South African Authors Seek First Public Lending Right In A Developing Country 29/06/2009 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment South Africa could become the first developing country to permit authors to be paid when libraries lend their books if an authors’ group gets it way, but the proposal is likely to spur strong opposition from access-to-knowledge advocates and libraries.
Leadership Changes At Free Software Foundation Europe 25/06/2009 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), a high-impact nonprofit organisation focussed on access to software in the broader scope of participation in the digital society, this week named named new leadership for the first time in nearly a decade since its inception.
WHO Or Who Should Guarantee The Right To Health? 24/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment With implementation of the World Health Organization strategy on intellectual property and innovation beginning in earnest, international experts this week debated how human rights could be infused into global health strategies – including the possibility of new international agreements on research and development – and whether WHO is up to the task.
First Result Of Benefit-Sharing Mechanism For FAO Treaty; Push For Farmers’ Rights 22/06/2009 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Members of a global treaty on plant genetic resources this month announced 11 new projects on biodiversity conservation in research institutions, and financed by a benefit-sharing fund whose sustainability is still in doubt. The group separately acted to better protect farmers’ rights at the national level.
Thailand Seeks To Toughen IP Laws to Punish Buyers Of Pirated Or Fake Goods 19/06/2009 by Sinfah Tunsarawuth for Intellectual Property Watch 6 Comments BANGKOK – Thailand plans to toughen its intellectual property protection law to punish, for the first time, buyers of products that breach copyright and trademark laws, aiming primarily at pirated music and movies and fake brand-name goods, a senior Thai official said Thursday.
Santa Cruz To Head Chilean IP Office; Kappos Named USPTO Director 19/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch and William New Leave a Comment A well-liked and influential IP policymaker in Geneva will head Chile’s national IP office, a US lawyer responsible for perhaps the world’s biggest industry patent portfolio will head the US IP office, and a fixture in the Geneva international trade negotiating and lobbying community is heading home to Canada.
Malgré les obstacles, les pressions de la France au niveau national visant à sanctionner le piratage sur Internet font des émules 18/06/2009 by Liza Porteus Viana, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment WASHINGTON – Le 9 juin, au cours d’une conférence, la ministre française de la Culture et de la Communication, Christine Albanel, a défini la loi Création et Internet comme étant « à la fois ambitieuse et réaliste ». Selon elle, ceux qui pensent qu’Internet est une zone de non-droit « se trompent d’époque ». À l’occasion de cette conférence, des hypothèses ont également été avancées quant à la législation américaine entourant la réforme des brevets, les droits d’interprétation et d’exécution, et d’autres questions.
UN Special Rapporteur: IP In Health Helping Those With Most Means, Less Need 16/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Nearly two billion people lack access to the medical care they need, and in the developing world those who do manage to have access are overwhelmingly paying out-of-pocket, often triggering a fall into poverty. The monopoly-making power of patents to drive the cost of medicines beyond affordability is a significant contributor to this disturbing trend, says a report of the United Nations rapporteur on the right to health presented at last week’s Human Rights Council.
Conseil de l’Europe : l’accès à l’internet est un droit fondamental 12/06/2009 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment L’argument souvent utilisé par les législateurs contre la communication Internet qui veut que ce qui est valable dans l’univers physique l’est aussi en ligne a été utilisé par le Conseil de l’Europe dans une nouvelle résolution concernant les droits fondamentaux en ligne.
Turning Points Ahead For WTO Geographical Indications, Biodiversity? 12/06/2009 by Kaitlin Mara for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The coming months could spell changes in the long-running World Trade Organization talks on creating a register for wines and spirits geographical indications and amending WTO rules to better protect biodiversity rights. Developed countries that have been blocking progress on the issues for years may be pushed at a political level, according to some sources.