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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
Relections on "A Fracas about Fragrance: Copyright’s Application to Perfume"
On October 14, PIJIP and IPLS hosted a lunch with Charles Cronin, a 1985 WCL graduate, and he gave a talk on whether copyright should apply to manufactured fragrances. There was one case in the French courts claiming that a manufactured fragrance is not copyrightable because it is a technical creation. Lately though, the trend in France and The Netherlands seems to be that manufactured perfumes are copyrightable to their creators.
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PIJIP Research Paper No. 15: The Global IP Upward Ratchet, Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Enforcement Efforts - The State of Play
IP maximalists always have seen TRIPS as a floor, not a ceiling. Ever since the WTO TRIPS negotiations that ended in 1994, they have been using every opportunity to increase intellectual property protection and enforcement beyond TRIPS. They have been relentless, focused, and have devoted untold resources to their quest for higher global standards of intellectual property protection and enforcement.
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Lunch Events This Week: "Congressional Patent Wars" & "Copyright Protection for Perfume"
PIJIP and the IP Society will co-host two lunch events this week. On Tuesday, Christopher Gallagher will give a talk on the current congressional debates over intellectual property and innovation policy. On Thursday, WCL Alum Charles Cronin will discuss the current debate of whether or not manufactured fragrances may be considered expressive works of authorship eligible for copyright protection.
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Notes on the October 7, 2010 USTR NGO briefing on ACTA
Today, USTR held a nearly 2-hour public briefing on the new version of the ACTA text. USTR representatives present included Stan McCoy, Kira Alvarez, and Rachel Bae. USTR opened the meeting by explaining that, at this point, the text of ACTA is essentially complete, and that they are hoping to come to an agreement as to underlined/italicized/highlighted items within the next couple of weeks.
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Thurs, October 14: A Fracas about Fragrance: Copyright’s Application to Perfume
Over the past thirty years courts in France and the Netherlands have considered whether manufactured fragrances may be considered expressive works of authorship eligible for copyright protection, and decisions have been wildly inconsistent. On Thursday at noon, WCL Alum Charles Cronin ('85) will discuss the current debate.
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Intermediary Liability Out - Third Party Liability In Continuing Danger for Access to Medicines
Previous draft sections dealing with intermediary service provider liability have been removed from the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, but the October 2, 2010 near-final draft still contains provisions concerning third party liability that might apply to entities that assist in the production and distribution of IP-infringing medicines.
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Analysis of the new ACTA text
In general, the new ACTA text shows many signs of incorporating safeguards that have been long advocated by public interest voices. But the agreement contains many notable flaws, which have been flagged in previous drafts, that threaten fundamental rights and liberties, pose barriers to the free trade in legitimate medicines, export rights owner processes and protections without correlative protections for due process and the interests of users and consumers and conflict with TRIPS.
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USPTO/NTIA Notice of Comment Period: Inquiry on Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Internet Economy
Professor Williams mentioned this earlier today, but I just wanted to emphasize the PTO and NTIA’s Notice of Comment Period—“Inquiry on Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Internet Economy”—which opened today and ends 11/19/2010.
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Discourage Infringement!
This spring, the Department of Commerce announced the creation of “an Internet Policy Task Force whose mission is to identify leading public policy and operational challenges in the Internet environment…” The Task Force’s agenda includes “conducting a comprehensive review of the relationship of copyright policy, creativity, and innovation in the Internet economy.” Today, the Task Force issued a Notice of Inquiry.
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Hello From a New Faculty Member
I recently joined the PIJIP faculty, and I am happy to introduce myself to the readers of our blog. As a graduate of the Washington College of Law, I have been thrilled to watch PIJIP grow within the law school and the broader public sphere. For the past several years I have been practicing in a private law firm. My recent transition from private practice to academia has offered me an opportunity to reflect on the state of public discourse regarding copyright issues.
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