Knowledge Ecology International

SCCR27: UK proposal on the Proposed WIPO treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations (the BBC experience)

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Thiru

On 8 April 2014, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland submitted a paper to the 27th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) on the Proposed WIPO treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations (SCCR/27/3). In its proposal, the UK endeavors to “shed light on a number of different technologies already being used by broadcasters from around the world” including the deployment of the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Red Button services.

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32 Members of US House of Representatives ask USTR to sanction Canada for not granting patents on drugs

Posted on April 12, 2014 by James Love

The attached letter, dated April 10, 2014 and signed by a bipartisan group of 32 members of the House of Representatives, asks USTR to elevate Canada to the Special 301 “priority watch list,” for “violation of their international obligations” for not granting enough patents on “innovative medicines.” According to the members of Congress signing the letter, Canada is in violation of its WTO TRIPS obligations. Continue Reading →

On the Table for the next Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR27) April 28 to May 2

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Manon Ress

What is on the table for the next Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights: Twenty-Seventh Session (SCCR/27) April 28 to May 2, 2014 (Geneva, Switzerland)?

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KEI comment on ViiV license to Medicines Patent Pool for HIV drug dolutegravir (DTG)

Posted on April 2, 2014 by James Love

On April 1, 2014, ViiV, a consortium of Pfizer and GSK, and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), announced two new licensing agreements that expand generic competition for dolutegravir (DTG), and integrase inhibitor used for the treatment of adult and pediatric HIV infection. (MPP press release here.) Dolutegravir is a new drug, approved for marketing by the US FDA on August 12, 2013. Continue Reading →

Leaked EU analysis of TTIP IPR negotiations

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Manon Ress

Below is a two page excerpt from a March 20, 2014 EU analysis of the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations on intellectual property rights, including geographical indications. The memo summarizes in a sentence or two the negotiations in eight types of intellectual property, patents, copyrights, designs, pharmaceutical regulatory test data, plant varieties, trademarks, trade secrets, geographical indications (GIs), as well as negotiations on enforcement, voluntary best practices, and cooperation on third country and multilateral IPR negotiations. Continue Reading →

KEI Comments regarding USTR Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Claire Cassedy

Comments of KEI, regarding USTR Request For Comments From The Public On The Creation Of The Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee And Request For Nominees To That Committee.

Submitted to Regulations.gov on March 25, 2014, under docket number USTR-2014-0005.

Intellectual property issues are an important element of US trade agreements, and according to a recent study by Open Secrets, the most intensively lobbied issue, by far.

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17 March 2014: The African Group highlights the hidden costs of implementing the Design Law Formalities Treaty

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Thiru

On 17 March 2014, the African Group delivered the following opening statement at the Thirty-First Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) highlighting the need for an inclusion of an article on technical assistance (with legally binding effect) in the proposed design law treaty. The African Group noted,

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17 March 2014: European Union urges WIPO SCT to finalize work on a Design Law Formalities Treaty

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Thiru

On 17 March 2014, the European Union and its Member States issued the following clarion call to the Thirty-First Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) urging the committee to “make a clear and unambiguous recommendation to convene a diplomatic conference to the upcoming Extraordinary General Assembly” for a Design Law Formalities Treaty.

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Geographical indications, country names and the domain name system: Czech Rep, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Moldova and Switzerland

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Thiru

On 18 March 2014, the delegations of the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Moldova and Switzerland submitted the following proposal (SCT/31/8 Rev.) on the Protection of Geographical Indications and Country Names in the Domain Name System for consideration by the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT).

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Discussion on Orphan Works and Mass Digitization at US Copyright Office, March 10-11, 2014

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Claire Cassedy

The US Copyright Office held a two day roundtable event on the topic, “Orphan Works and Mass Digitization.” The two days were split into ten sessions, with extensive panels convened for each roundtable discussion. The meetings were held in the Montpelier Room at the Madison building of the Library of Congress, with the exception of the afternoon panels on the second day, which was held downstairs in the hearing room of the Copyright Office. Continue Reading →

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