Eight civil society groups have released a platform on the intellectual property and health content of the Trans Pacific Partnership. The platform calls ex-officio border measures “inappropriate,” rejects a “one size fits all” regime for patent validity, and warns against…
A “Review of Intellectual Property and Growth” by Cardiff University Professor Ian Hargreaves, commissioned by UK Prime Minster Cameron in November 2010, finds that “copyright law has started to act as a regulatory barrier to the creation of certain kinds…
A group of 28 Senators has written President Obama urging his administration to include “the highest level of IP protections” in the Trans Pacific Partnership. The Senators ask the administration to base the provisions on the IP chapter of the…
California State Senator Alex Padilla has introduced legislation that would authorize law enforcement to search optical disk plants “without providing prior notice or obtaining a warrant.” The police may seize disks and any manufacturing equipment used to make illegal disks…
IP Enforcement Roundup Senator Leahy Introduces the PROTECT-IP Act Sen. Leahy introduced the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT-IP) Act on May 12, designed to combat websites “dedicated to infringing activities.” The legislation…
The World Health Assembly opens today, bringing together all of the WHO member countries for their annual meeting. The agenda includes a session on WHO’s work concerning substandard medical products, including “information and awareness creation,” “norms and standards” and “technical…
The EC Directorate General for Trade is reviewing its Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property rights in Third Countries, and it plans to update its current policy with “the adoption of a new Commission Communication by the end of…
Senator Leahy introduced the PROTECT-IP Act (S. 968) on May 12, designed to combat websites “dedicated to infringing activities.” The legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Schumer, Feinstein, Whitehouse, Graham, Kohl Coons, and Blumenthal. According to the official summary, the legislation…
Sen. Klobuchar has introduced legislation that would make illegal streaming of copyrighted materials a felony. This was one of the legislative recommendations made in the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator’s report to Congress in February. The legislation has not yet been…
IP Enforcement Roundup USTR Releases Special 301 Report On Monday May 2, USTR published the 2011 Special 301 Report, available here. After examining 77 countries, it included 12 on the Priority Watch List, 28 on the Watch list, and under…
VPR International, a Canadian content producer, has filed a complaint against 1,017 Doe defendants for distributing its copyrighted material online. The Doe defendants are identified only by their IP addresses, so VPR sought an order from the court allowing it…
A group of musicians led by Alki David, founder of the streaming service FilmOn.com, has sued CNET and its parent company, CBS Interactive, for distributing LimeWire and other peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing systems. The lawsuit, filed May 3, claims that…