KEI Notes & Comments at TTIP Seventh Round of Negotiations at Stakeholder Event

The 7th Round of the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Agreement began Monday September 29, 2014 in the United States. This round’s paltry effort at transparency, the TTIP Stakeholder Engagement Day, was held at the suburban 4-H conference center in Chevy Chase, MD. Although the information packet for the event included public transport instructions, the location was difficult to access for any attendees without a car, and even then, parking was extremely limited. Continue Reading

WIPO General Assembly 2014: KEI Statement on the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents

On Thursday, 25 September 2014, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered this statement on agenda item 17(i), Reports on other WIPO Committees, (i) Standing on the Law of Patents (SCP).

WIPO General Assembly 2014

17. Reports on other WIPO Committees
(i) Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP);

Statement of Knowledge Ecology International

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

WIPO General Assembly 2014: Opening Statement of Knowledge Ecology International

On Tuesday, 23 September 2014, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered this opening statement on the occasion of the Fifty-Fourth Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Thank you Madame Chair for providing Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) the opportunity to speak today.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

WIPO’s new Senior Management Team: New faces for Copyright, Development, Global Issues and Patents

A long standing parlor game for WIPO insiders and observers during the summer of 2014 involved guessing the composition of WIPO’s new Senior Management Team (the team of deputy director generals and assistant director generals who form WIPO’s cabinet). On 16 September 2014, the WIPO secretariat laid this to rest by revealing the composition of the new WIPO Senior Management Team of deputy director generals and assistant director generals. New faces in the cabinet include: Mr. Continue Reading

Uncategorized

WIPO General Assembly 2014: Hard Decisions on the Design Law Treaty and Treaty for Protection of Genetic Resources

The Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) convenes its Fifty-Fourth Series of meetings in Geneva from 22 September 2014 to 30 September 2014. These Assemblies include, inter alia, meetings of the WIPO General Assembly, the WIPO Coordination Committee, the Paris Union Assembly, the Berne Union Assembly, the Madrid Union Assembly, the Lisbon Union Assembly, the Patent Cooperation Treaty Assembly, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) Assembly and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) Assembly. Continue Reading

US Court issues compulsory license for know-how protected as trade secret

In “Compulsory License as a Remedy for Trade Secret Misappropriation, Dennis Crouch writes* about a July 1, 2014 decision in Sabatino Bianco, M.D. v. Globus Medical, 2:12-cv-00147 (E.D. Tex 2014). The decision by Judge Bryson, a U.S. Circuit Judge in the Eastern District of Texas, concerns trade secrets which:

“consisted of ideas for the design of a medical device known as an adjustable intervertebral spacer or implant. Intervertebral spacers are used in spinal surgery to replace damaged discs in patients’ spines.”

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

US Policy Making Transparency: A Good Example and a Really Bad Example

This short note is about giving people the heads up about four upcoming USPTO public meetings relating to copyright policy making: re remixes, digital first sale and calibration of statutory damages. It is a good example of ONE US agency (PTO is within a Task Force) wisely seeking “additional input from the public in order for the Task Force to have a complete and thorough record upon which to make recommendations.” But this blog post is also about a really bad example: USTR.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized