Intellectual Property Watch: Intellectual Property Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Intellectual Property Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual Property Watch

Reports on the interests and behind-the-scenes dynamics that influence the design and implementation of international intellectual property policies.
By Intellectual Property Watch

Post Frequency: 15.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 09:41:17

Europe Acts On Visually Impaired Reader Access

Posted on September 19, 2010
The European Blind Union and the Federation of European Publishers have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on access to works for dyslexic or visually impaired readers on 14 September. Related Articles:WIPO Draft On Visually Impaired Shows Breakthrough; A-V Treaty Negotiation Under Discussion Big Step Forward On Treaty For The Visually Impaired At WIPO Initiative For Harmonisation Of Copyright Exceptions In Europe

US Companies, Officials Discuss Policies To Boost IP Value, Cut Costs

Posted on September 18, 2010
Private-sector experts and key government officials in the United States came together this week to discuss strategies for improving rules and procedures on intellectual property, and look for ways to maximise the value of company IP assets while cutting costs...

Online Social Media Strategy: Use Them Or Be Used By Them

Posted on September 18, 2010
A frontline debate among many industry intellectual property lawyers in the United States is how to handle the explosion in use of online social networking media tools like Facebook, Twitter or FourSquare. Related Articles:The Great Firewall of China: When Does Online Censorship Violate WTO Rules? European Union Prepares A New Intellectual Property Rights Strategy Special Report: The Potential Consequences of Google’s Electronic Book Initiative

Consultations On WTO Drug Transit Case Continue

Posted on September 16, 2010
The second round of World Trade Organization dispute settlement consultations between the European Union and the Netherlands and India and Brazil over the seizure of generic medicines in transit were held this week. Related Articles:China Tells WTO: Obligations Fulfilled On IP Dispute Case WTO Appellate Body Report On US-China Dispute Lamy Reports On TRIPS Consultations

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Economists Report Empirical Evidence Of TRIPS Impact On Developing Countries

Posted on September 16, 2010
The World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement has sparked decades of international debate over whether exporting stronger intellectual property norms to developing countries is beneficial or harmful...

High Copyright Transaction Costs Cause ?Friction,? Google Economist Tells WIPO

Posted on September 16, 2010
The combined forces of strengthening copyright law and the explosion of information has led to huge transaction costs in managing legitimate transactions of copyright material, the top economist from Google said yesterday at the World Intellectual Property Organization...

China Defies Global Trend In Patent and Trademark Applications, WIPO Says

Posted on September 15, 2010
The global economic crisis led to a significant drop in patent and trademarks filings in 2008 and particularly in 2009 but there are signs of recovery, according to the World Intellectual Property Indicators 2010 report released today. China is still showing vigorous growth and demand in intellectual property protection...

Human Rights Council Opens With New Work On IP

Posted on September 14, 2010
The UN Human Rights Council opened yesterday morning, with its session planned to run until 1 October. Several new reports that touch on issues of innovation and indigenous protection are expected to be presented. The Working Group on the Right to Development will submit the report of a session it held in Geneva in April, at [...

Campaign Aims To Take Back Consumer Rights Over IP-Protected Products

Posted on September 14, 2010
Copyright and patent laws “are often misused” for reasons that have “more to do with limiting competition and preventing consumers from making innovative uses of their products” than they do with stopping piracy, global consumer advocacy group Consumers International plans to tell a UN internet meeting today...

Swiss Supreme Court Forbids Rights Holder Access To IP Addresses

Posted on September 14, 2010
Swiss Supreme Court Forbids Rights Holders? Access to Personal IP Addresses The Swiss Federal Supreme Court took a decision on 8 September preventing the collection of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses by private companies. Related Articles:In Bilski Decision, US Supreme Court Adopts Tough But Vague Test for Business Method Patents US Court Opens Door To Challenges Of Gene Patenting Court Finds German Data Retention Law Unconstitutional

Campaign Aims To Take Back Consumer Rights Over IP-Protected Products

Posted on September 14, 2010
Copyright and patent laws "are often misused" for reasons that have "more to do with limiting competition and preventing consumers from making innovative uses of their products" than they do with stopping piracy, global consumer advocacy group Consumers International plans to tell a UN internet meeting today...

IP-Watch Chairs IP Law Summit

Posted on September 13, 2010
Intellectual Property Watch Editor William New this week is chairing an IP Law Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada (US), being held from 12-14 September. The event is addressing latest issues at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), prospects for US and international patent reform, US copyright law reform in the context of international [...

African Traditional Knowledge And Folklore Given IP Protection Despite Warning Of TK Commodification

Posted on September 12, 2010
Some African nations signed a protocol on the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore at the beginning of August gaining the praise of the World Intellectual Property Organization. However, a United Nations report launched in January warned against the application of western legal and economic principles to collectively owned knowledge in traditional communities...

NGOs Warn On IP In Trans Pacific Trade Agreement

Posted on September 10, 2010
A coalition of some two dozen nongovernmental organisations yesterday sent a letter to the United States Trade Representative raising concern about the impact on access to medicines of intellectual property provisions in a regional, Asia-Pacific trade agreement, known as the Trans Pacific Partnership, which is under negotiation...

EU Launches Survey Of Countries? Deficiency In IP Enforcement

Posted on September 08, 2010
The European Commission has launched its survey on intellectual property protection and enforcement in third countries. The survey is open until 31 October. Every two years the Commission conducts ?a broad IPR enforcement survey,? that will serve, with other input, to establish a list of ?priority countries? where counterfeiting and piracy are considered ?a serious [...

European Commission Tells Parliament ACTA Must Be Minimal

Posted on September 08, 2010
European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht today told the plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg that it has become clear the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) could only be concluded by sticking to a minimum consensus. But this might result in some lack of effectiveness of the much-debated anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, he said...

Treaty Negotiators Turn To ?ACTA Lite? In Hopes Of Closure

Posted on September 07, 2010
Everyone you ask this week about the Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement (ACTA) tells you that they?re just about to work their way through the new draft version to understand the implications of changes made during the recent negotiation round in Washington, DC...

Lack Of Transparency In EU-India FTA Talks Spurs Requests For Halt

Posted on September 03, 2010
European and Indian business not only have privileged access to information on the planned EU-India free trade agreement, they even set the agenda for this negotiation from the start. That is the conclusion of a study by the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and India FDI Watch published this week in Brussels and Delhi...

Human Survival Depends On Shared Technology, Says New UN Climate Chief

Posted on September 03, 2010
In between climate change conferences, Christiana Figueres, newly appointed executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was in Geneva yesterday to attend a ministerial meeting convened by the Swiss and Mexican governments on climate change finance...

US Looking For New Tack On IP Rights With BRIC Countries

Posted on September 03, 2010
Developed countries are looking for ways to address the ongoing lack of intellectual property enforcement and efforts to bypass international trade obligations in the four biggest emerging global economies, as well as emulation of this behaviour by other emerging economies in particular as the four countries have a stronger voice in international fora, a panel of United States trade experts said this week...

Third Try Set For CBD Biodiversity Benefit-Sharing Treaty

Posted on September 02, 2010
The third attempt at concluding negotiations on a draft protocol text on international biodiversity access and benefit-sharing will take place in Montreal on 18-21 September, according to official sources. Delegates at the meeting will try to agree on the text, before the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Nagoya, Japan, in October...

Key Committee Debates Changes In WIPO Performance, Spending

Posted on September 01, 2010
The powerful World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee is meeting this week for three days of discussions a new strategic plan, the status of its audit function in the aftermath of past financial mismanagement, the financing of new projects related to the Development Agenda, and new policies on WIPO financial reserves, languages and investments...

Brazil Copyright Reform Comment Period Ends With Push

Posted on September 01, 2010
There was significant activity at the close of the public comment period on Brazil’s proposed reform of its copyright law, according to blogger Volker Grassmuck, who has followed the reform effort closely. Grassmuck detailed a last minute rush in submissions on 31 August from a network of civil society and artists groups aiming to legalise [...

Appellations Of Origin Discussed This Week At WIPO

Posted on September 01, 2010
The second meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization Working Group on the Development of the Lisbon System (Appellations of Origin) is taking place in Geneva from 30 August ? 3 September. At this meeting WIPO was expected to present a study on the relationship between regional systems for the protection of geographical indications and the [...

Changes At USPTO, Sidley’s Geneva Office

Posted on August 31, 2010
Barely a year after her appointment as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Administrator for Policy and External Affairs, Arti Rai has resigned her position and will go back to a faculty position at Duke University Law School, according to a USPTO spokesperson...

Validity Of Patents On HIV/AIDS Treatment Challenged

Posted on August 30, 2010
Eight patents on HIV/AIDS medicines are being challenged by the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT), a US-based nonprofit legal service group working to “protect the public from the harms caused by errors within the patent system, particularly the harms caused by undeserved patents and unsound patent policy,” the group has announced...

Gates Foundation?s Monsanto Investment Stirs Civil Society

Posted on August 30, 2010
Sagging stock prices in the second quarter of 2010 attracted the interest of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the foundation added the Goldman Sachs Group and Monsanto to its portfolio, according to the Dow Jones Newswires. The foundation recently bought about 500,000 shares of the giant biotech company, according to another financial website...

The Relationship Between IP, Technology Transfer, and Development

Posted on August 30, 2010
An analysis of practices and policies involving intellectual property, technology transfer and development shows the difficulties of achieving a positive correlation between those areas. Related Articles:Development Agenda Conference: WIPO Can Enable Fair Technology Transfer WIPO Development Committee Deepens Look At Technology Transfer, Coordination UN Human Rights Body Examines WIPO Development Agenda, Tech Transfer, WHO

Special Report: Is Geneva Public Health Capital Of The World?

Posted on August 29, 2010
International public health in Geneva is no longer just the province of the World Health Organization. Dozens of intergovernmental and nongovernmental agencies, along with financing organisations and partnerships, have headquartered their operations in Geneva, making the mid-sized Swiss city a public health capital of the world...

Rights Holders Launch Initiative To Protect Content In Africa

Posted on August 26, 2010
Foreign content producers and broadcasters hope the soon-to-be-launched Africa Media Rights Watch will help convince the region?s regulators and consumers alike to increase respect for copyright. Related Articles:European Broadcasters Call For Easier Copyright Clearance For Online Content Special Report: The Potential Consequences of Google’s Electronic Book Initiative Regulators’ Role Seen Rising As E-Content Tied To Devices

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

When Government Inversely Condemns Property by Regulation, Magnitude of State Interest Has No Bearing Upon Just Compensation
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently decided a case in which a p...

Eminent Domain in China: Private property rights law opens the door to capitalism
by Priya Prakash Royal'The revision of the property law delivers a...

Property Owner Fights Zoners Over Planned Cross On Lake Michigan
Friday's Grand Haven (MI) Tribune reports that a St. Joseph, Michi...

Eminent Domain, Fifth Amendment Property Rights, and Government Retaliation
On June 25, 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States dec...