organization Public Forum last week. Suggestions for better global governance were sought from stakeholders who took the podium in different sessions, and trade in agriculture was a focal point of the event.
New Text Shows Delegates Must Overcome Conceptual Differences On IP, Climate 06/10/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment BANGKOK – Delegates gathered in Thailand to try and pull together a slow-moving UN negotiation on a plan to fight climate change have yet to bridge fundamental conceptual differences on key issues, including intellectual property. The vast majority of consensus found so far at the two-week informal gathering has been textual rather than political, said several participants.
Access To Safe Medicine A Public Health Issue, Not IP, Says Panel 04/10/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Anti-counterfeiting initiatives might have a negative impact on access to medicines while not addressing the problem of fake medicines, particularly in developing countries, according to panellists at a recent event organised by the Open Society Institute.
Role Of WIPO On Traditional Knowledge In Question 30/09/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Failure to resolve the deadlock over traditional knowledge at the World Intellectual Property Organization would call into question the organisation’s role, some member states said this week, as the chair of the General Assemblies tabled a text in an attempt to bridge major gaps that still remain. Meanwhile, the organisation adopted a commitment to approve the availability of documents in all its languages.
Regulators’ Role Seen Rising As E-Content Tied To Devices 29/09/2009 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 5 Comments When Amazon.com remotely deleted George Orwell’s “1984″ and “Animal Farm” from its Kindle e-books, it stirred up a hornet’s nest of complaints about privacy, the potential erosion of copyright users’ rights and censorship. Is the shift to “tethered devices” a real cause for concern or much ado about nothing?
ICANN’s New US Contract And New Top Level Domains – It’s Not Over 29/09/2009 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments With a day to go before the joint project agreement between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the United States Department of Commerce (DoC) is set to expire, calls for continuous US oversight role have been reiterated by US politicians and private-sector representatives who reason that this oversight is especially needed in the face of the planned introduction of new internet top-level domains like .shop.