WIPO

Selected microblog posts for week ending 21/8/09


Selected microblog posts for week ending 21/8/09 Read More »

Dr Gurry in Melbourne

Francis Gurry, the newly appointed Director General of WIPO will be speaking in Melbourne on 3 August 2009:

Intellectual Property, Innovation
and Creativity – Future Global Directions

Intellectual Property, Innovation and Creativity – Future Global Directions

Registration is free, but bookings essential.

More details here (pdf).

Dr Gurry in Melbourne Read More »

WIPO Copyright progress

William Lye has a comprehensive report on the conclusion of the latest round of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright – a late agreement:

  1. to address a proposed treaty on copyright exceptions for visually impaired persons and others; and
  2. for renewed focus on the rights of audio-visual performances; and
  3. to continue discussion on the need to protect (badly misunderstood) broadcasters.

William Lye’s report here; the Chairman’s draft conclusions here. The discussion of exceptions seems to be much broader than just rights of the visually impaired: full range of discussion papers and working materials here and here.

For some reason, the Australian government is opposed to the proposals for visually impaired persons: Nic Suzor wants to explain to you why you should do something to help change this here.

WIPO Copyright progress Read More »

World IP Court by 2012?

World IP Court by 2012? Read More »

WIPO UDRP annual report

WIPO’s annual report summarising developments in domain name disputes for 2008 has been published here.

The headline attracting news around the world:

a record 2,329 complaints filed

Interestingly,

the WIPO Center has received 14,663 UDRP or UDRP-based cases (gTLDs and ccTLDs), covering 26,262 separate domain names. Reflecting the truly global scope of this dispute mechanism, named parties to WIPO cases represented over 100 countries in 2008 alone. The United States of America (US), France, the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Switzerland and Spain were the most frequent bases for complainants, while the US, the UK, China, Spain, Canada, and France were the most represented countries by named respondent party

and

almost 30% of all cases were settled without a panel decision. Of the remainder, 85% of the panel decisions favored the complainant, while 15% of the complaints were denied, leaving the names in the possession of the registration holder. Cases were handled by 285 WIPO panelists from 40 countries.

There are also short notes on what sectors were affected, and further developments in the domain name space.

WIPO UDRP annual report Read More »

PCT survey

IP Australia calls on all Australian users of the PCT to complete WIPO’s online survey:

Australian users of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) can make their views known by participating in a survey being run by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the body that administers the PCT. The comprehensive survey covers all aspects of the PCT from electronic filing to search and examination.

Follow the links from here.

PCT survey Read More »

Traditional Knowledge, Folklore, And Genetic Resources -updated

The Chairman has released a report outlining how WIPO’s future work on the protection of Traditional Knowledge, Folklore and Genetic Resources following the conclusion of the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee.

pdf link via Intellectual Property Watch.

Kaitlin Mara has an lengthy report from the fallout of the last day’s negotiations: ‘No Agreement For WIPO Committee On Traditional Knowledge And Folklore’ here. It is interesting that ‘progress’ and ‘positive outcome’ relate solely to the adoption of yet another treaty with new rights.

Meanwhile, Lebanon is claiming, amongst other things, a ‘food copyright’ no less in felafel. Beauty Marks exposes the ‘plot’ and points to some common confusions; the IPKitties claim that Egypt really has first dibs and, as it is not claiming rights, everything is OK. Now, would a several thousand year old food count as folklore, traditional knowledge or, like Champagne, a geographic indicator?

The collection of papers for the IGC, here, and brief summary.

Traditional Knowledge, Folklore, And Genetic Resources -updated Read More »

WIPO and traditional knowledge and folklore

WIPO and traditional knowledge and folklore Read More »

Australian on top

On 22 September, Dr Francis Gurry’s election as the next Director General of WIPO was unanimously confirmed by the General Assembly.  His term starts on 1 October.  His appointment runs until 2014.

WIPO Press Release here.  Dr Gurry’s acceptance speech and his plans here.

Congratulations, Dr Gurry!

Brazil apparently took the opportunity to point out that one of the challenges lying ahead is centralising control over enforcement issues.  For this and a summary of events see William New at Intellectual Property Watch.

Australian on top Read More »