Traditional Knowledge, Folklore: How To Protect Them From Misappropriation – This Week At WIPO 10/12/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The ways to protect traditional knowledge and folklore against misuse and misappropriation are under discussion this week at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Member states are trying to find consensus on draft articles of a potential treaty, with a focus on core subjects, such as the scope of protection, and definition. Meanwhile, the fund which allows indigenous peoples to participate in the discussion is depleted, as calls for contributions have remained unanswered and some countries have refused in the past to allow WIPO’s ample revenues to pay for them.
EU Members Push For Private Censorship Of Terrorist Content On The Internet 06/12/2018 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Big platform providers and small hosters alike shall be obliged to censor, according to a draft regulation presented by the European Commission in mid-September and accepted by EU member states at their Council meeting today.
As Blockchain Inventions Explode, EPO Says It’s Ready To Meet Patent Demand 05/12/2018 by Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — The number of blockchain inventions is mushrooming, and the European Patent Office wants to ensure it handles the increasing patent applications consistently, officials said at a 4 December conference that brought together around 350 patent examiners and practitioners.
Defending Fair Use In South Africa 04/12/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Sean Flynn, Peter Jaszi, and Mike Carroll write: On Wednesday the South African National Assembly vote on the Copyright Amendment Bill, which includes a new “fair use” right. Learned professors at the University of Stellenbosch have taken to calling the bill “shambolic”, and “an abomination.” It is certainly time for a little light to go with the heat.
US IP Stakeholders Seek To Strengthen Public Support For IP, Ensure Future US Competitiveness 04/12/2018 by David Branigan, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment NEW YORK — United States intellectual property stakeholders from academic, business and legal backgrounds gathered recently to discuss how to increase public support to strengthen the intellectual property rights system in the US, in light of China’s steady rise in numbers of patent and trademark filings. US IP stakeholders argued that developing public awareness and understanding of IP is key to building this support, with some holding diverging views on how to go about this.
WHO Director Tedros Gives Thoughts On Access To Medicines, Gene Editing, Ebola 03/12/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Dr Tedros) met with United Nations journalists today, in what he said would become a regular end-of-the-year meeting with the press. He gave an update on the ongoing Ebola outbreak and his views on the recent human gene editing by a Chinese researcher, and on the use of gene drive organisms to fight malaria. He also provided his views on access to affordable and safe medicines.
CBD Biennial Meeting Closes With Resolutions On Digital Sequence Data, Conflicts Of Interest, Global Benefit-Sharing 30/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The biennial meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its protocol on access and benefit-sharing closed yesterday with a list of adopted decisions. Among them was a decision to commission several studies on the impact of digital sequence data on the CBD for a recommendation at the next meeting in 2020. Delegates also agreed on a study to examine cases of genetic resources, and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, not yet covered by the protocol. Also adopted is the first decision on the management and prevention of conflicts of interest in expert groups.
UN Biodiversity Convention Agrees On Precautionary Approach To Synthetic Biology 29/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment SHARM El-SHEIKH, Egypt — While the world has been taken by surprise after a Chinese researcher declared he had genetically modified twin babies, and critics are rising from all parts, the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a decision on synthetic biology today at the close of its biennial meeting. The decision which calls for a precautionary approach was hailed by civil society groups which were calling for a moratorium preventing gene drive organisms to be released in the wild.
Gene Editing Divides UN Biodiversity Convention Members On Synthetic Biology Evaluation 28/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — After informal closed consultations, a draft decision was issued yesterday on how the UN Convention on Biological Diversity should address potential impacts of synthetic biology, during the biennial conference of the parties taking place this week. The issue of the release of gene drive organisms into the environment was a contentious issue as civil society had been lobbying for a moratorium preventing the release into the wild of those organisms able to wipe out entire species. This morning consensus was still eluding delegates, particularly over the singling out of gene editing in the decision.
New Database Documents The Power Of TRIPS Flexibilities 28/11/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Ellen ‘t Hoen writes: Medicines Law & Policy has published an on-line database of instances of the use of TRIPS flexibilities in public health contexts, titled the TRIPS Flexibilities Database. The publication of the TRIPS Flexibilities Database merits sharing a bit of its history because it has been a work in progress for some time. The database includes cases of actual use of TRIPS flexibilities and instances in which countries planned or threatened to use them. The collection of such cases started ten years ago as part of a research project to document and examine the uptake of the flexibilities contained in the TRIPS Agreement in medicines procurement.