Knowledge Ecology International

On Monday, December 10, 2012, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) filed an amicus brief in a case before the Supreme Court of the United States involving application of the patent exhaustion doctrine to self-replicating technology. KEI filed in support of the petitioner, urging the Supreme Court to find that the patent exhaustion doctrine does in fact apply to self-replicating technology and that the patent holder’s rights in the present case were exhausted with the sale of the first-generation of the technology, in this case a seed. Continue Reading →

The United States proposal for the TPPA includes many demands that will increase intellectual property rights for rightholders. The leaked text reveals that the United States seeks to introduce numerous measures that go well beyond the requirements of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), known as TRIPS-plus provisions. Some of the areas of concern include the provisions on intellectual property enforcement. Continue Reading →

In a press release, Johnson and Johnson “announced their intention not to enforce the patents they own and control on the antiretroviral (ARV) drug darunavir provided the darunavir product is medically acceptable and is used only in resource-limited settings,” which J&J defines as the 48 UN defined Least Developed Countries plus any other country in sub-Saharan Africa. This is the KEI statement on the J&J darunavir announcement.

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Around 2 am the open ended consultations on the CEWG recommendations finished their work on a report and proposed resolution, which is attached below. [See also interviews during the negotiations here: http://www.youtube.com/user/KEIWashDC/videos.]

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On Tuesday, 27 November 2012, KEI filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case Ninestar Technology Co., et. al. v. International Trade Commission, et. al., supporting the Petitioners’ petition for writ of certiorari (essentially asking the Supreme Court to agree to hear the case). This case involves the application of the patent exhaustion doctrine (also known as the first sale doctrine), specifically whether the United States applies a system of international exhaustion of rights or national exhaustion of rights. Continue Reading →

Apparently David Kappos will be leaving the USPTO sometime early next year. Today there is much commentary from patent community giving him high marks, and I’m willing to believe there are high marks to give. But he also had some big shortcomings. Here are a few:

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The SCCR has seems to have finished its work on the text for a possible treaty on copyright exceptions for persons who are blind or have other disabilities, and earlier than expected. The new text distributed to delegates is 25 pages long (attached below), and includes several articles with no brackets. There are many differences to be resolved. The question is, will WIPO proceed with a diplomatic conference in 2013? Continue Reading →