Today is day 5 of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights which for over 2 years has been discussing the first ever treaty that would involved a limitation to copyright, in these case to benefit blind people as well as people with other disabilities. It is day 2 of plenary discussions regarding the treaty for people with disabilities.
Late morning at WIPO SCCR 24 meeting regarding the treaty for people with disabilities.
The US is asking now to go into “informal” discussions.
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Today the discussion on the definition of “authorized entity” has started. It is one of the important and technical issues that could make a treaty good or bad, useful or ineffective.
An “authorized entity” or AE is the institution that provides the works in accessible format to the people with visual impairments who are the beneficiaries of the future treaty. Depending on how broad or narrow or inclusive v. restrictive the definition gets to be by the end of the negotiation, access is conditioned.
Some of the questions this morning:
On Monday, July 16, 2012, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that pay-for-delay agreements between branded pharmaceutical companies and generic manufacturers are prima facie evidence of anticompetitive behavior. Continue Reading
Background
On Friday, July 20, 2012, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will re-hear the case Association for Molecular Pathology, et. al. v. United States Patent and Trademark Office, et. al. This case, involving the patent eligibility of DNA–specifically claims directed at two human genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, associated with an individual’s susceptibility to breast cancer–has been litigated for three years now and has resulted in fractured rulings and widely varying reasoning.
The first day of the 24th session of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) has gone into full swing with a textual proposal tabled by Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay on limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions, and a textual proposal submitted by Brazil on L&Es for educational and research institutions.
The live stream audio capture of these proceedings can be found here: http://www.streamtext.net/player?Event=WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has convened the 24th Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) which will take place from 16 July 2012 to 25 July 2012 at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Ambassador Darlington Mwape (Zambia) is chairing the 24th SCCR. The morning session of the SCCR witnessed opening remarks by group coordinators. The following statement was delivered by Egypt on behalf of the African Group.
Posner’s dismissals of the patent infringement suits in Apple versus Motorola cites eBay and compulsory licensing
On 22 June 2012, Judge Richard Posner, dismissed with prejudice the patent infringement suits filed in Apple Inc. and NEXT Software, Inc. v Motorola, Inc. and Motorola Mobility, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division). In this case, the judge cited the eBay decision noting that neither party was entitled to injunctive relief as neither party demonstrated that “damages would not be an adequate remedy”. Continue Reading
KEI notes on the 13th round of TPPA negotiations in San Diego, CA
The 13th round of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) took place in San Diego, CA, USA from 2-10 July 2012.
Notes on Intellectual Property
Leahy on patent trolls, licensing on reasonable terms
In a May 9, 2012 hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on oversight of the intellectual property enforcement coordinator, Senator Leahy asked Victoria Espinel about patent trolls, and failures to license patents on reasonable terms to achieve interoperability where standards are important. Leahy asked Victoria Espinel to work with USDOJ’s antitrust officials to deal with abuses by patent holders in both cases.