Treaty for the Blind: US démarche opposes references to “fair practices, dealings or uses to meet their needs”

As mentioned in our piece, State of Play: Treaty for the Blind negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization, the February 2013 special session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) reached agreement on a cluster of provisions on the Treaty’s treatment of the copyright three-step test that resulted in the ARTICLE(S) section contained in SCCR/25/2/Rev. Continue Reading

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SCOTUS Oral Arguments in AMP v. Myriad Genetics; Court to Determine Answer to Question: Are Human Genes Patentable?

On 15 April 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the case Association for Molecular Pathology, et. al., v. Myriad Genetics, et. al, hearing arguments over the question: are human genes patentable? The case, which has been litigated since 2009, specifically involves two genes, known as the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes which are associated with an individual’s susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer. Continue Reading

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WIPO broadcast treaty discussions: US advocates for a simplified signal-based approach

On 11 April 2013, the United States made the following intervention on day 2 of the WIPO inter-sessional meeting on the protection of broadcasting organizations. The US noted the concerns expressed by content holders, technology companies, consumer and civil society groups about “creating extra layers of protection requiring additional clearance of rights”.

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WIPO broadcast treaty: zombie agenda coming back to life?

In 2007 the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) buried the broadcast treaty in cold storage when it decided (WO/GA/34/16) that the convening of a Diplomatic Conference for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations could only take place “after agreement on objectives, specific scope and object of protection has been achieved.” Commenting on the broadcast treaty and the break down in negotiations, KEI noted in 2007:

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The WIPO Broadcast Treaty Negotiations Begin

This week the WIPO Standing Committee is holding a meeting to consider a possible treaty for broadcasting organizations. KEI thought this treaty negotiation had been blocked by fundamental differences over the purposes and scope of the treaty in 2007, but in the past few years the US Copyright office asked to put the issue back on the SCCR agenda, and subsequently Francis Gurry and Ambassador Trevor Clarke from the WIPO Secretariat have pushed to reach a conclusion, and more recently South Africa, Mexico, Japan and some other countries are now quite active, in favor of a new treaty.

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Negotiating Text, EU/India FTA (BTIA)

This is a copy of the negotiating text for the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), also referred to as the India/EU FTA. It does not include Article 6, which I assume concerns patents, or have any text for Article 9 on Geographical Indications. The text includes country positions. We are not certain of the date of this text. KEI has some commentary at /node/1692

Consolidated draft India-EU FTA (BTIA)

IPR chapter

Art. 1 – Definition [Agreed]

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Analysis of Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons (Parallel Importation Case); Supreme Court Applies International Exhaustion

Today, 19 March 2013, the Supreme Court released its opinion in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, a case involving the parallel importation of copyrighted works. The case involved the petitioner, Kirtsaeng, purchasing textbooks in Thailand then reselling them in the United States. The Second Circuit held in this case that the first sale doctrine did not apply to foreign made goods, applying national exhaustion principles. Continue Reading

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