At FSFE, we work in some committees of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). From October 11-15, WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP, for short) had its 15th session. We participate there because the committee discusses questions related to patents (duh) and standards. Our main goals in the committee are: convince WIPO Read more »
A US lobby group demands that the US government should punish countries that recommend or use Free Software. This post explains how Free Software came to be considered something that’s worth starting a trade war over.
Software should not be patentable, anywhere. But what to do about those unfortunate jurisdictions where software patents are currently allowed? At the World Intellectual Property Organisation, FSFE pushes to at least put in place a working system to challenge patents. The goal of getting rid of patents on software entirely remains the same.
This week, the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents is meeting in Geneva. From FSFE’s perspective, the two most important points on the agenda are the relation between standards and patents, and limitations to patentability. We’ll go into details in the coming days. On patents and standards, one obvious point is that Free Read more »
For the moment, WIPO is busy with its new Director General (Francis Gurry just got elected to the post), and the Development Agenda process has forced the advocates of strict copyright to at least re-shuffle their cards for a moment. But another front is opening up elsewhere. There’s an agreement that’s being prepared for negotiation. Read more »
The talks about a broadcasting treaty at WIPO have collapsed for now. But I bet this wasn’t the last time we’ve heard of it. The South Centre has just published a research paper (.pdf, 350 kB), looking at the broadcasting treaty from the perspective of developing countries. Here’s what it says in a nutshell: The Read more »
Last week brought truly good news. After two years of negotiations, it looks like the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) may finally turn into an organisation that works for the interest of society at large, rather than just those of a small group of major holders of intellectual monopolies. Last week’s meeting of the “Provisional Read more »
Discussions on the WIPO Development Agenda, an effort to make WIPO comply with its UN mission and focus on development, have dragged on for quite a while now without making much headway. No one doubts that this is due to opposition from developed countries, who are the ones profiting from the grossly imbalanced global system Read more »
heise.de (in German) reports that patent examiners at the European Patent Office (EPO) are protesting changes to the patent assessment process. The protests, which have been going on for a while, have repeatedly culminated in strikes. While EPO head Alain Pompidou publicly touts high quality of patents as his goal, it seems that in reality Read more »
Wow, this one is great. A Canadian programmer and artist got so pissed off about his government indoctrinating grade school children about the sanctity of copyright, that he decided to do something about it. He drew and wrote a children’s book. It’s about how you can share things that you don’t lose when you give Read more »