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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

Georg Greve on Software Patents

Posted on March 30, 2009
Georg Greve makes the case that software fails a three-step test to determine patentability.

Is WIPO A Cybersquatter?

Posted on March 30, 2009
The academic Internet Governance Project reports that the World Intellectual Property Organization - a key arbitration body for global internet domain disputes - appears to have registered a domain name using a name trademarked by someone else three years earlier...

Germany Opts For ISP Filtering Of Child Pornography; NGOs Warn Of Unintended Impact

Posted on March 30, 2009
Several German ministries seem to be in a footrace to draft legal text for a filtering regime blocking child pornography from German users? personal computers agreed by the government last week.

Strickling Nominated To Head US Telecom & Internet Agency

Posted on March 30, 2009
The Obama administration recently nominated Larry Strickling assistant secretary of Commerce for communications and information, a post which would make him head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The NTIA is responsible for the US government agreement overseeing the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is the technical coordinator of [...

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US Commerce Secretary Locke On Patents

Posted on March 30, 2009
Newly confirmed United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke was asked some questions about patents during his nomination process in the Senate. The Commerce secretary oversees the US Patent and Trademark Office. Here are his responses [pdf], according to a Washington lobbying group.

WIPO Patent Committee Calls For Further Study, Consultations

Posted on March 30, 2009
Five new studies on select patent-related topics and informal, open-ended consultations on global issues are the key elements of future work for a World Intellectual Property Organization committee that wrapped up its meeting late Friday.

Industry Gets European Union Buy-In At Event Against Piracy, Counterfeiting

Posted on March 30, 2009
The European Commission this week will launch a forum for coordinating attacks against counterfeit and pirated goods, to be announced at a daylong event featuring representatives from a wide range of industries. No representatives of the public interest or consumers appear to be included in the event or related initiatives.

US Wrestles With Transparency As Europeans Urge Release Of ACTA Texts

Posted on March 27, 2009
The parliaments of Sweden and the European Union are urging the European Union to make public all documentation related to a secretive global anti-counterfeiting treaty, while the United States has claimed the papers are a matter of national security and therefore a state secret...

Are Patent Exceptions Necessary For Climate Change Technology? Defining WIPO?s Role

Posted on March 26, 2009
Addressing the challenge of climate change will require technological solutions and the dissemination of those solutions to as many users as possible. A panel at the World Intellectual Property Organization Tuesday asked how intellectual property law might help or hinder that transfer, and what role the organisation might play in creating the right policy.

US Patent Reform Legislation Progressing; Committee To Reconvene Next Week

Posted on March 26, 2009
The committee of the United States Senate drafting legislation to reform the US patent system made little progress at a meeting Thursday, according to sources, but adopted a bipartisan amendment and scheduled to reconvene next week to continue work.

Concerns Voiced At WIPO Over Potential Conflicts Between IP And Standards

Posted on March 25, 2009
Regulatory caution on technology standards and intellectual property rights is increasingly necessary, as technology - and the need for interoperability between platforms - dominates the market economy as well as global communications, said a panel on patents and standards Monday.

Locke Confirmed As US Commerce Secretary

Posted on March 25, 2009
Gary Locke was confirmed as the United States Commerce Secretary by a unanimous vote in the Senate Tuesday evening. Locke, a former Washington state governor and the first Chinese-American to hold the post, will inherit position shaped by the global recession, but was ?honoured to take on this challenge and will work every day to [...

Parties Accept WTO Dispute Settlement Report On China IP Protection

Posted on March 24, 2009
A final decision on a World Trade Organization case over intellectual property rights protection between China and the United States was accepted by the states Friday, with both claiming its arbiter had affirmed their positions.

Patent Meeting Debates Linkages With Development; Exceptions & Limitations

Posted on March 24, 2009
Questions on how to best to link patent law and development issues led the opening discussion at this week?s World Intellectual Property Organization meeting on patent law. A WIPO study on exceptions and limitations was discussed Monday and Tuesday, with talk turning towards whether a third party examination of the issue was needed.

GSK Reports On Corporate Responsibility

Posted on March 24, 2009
United Kingdom pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday reported on its corporate responsibility activities in 2008 and 2009, including a commitment to cutting prices on patented medicines for poor countries. GSK’s recent public announcement on access to medicines has generated some goodwill for the company though public health advocates and observers have been cautious in their [...

European Patent Office: Patent Applications Slow As Rejections Rise

Posted on March 21, 2009
In a trend appearing in other patent offices around the world, patent applications at the European Patent Office continued to rise in 2008, but at a slower rate toward the end of year. At the EPO, this was coupled with the lowest percentage of granted patents in its history.

Agricultural Technology Could Feed Rising Population, But Who Will Own Crops?

Posted on March 20, 2009
The genetic revolution has come to food, as debates over how to deal with future pressures of population and climate change look to agricultural technology in hope of answers. But questions still remain over who owns the technology, who will do the research, and what forms of - and even whether - biotechnology is appropriate to human needs and the needs of smallholding farmers.

WIPO, UNCITRAL Team Up On IP And Finance

Posted on March 20, 2009
Officials from two lawyerly United Nations agencies met recently to discuss their roles and build cooperation in intellectual property finance, especially in light of the global economic crisis.

DRM Thwarts Gordon Brown’s Effort To Enjoy Gift From Barack Obama

Posted on March 20, 2009
United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown was not able to watch the classic American movies presented to him by President Barack Obama thanks to digital rights management technologies, reported the UK press. The technology used in this particular case restricts the part of the world in which a DVD will play - the DVDs purchased [...

WIPO Patent Committee To Consider Four New Reports, Global Challenges

Posted on March 20, 2009
The committee on patents at the World Intellectual Property Organization is set to be re-energised next week as it tackles four new reports, and addresses an ongoing question of the relationship of patent rights to wider policy issues on climate change and other environmental issues, public health, and food security.

Concerns As Australia Censors Wikileaks Page

Posted on March 18, 2009
Outcry from concerned internet users over Australia’s attempts to censor ‘objectionable’ parts of the web has grown this week as internet-based depository for leaked documents Wikileaks reported that one of its pages is now banned in Australia...

US Senate Approves Kirk As USTR

Posted on March 18, 2009
The United States Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the nomination of United States Trade Representative (USTR) designee Ron Kirk as the nation?s 16th trade representative, according to a USTR office release. As USTR, Kirk is member of President Obama?s Cabinet and serves as the President?s principal trade advisor, negotiator and spokesperson on trade issues...

UKIPO: Copyright Owners And Internet Providers, Please Regulate Yourselves!

Posted on March 18, 2009
The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office on Monday published a proposal for a ?rights agency? that would tackle problems related to digital copyright. The envisioned agency that would be managed and funded by rights owners and take up a two-fold task by facilitating the creation of a digital market and preventing and reducing online piracy.

New Medical Technologies Bring New IP Challenges

Posted on March 17, 2009
LYON, FRANCE ? At the cutting edge of medical technology lie new hopes for patients, but also serious ethical concerns and potential intellectual property snags.

Sigue La Expansion De Los Alcances De La Propiedad Intelectual

Posted on March 17, 2009
Santiago Roca escriba: La Uni�n Europea est� solicitando mas extensiones en propiedad intelectual que los Estados Unidos de Norteam�rica en la negociaci�n del tratado de libre comercio.

UN Agency Issues Guidelines Urging Curbs On Online Pharmacies

Posted on March 17, 2009
The International Narcotics Control Board, which implements United Nations drug control conventions, has released a set of guidelines they say will help governments prevent the sale of controlled substances online. “Internet pharmacies can be accessed by anyone, anywhere who happens to be online,” observed INCB’s president, Hamid Ghodse...

Choruss’s Covenant: The Promised Land (Maybe) For Record Labels; A Lesser Destination For Everyone Else

Posted on March 17, 2009
Bennett Lincoff writes: If Choruss abandons the time-tested approach of licensing and relies instead on covenants not to sue, it will facilitate a brazen money grab by the major labels it represents, leaving songwriters, recording artists and music publishers empty-handed, and college students holding the bag.

Record Cybersquatting Cases As WIPO Seeks New Trademark Protections

Posted on March 16, 2009
A record number of cybersquatting complaints were filed at the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2008, and the organisation is preparing for a potentially much larger set of concerns as the launch of an unknown number of new domains approaches.

$4.7 Billion For Broadband Opportunities In US

Posted on March 16, 2009
Rural and underserved areas in the United States will have US $4.7 billion to improve their access to broadband technologies. Some of the funds are earmarked for specific purposes — $250 million will go to sustainable adoption of broadband, for instance, and $200 million will go towards improving technological capacity at libraries, community colleges and [...

Kenya Conference: Financial Incentives Needed For Neglected Disease Research

Posted on March 16, 2009
NAIROBI - Governments in Kenya and other developing nations must be willing to provide financial incentives if they expect companies to carry out research and development of drugs specifically tailored to those countries' needs, a conference in Nairobi was told last week.

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