Connect
Summer Session
Registration for the International Intellectual Property Summer Session is now open for non-WCL students. Those wishing to register should visit the PIJIP page for more information about courses and summer faculty, or to complete the online registration.
Non-WCL students wishing to register for our Geneva courses should complete this online registration.
Email Lists
Nov. 20 - University Innovation Symposium
PIJIP and Universities Allied for Essential Medicines will co-host this symposium for NGO representatives, university professors and administrators, and policy makers to focus on strategies to increase research on neglected diseases and innovative policies for universities to contribute most effectively to the medicines innovation system. Topics will include intellectual property protection, licensing, and alternate models of funding.
More... (Comments: 0)
Student Recap: Marybeth Peters at the Sixth Annual Finnegan Lecture
Marybeth Peters was joined by two former colleagues, Art Levine and Jon Baumgarten, in discussing the history behind the Copyright Act of 1976 with a collection of intellectual property lawyers, advocates, students, and other interested parties gathered on the sixth floor of the Washington College of Law for the Sixth Annual Finnegan Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property.
More... (Comments: 0)
ACTA - Leaked Notes by the EC Directorate-General on Trade to the INTA Committe and Trade Policy Committee
ACTA negotiation notes between the U.S. and the E.U. as well as the Notes from the EC Directorate-General on Trade to the Committee on International Trade (INTA) and Trade Policy Committee have been leaked. There are two sets of notes, sent on November 3, 2010 and on November 4, 2010.
More... (Comments: 0)
Obama's Broken Promises on IP and Meds
President Obama travels today to India for the first time since his election, arriving on November 6. His trip will feature high-level meetings organized by powerful U.S. and European corporate interests, including an address to the U.S.-India Business Council, a corporate interest group hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that includes all major multinational pharmaceutical companies among its members. U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Suresh Kumar confirmed last week on the sidelines of a business conference that securing more restrictive intellectual property rights for U.S. companies was a key U.S. demand. He said, ?[the US is] lobbying to do here, to protect international property rights, to protect our patents.?
More... (Comments: 0)
US Register of Copyrights Delivers the Sixth Annual Finnegan Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property
Marybeth Peters discussed the demands for a comprehensive revision of copyright law that led to the Copyright Act of 1976. She described the role of the Copyright Office in the legislative process leading up to its enactment and implementation, and offered reflections on why proponents sought fundamental changes to the law. With the benefit of hindsight, she considered whether those changes produced the anticipated effects. Peters is the author of The General Guide to the Copyright Act of 1976.
More... (Comments: 0)
USPTO Meeting on Humanitarian Patent Program
The October 27th USPTO meeting on humanitarian patent vouchers was largely devoted to soliciting comments and questions from the non-profit representatives. The NGOs and non-profits represented at the meeting included Doctors Without Borders, Knowledge Ecology International, and the Medicines Patent Pool among others.
More... (Comments: 0)
Challenges to ACTA Mount: The week in Review
It is difficult to find anyone outside of USTR and the other negotiating party offices that believe that the ACTA process is legitimate and that this is a good and democratic means to create a new global framework on intellectual property. It is time to slow down, open up the process, analyze the text and amend it where necessary.
More... (Comments: 0)
Experts Testify to U.N. Special Rapporteur, Webcast + Release
Washington, DC: At a consultation with UN Special Rapporteur on Health, Anand Grover, health advocates gave testimony today relating to their complaint filed with the UN about U.S. trade policies continued from the Bush administration that violate the right to health.The webcast for the event is now available.
More... (Comments: 0)
Yet another ACTA problem: The new copyright crime of “aiding and abetting”
The ACTA has caused concern for many reasons, such as secret negotiations and controversial provisions. One clause in particular has slipped under the radar. Article 2.14 of ACTA would require participating nations to "ensure that criminal liability for aiding and abetting is available." This liability would apply to parties that assist others in engaging in "willful . . . copyright . . . on a commercial scale." Such scale includes "commercial activities for direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage."
More... (Comments: 0)
Over 75 Law Profs Call for Halt of ACTA
Over 75 intellectual property professors have written to President Obama asking him to “direct the USTR to halt its public endorsement of ACTA and subject the text to a meaningful participation process that can influence the shape of the agreement going forward.”
More... (Comments: 0)
