IP ENFORCEMENT ROUNDUP
Special 301 and the Enforcement Agenda: Competing Perspectives on U.S. Intellectual Property and Trade Policy.
PIJIP hosted a debate between two industry advocates with divergent visions of U.S. trade policy on intellectual property and technology matters. The panelists were Matt Schruers, Vice President for Law & Policy, Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA members include Google, Facebook, Oracle, eBay, NVIDIA, and AMD); and Steve Metalitz, Partner, Michell Silberberg & Knupp LLP (MS&K clients include Sony, RIAA, MPAA, and ASCAP). Sean Flynn, Associate Director of PIJIP, moderated. Click here for more, including a webcast of the event.
Provision-by-Provision Analysis of the Leaked US TPP Text
PIJIP fellow Jimmy Koo has written a section-by-section analysis of the US-proposed intellectual property chapter of the Trans Pacific Partnership. The document lists each provision in the TPP and compares it to US law and various trade agreements where appropriate (i.e. – the DMCA, the Lanham Act, the US Copyright Act, TRIPS, ACTA, and the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement). PIJIP invites comments, which can be sent to jk3868a@student.american.edu. Click here for the analysis.
TPP Negotiators Compile Working IP Draft; Thailand Invited to Join Negotiations
Inside US Trade reports that Trans Pacific Partnership negotiators meeting in Singapore combined all of the existing proposals for an intellectual property Chapter into one working text, but that “disagreement on the IPR chapter is likely to be one major reason why participants will not be able to reach the goal of completing negotiations by November of this year.” The Bangkok Post reports that Assistant US Trade Representative Barbara Weisel visited Thailand and “noted trade and investment between the two countries could accelerate if Thailand agrees to take part in a multilateral free-trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).” Click here for more.
House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on “Parasites” Distributing Infringing Materials Online
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet held a hearing this week on the enforcement of IP online. Members of the Committee sought input on how best to structure legislation similar to last year’s Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeiting Act. Testimony was given by John Morten (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), Floyd Abrams (Cahill Gordon & Reindel, LLP), Kent Walker (Google), and Christine Jones (Go Daddy Group). Click here for more, including prepared testimony.
CopySouth Research Group Releases Series of Papers from the 3rd Internaitonal Conference on Copyright Issues.
The CopySouth Research Group, a global group of scholars formed in 2004 to discuss the impact of copyrights on the global South, has released a series of nine papers prepared for its workshop last June. The papers cover four themes: 1) North-South Cultural Flows and Cultural Diversity, 2) Google Books, 3) Musicians and the Copyright System, and 4) the Political Economy of Copyright. The organizers describe the papers as varying widely, but “suggest[ing] that the overall affect of copyright policy has been negative for the global south.” Click here for more.
Upcoming Events
- April 12 – Broadband Breakfast: The Cost of Intellectual Property Piracy – How Can the Phenomenon Be Empirically Quantified?
- April 14-15 – IFLA – Libraries Driving Access to Knowledge: Action for Europe
- April 15 – Creative License: Exploring the Music Sampling Marketplace
- May 2 –The Economics of IP – Disembodied Knowledge Flows: Technology Services Trade and the Role of IPR Protection, (WIPO)
- May 4 – Computer and Communications Industry Association Washington Caucus
- May 9-13 – Intergovernmental Committee on IP and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (WIPO)
- May 16-20 – Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (WIPO)
Click here for a calendar of upcoming events
