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.
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The attached letter, dated April 10, 2014 and signed by a bipartisan group of 32 members of the House of Representatives, asks USTR to elevate Canada to the Special 301 “priority watch list,” for “violation of their international obligations” for not granting enough patents on “innovative medicines.” According to the members of Congress signing the letter, Canada is in violation of its WTO TRIPS obligations. Continue Reading →
On 17 March 2014, the African Group delivered the following opening statement at the Thirty-First Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) highlighting the need for an inclusion of an article on technical assistance (with legally binding effect) in the proposed design law treaty. The African Group noted,
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The US Copyright Office held a two day roundtable event on the topic, “Orphan Works and Mass Digitization.” The two days were split into ten sessions, with extensive panels convened for each roundtable discussion. The meetings were held in the Montpelier Room at the Madison building of the Library of Congress, with the exception of the afternoon panels on the second day, which was held downstairs in the hearing room of the Copyright Office. Continue Reading →
Protection for geographical indications is an issue that divides the generally united front that Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand and the United States maintain at WIPO and WTO negotiations on setting rules for the enforcement of patents, copyright, trademarks and industrial designs. In a 12 March 2014 piece, Europe wants its Parmesan back, seeks name change, the Associated Press reported that,
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ZEIT ONLINE has published the EU’s July 2, 2013 proposals for TRADE IN SERVICES, INVESTMENT AND E-COMMERCE in the TTIP negotiation. A copy of the proposal is available here. Tags: ISDS, TTIP
TRADE IN SERVICES, INVESTMENT AND E-COMMERCE
Chapter I General provisions
Chapter II Investment
Chapter III Cross border supply of services
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The following WTO airgram WTO/AIR/4240/REV.1 (14 February 2014) contains the agenda for the upcoming WTO Council for TRIPS meeting to be held in Geneva from Tuesday, 25 February 2014 to Wednesday, 26 February 2014.
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The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) submission (7 February 2014, USTR-2013-0040) to USTR’s 2014 Special 301 Review requested USTR to place Brazil on the Priority Watch List.
Brazil
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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s (Global Intellectual Property Center) submission (7 February 2014, USTR-2013-0040) to USTR’s 2014 Special 301 expressed concerns with aspects of Brazilian IP policy which included the role of ANVISA in the granting of patents, patentability criteria, test data protection, compulsory licensing and local content requirements for cable television.
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Brian Arthur Pomper is a partner at the law firm of Akin Gump.
Mr. Pomper formerly served as chief international trade counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT). In that role, he was responsible for advising Chairman Baucus and other members of the Senate Finance Committee on all aspects of the Committee’s international trade and economic agenda.
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