UK To Introduce Webmarking For Registered Designs 27/08/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments With strong backing from interested parties in the intellectual property community, the United Kingdom government plans to introduce legislation to give registered UK or European Community design holders the option to mark their products with the address of a website that links to the relevant registered design numbers, it said today.
IP Experts Kick Off UC Berkeley Innovation Centre With Calls For Change 24/08/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA — “There’s one thing we’re very good at in this nation, and that’s innovation,” Tusher Center Director and Professor David Teece said recently in setting the tone for a day of discussions inspired by the launch of the new center at the University of California at Berkeley.
The Intersection Of Trade Secret Law And Social Media Privacy Legislation 20/08/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Eric F. Barton, Esq., Seyfarth Shaw LLP There is no question that social media privacy issues now permeate the workplace. In an attempt to provide further guidance and regulation in this area, since April 2012, a growing number of state legislatures in the United States have passed various forms of social media privacy legislation. […]
India’s Lead Role In South-South Cooperation For Environmental Diplomacy 19/08/2015 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment India can play a leadership role to inspire developing countries in environmental policy-making, according to a new paper. Using its experience, India should further enhance South-South cooperation through an action plan including the establishment of a cooperation platform focussing on issues such as climate change, traditional knowledge, innovation, and intellectual property rights.
Trade Secrets: The ‘Reasonable Steps’ Requirement 19/08/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Trade secret theft is a top risk for companies today. When the worst does happen and trade secrets are compromised, companies must prove that reasonable steps have been taken to protect a company’s crown jewels. But determining what “reasonable steps” are can be challenging. Governments have been vague about the term’s definition; and laws and legislation continue to evolve on this issue. However, court actions do provide insight on the ‘reasonable steps requirement’ and point to the need for companies to embed trade secret protection into business operations to qualify as legal protection, writes Pamela Passman.
Five Reasons Why TPP Countries Should Unite To Oppose The US Pharmaceutical IP Agenda 18/08/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 3 Comments Failure to reach agreement over expanded intellectual property (IP) protections for medicines has proven to be a stumbling block to completion of the 12-country Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations. As expected, the US is continuing to pressure negotiating partners to adopt broader and longer monopoly protections for medicines. But the risks for their health systems are very high – and will be much higher if they don’t stick together in rejecting the US demands.
Finding The Right Balance Between IP And Access To Science 03/08/2015 by Jos̩phine De Ruyck for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment STRASBOURG РAs UN Special Rapporteur Farida Shaheed prepares to finalise a second consecutive report on the connection between the right to science and culture and patent policy, two well-known academics took the floor at the University of Strasbourg Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) recently to share their views and hopes for this long-awaited paper.
No Deal Overall, But TPP Ministers Agreed Some IPR Issues In Hawaii, US Says 01/08/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments While the ministers of the 12 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) acknowledged they are still far apart on certain issues such as dairy, there were some areas of agreement in this week’s negotiation in Hawaii, they said. Some of them appear to have been related to intellectual property rights, with particular mention of geographical indications (GIs).
The TPP’s Reckless Proposals For Damages Will Have Negative Impact On Future Reform Of IPR Regimes 28/07/2015 by Intellectual Property Watch 13 Comments James Love writes: This week negotiators from a dozen countries are meeting to finalize the rules for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. When or if concluded, this massive regional trade agreement will set new standards for the grant of property rights in knowledge, and the enforcement of those rights. The TPP chapter on intellectual property covers all intellectual property types included in Part II of the WTO’s TRIPS agreement, plus some others, including not only patents, copyrights and trademarks, but also “undisclosed information”, test data for the registration of drugs, industrial designs, layout-designs of integrated circuits. The rules in the TPP are intended by the United States to become global norms, effectively replacing TRIPS. While there are plenty of issues in the TPP IP Chapter, this note only addresses one set of issues — those relating to the remedies for the infringement of intellectual property rights. The remedies include such topics as injunctions, damages, and the seizure or destruction of infringing goods.
As TPP Ministers Meet, NGOs Make Urgent Push For Public Interest 27/07/2015 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Trade ministers negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement meet this week in Maui, Hawaii to try to finish the deal. Along with them are numerous public interest groups strenuously lobbying to steer the deal away from single-minded corporate interest.