UPDATE: On 3 December 2012, the secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO) released the minutes of Israel’s Trade Policy Review (WT/TPR/M/272) held on 30 October 2012 and 1 November 2012. According to the chair, Eduardo Munoz Gomez (Colombia), innovation was one of the salient points identified in the TPR noting that:
On Monday, 29 October 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the first-sale doctrine case, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons. This case involved the petitioner, Kirtsaeng, purchasing lawfully made copies of the books from Thailand and reselling these books in the United States. John Wiley & Sons asserted, and the Second Circuit agreed, that the first sale doctrine applies only to copies manufactured in the United States and does not apply to foreign made goods. Continue Reading
After three days, the WIPO intersessional negotiations on copyright exceptions for persons with disabilities adjourned. On July 26, 2012, the SCCR negotiating text (SCCR 24/9) was 26 pages long, with 4051 words, and included 56 brackets, and 20 alternatives. The Final document on Friday (copy here) evening was 26 pages, with 47 brackets, and 22 alternatives.
The October 18 version of the text is available, here. From the October 17 version, the number of brackets as gone from 65 to 61. The number of alternatives has increased from 24 to 26. Both numbers are higher than the July 26 version of the text, which had 56 brackets and 23 alternatives.
In recent and current negotiations over copyright norms, the U.S., the European Union and some other high income countries have asked for provisions in the agreement that limit copyright limitations and exceptions to some type of “three-step-test.”
After lengthy informal negotiations on 7 October 2012, the plenary of the WIPO General Assembly (GA) 2012 resumed after 18:00 to present the consensus language on the decision point concerning agenda item 28 (ii) on the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT). In particular, the GA agreed to expedite the work of the basic proposals for a Design Law Treaty. In 2013, the GA would “take stock of and consider the text, progress made, and decide on convening a diplomatic conference”. Continue Reading
This morning, under agenda item 6, the WIPO General Assemblies decided to defer a decision until 2013 on the application for accreditation by Pirate Parties International. I was told that the US, Switzerland the France raised objections in the informal consultations, and that some other European countries wanted to raise objections, but found it awkward given the recent success of domestic Pirate Parties in national elections. The USA said it asked for a hold on the decision until WIPO could decide if it wanted to accept political parties as WIPO observers. Continue Reading
Fernando Schmidt, Subsecretario de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile (Vice-Minister of External Relations, Chile), delivered the following general statement on 1 October 2012. Chile acknowledged that while a favorable environment in WIPO proved conducive to the successful passage of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, major challenges remained. Of great import was the convening of a diplomatic conference in 2013 to conclude a Treaty for the Blind which would be a milestone in the multilateral intellectual property system. Continue Reading
The general statement of the Development Agenda Group (DAG) was delivered by H.E. Ambassador Roberto Azevêdo (Brazil) on 1 October 2012.
On the pressing issue of a treaty for copyright exceptions for the blind, the Development Agenda Group noted that,
