Much of the April negotiations on the treaty for copyright exceptions for persons with disabilities was spent discussing the issue of countries that are not members of the WTO, or the Berne Convention, or countries classified by the UN as least developed countries (LDCs), and currently not bound by the TRIPS agreement provisions on copyright.
WIPO’s development agenda committee unfolds against the backdrop of a looming Millenium Development Goal deadline
3 June 2013
Kirsten Alisha Williams
WIPO’s development agenda committee unfolds against the backdrop of a looming Millenium Development Goal deadline
On May 17, 2013, DG trade held a public briefing on the IP Chapter for the TTIP and the E/Japan trade agreement. The TTIP discussion was led by Pedro Velasco Martins, the Deputy Head of Unit for Intellectual Property and Public Procurement. Unlike some recent USTR briefings, which were off-the-record, this was on-the-record meeting, and DG Trade even displayed a suggested twitter hash tag.
Professor Brook Baker has written a 5800 word commentary on the negotiations for a treaty on copyright exceptions for persons who blind or have other disabilities. A copy of the paper is available here. The title of the paper is:… Continue Reading
On Monday, 13 May 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held that patent exhaustion does not apply to second, third or nth generations of seeds. In an opinion authored by Justice Kagan, the court found that patent exhaustion does not apply to seeds because later generations constitute new copies of the invention. Continue Reading
On Thursday May 30, 2013, the leaders of the MPAA and the NFB issued a joint statement, followed by a joint press call involving Chris Dodd, the CEO of the MPAA, and Rick Maurer, the President of the NFB. The… Continue Reading
On May 10, 2013, a very revealing freedom of information request was made available from the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO). The request had been filed on April 14, 2013 by the journalist Glyn Moody, for:
A PDF version of our comments is available here.
People have until midnight May 10, 2013 to file comments, here:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=USTR-2013-0019-0001
This is the table of contents.
Comments on the Administration’s Intention to Enter Into Negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Agreement
Response to Docket No. USTR-2013-0019
Introduction
Transparency
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Note, we are adding some video clips from the meeting here:
On May 13, 2013, KEI will host a 12:30 to 2:30 brown bag lunch for a discussion of the WIPO Treaty for the Blind negotiations. It will be possible to attend in person, or follow the meeting on the telephone.
On April 15, 2013, the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) sent a letter to Teresa Stanek Rea, the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, setting out the IPO “concerns” about the proposed WIPO treaty for persons who are blind or visually impaired. (Copy here).