Tag: intellectual property rights

European and Indian officials don’t expect much will come out of the EU-India Summit today (10 February) in New Delhi, but leaders on both sides will assess progress on negotiations towards a Free Trade Agreement, which seems stuck in disputes over tariffs.

The EU is on a downward path to endorsing Internet censorship as it will ask Internet service providers to help stop online piracy, argue lobbyists and digital rights campaigners on the eve of new copyright regulation.

The dangers of fake medicines are due to be addressed in upcoming EU legislation but an international solution may be needed to solve a problem with global implications.

The number of European patent applications filed last year fell for the first time in 20 years, according to new figures released by the European Patent Office (EPO).

After tough negotiations with the Commission and member states, the European Parliament has finally endorsed an international agreement on improving access to medicines for developing countries. To come into force, the protocol must be ratified by at least two thirds of WTO members.

EU ministers agreed to scrap "unnecessary" EU laws on wood- and product-packaging and to lower application costs for EU-wide trademarks, saying that this would help bolster the Union's competitiveness.

In the face of the rising counterfeiting and piracy across Europe, the Commission is proposing a historical but controversial Directive that would - for the first time ever - force member states to adjust their penal codes and establish harmonised criminal sanctions against IPR-infringers.

The Commission's new approach for a future patent system in Europe builds on proposals for a single EU-wide judiciary with competence for litigation.

Despite widespread support for the idea of an EU-wide patent that would save companies the cost and effort of having to apply for protection under different national patent regimes, MEPs and member states have been unable to find a system that obtains all around consensus. 

China will have to start playing by WTO rules and opening up its markets to European businesses if it wants the EU to stop raising protectionist barriers, according to EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.

As Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy makes "one final effort" to break the impasse on the EU community patent, campaigners warn that the Commission's proposal could bring back software patents "through the back door".

The Intellectual property directive has been approved by Parliament amid protests that it is impinging on consumers' rights. Member States will decide whether or not to criminalise infringers.

The paper examines the level of intellectual property protection in the future Member States, in particular in the area of pharmaceutical industry.

The global software piracy rate dropped from 49 per cent in 1994 to 39 per cent in 2002, thanks primarily to intensive business education and increasing awareness of corporate governance, a new study reveals.

On 28 and 29 October the EU Presidency is organising a conference on growth, prosperity and patents titled: "An Insurance Scheme for Patents, The role of the National Patent Office and the Software Directive".