Journal of World Intellectual Property最新文献

While civil litigation (CL) was expected to play a major role in resolving patent infringement disputes, administrative adjudication (AA) has become the preferred channel for patentees to protect their rights in China since 2015. The number of AA cases significantly increased during the study period of 2010–2021. Our research finds that AA does not particularly favor patentees. By comparing the rules of CL and AA, we also find that low cost and high efficiency are the two major advantages of AA. Besides these traits, the motivations for patentees to initiate AA are the lack of risks in AA procedure and its valuable outcomes. Understanding the real motivation for the application of AA could be a reference for improving the patent infringement dispute system.

Many of the geographical indications (GI) in developing countries are intellectual creations with incredible uniqueness generated by traditional communities and local people. These products are linked to the culture of that community and hence can be considered as traditional cultural expressions (TCE). Dev gangjee and Steven Van Uytsel and argued that TCE can be protected under the law of GI. Moreover, there are many similarities between GI and TCEs. These two forms share some unique characteristics that other intellectual property systems are not indulged in as well as not in concern with of many nations. Handicrafts, textile products, pottery works, jewellery works are some prime examples of TCEs protected under the law of GI in India and Indonesia. This article intends to validate the compatibility of GI laws in providing space for TCEs and give some suggestions for enhanced compatibility. Case study approach has been used as methodology and that the study presumes that the present GI laws in India and Indonesia are not capable of adequately protecting TCE.

The paper examines the newly enacted Plant Variety Act in Nigeria in relation to the obligations of Nigeria to protect plant varieties. The paper views these obligations from different perspectives in the protection of diverse interest related to plant varieties. The paper finds that the Act offers an unbalanced protection of right which strongly protects the intellectual property rights of breeders without recourse to the other interest obligated to be protected by several international agreement which Nigeria is a signatory to especially farmers', communities and biodiversity interests. The paper advocates for an amendment of the Act to ensure a balanced and compliant legal framework for the protection of plant varieties in Nigeria.

Intellectual property pervades all aspects of life. Sustaining intellectual creations is often debatable. The abounding atmosphere of progress and development encompasses other industries as well. Tourism is a major economic driver that promotes social and cultural exchange while directly and indirectly employing millions of people. Destination branding is promoted by tourism. After the 2010 Eyjafjallajökul eruption, Iceland's reputation as a safe tourist destination plummeted. Iceland's government promoted the “Inspired by Iceland” brand to attract tourists. The brand is a symbol, mark, logo, name, word, or sentence used to distinguish one product from another. The paper examines the relationship between intellectual property rights (IPR) and tourism. Geographical indications (GI) have a huge impact on regional tourism. The GI manufacturing process and cultivation tend to attract tourists. Travelers often want to sample regional foods, flavors, aromas, and beverages and buy them directly from consumers, resulting in a tourist influx. The capitalist notion of destination branding is abandoned as the IPR-based tourism sector is revived. It also promotes the best way to develop the tourism industry while protecting IPRs. The link is also heavily emphasized to promote tourism. Regional development and eco-tourism policies should be promoted. The tourism industry benefits greatly from protecting indigenous communities and their traditional knowledge.

Cambodia is expected to graduate from least developed country (LDC) status in the near future, at which time it will be required to make patents available for pharmaceutical products and processes to meet its obligations under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Given its impending transition from LDC status, there is a need to balance Cambodia's intellectual property (IP) policies and regulations with public health priorities to ensure access to affordable life-saving medicines. This will be critical to achieving universal health coverage, one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. This paper examines Cambodia's IP laws and regulations to identify provisions which could reduce access to affordable generic medicines when it starts to grant patents for pharmaceuticals. It systematically compares Cambodia's IP laws and regulations applicable to patents with those of Thailand and India—two developing countries which have had some successes in preserving access to medicines despite the introduction of pharmaceutical patents. It identifies lessons for Cambodia from the experiences of Thailand and India in implementing TRIPS and using TRIPS flexibilities such as compulsory licensing to ensure access to a sustainable supply of affordable generic medicines. India's experience of implementing TRIPS offers a practical and valuable lesson in applying TRIPS for the greatest public benefit. Thailand, although it has not utilised TRIPS flexibilities as extensively as India, also offers valuable lessons in adapting and interpreting IP law to ensure sustainable access to generic medicines, especially in relation to compulsory licencing. Key recommendations for reform for Cambodia include strengthening the use of preventive and remedial TRIPS flexibilities and removing criminal sanctions for patent infringements. Cambodia should reject any TRIPS-plus provisions in its patent legislation, avoid membership of bilateral or plurilateral trade agreements that include TRIPS-plus provisions and avoid signing patent treaties and agreements designed to facilitate the granting of patents.

The International Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime currently endeavours to protect complex subject matters ranging from art and fashion to software. This paper will specifically examine the key international instruments (issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization [WIPO] and those applicable in the European Union) governing the apparel industry. To that end, it will analyse the different instruments governing the sector and will also highlight in brief the various initiatives undertaken by the WIPO towards facilitating and harmonising the process of protecting the different facets of the fashion sector. Further, we will look at the current statistics available on the different databases and will gauge how the sector has fared. Over the course of the paper, the authors will highlight the gap in the protection granted to garments or cloth weaving techniques belonging to indigenous communities (such fashion articles fall under the broad domain of the traditional cultural expression of a community) ranging from handlooms and handicrafts to unique textile and design prints, motifs, symbols, accessories, and so on, as compared to international fashion corporations. The existing gaps would be analysed in the current international IPR regime which makes it challenging to apply the current norms and standards of IP to elements of traditional and cultural clothing of indigenous communities. It will locate a few examples of communities utilising IPR to protect and promote their cultural heritage in the garment industry. Continuing on this tangent, the paper will look at how the IP regime can be adequately expanded to incorporate the needs and interests of indigenous communities and promote their fashion and culture. The final part of the paper will be conclusive in nature.

The adoption by African countries of plant variety protection via the adherence to the union internationale pour la protection des obtentions végétales (UPOV) convention has received criticism because it may dispossess African farmers of their seeds. Little is known about the empirical workings of UPOV's plant breeders' rights (PBRs) regarding African food crops. I interviewed plant breeders and right holders in Kenya's maize seed sector. I found that few actors register maize PBRs because maize varieties are often hybrid and especially because alternative, more powerful forms of pseudo-intellectual property are available in Kenya. Accordingly, almost all of the few protected varieties have been developed by the same breeding team within the parastatal maize seed company. In short, the main problem I discovered with PBRs in the Kenyan maize seed sector is not that they dispossess farmers. It is rather that, although PBRs sometimes accrue to individual breeders, conservative employers like the parastatal do not regard breeders as creative innovators. They do not incentivise their employees and do not use PBRs to this effect. This is problematic in circumstances like Kenya's, where selected breeding teams and individuals are much more productive than others and where a quickly changing climate may require a higher varietal turnover of adapted, formally bred varieties.

The project to create innovation cities is part of the national innovation strategy developed since 2009, and of Law No. 01.00 on the organization of higher education which allowed to adopt judicious programs relating to the valorization of research and innovation within the universities. Therefore, to promote the valorization of research and to make society benefit from its results, various initiatives have been initiated. These initiatives gave birth to the Innovation Cities project. This project was designed around the axes of governance, regulatory framework, infrastructure, financing, support, and talent mobilization. Nevertheless, despite the results obtained, in terms of innovation and valorization of scientific research and also in terms of development of the entrepreneurial culture, difficulties hinder the management and governance of these complex ecosystems. As a result, the expected objectives could not be reached. The problematic posed is to question the difficulties encountered which are more related to the lack of adequate governance mode for this kind of structures allowing them to be able to release energies and promote innovation. In which, we will, in the first step, identify the difficulties due to the lack of efficient governance, and in the second step, show the different possible scenarios, proposed within the framework of the European Erasmus+ INSITES project “Institutionalization of Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Structures,” in view of the requirement of the missions of the cities of innovation and of the regulation in force, to implement an enlightened, transparent and quality governance.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has an important role in digital transformation worldwide, including in Indonesia. AI itself is a simulation of human intelligence that is modeled in machines and programmed to think like humans. At the time AI and the Internet of Things are connected, it can, in principle, act on data without the need for human intervention. AI was originally created by humans as a consequence of the massive digital revolution. Recently, AI has also developed rapidly to perform functions like humans and even produce works of intellectual property like humans, such as creating songs, making new inventions, making industrial designs, and so on. Thus, it is a question whether AI can be qualified as a legal subject of creator, inventor or designer and then register as intellectual property. This research answers this question from the perspective of Indonesian law based on Copyright Law, Patent Law, Industrial Design Law, as well as Trademark Law, and Geographical Indications as the existing Indonesian laws.

The need for protecting traditional knowledge (TK) has been long established, and as a result, international negotiations are being conducted to protect TK internationally. Many international authorities appreciate India's efforts to create unique ways to protect TK. For instance, India was the first nation to set up Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, which helps scrutinise Patent applications on TK. Recently, Dr Shashi Tharror MP brought a private bill titled ‘Protection of TK’. Even though it's a bill, it still needs to be analysed because it serves as a reference point while formulating legislation by the union government or any state government. Hence, the paper aims to critically analyse the bill to point out its shortcomings of the bill. The bill gives TK holders hope since it asserts that it will protect TK from misappropriation. This bill can aid in commercialising TK. However, it is doubtful that the TK holders would gain from such commercialisation as specific provisions in the bill tend to favour outsiders more than the tribal or indigenous communities. It is identified that many crucial concepts about TK, such as ‘dynamic or changing’ or ‘traditional context’, which are necessary for stakeholders, authorities, and the judiciary to properly appreciate the nature of TK, have gone undefined. Also, it begs the question of why such a significant, essential component of TK is missing when the word ‘community’ is excluded from the definition of the term "knowledge society." In essence, it is possible to argue that the bill has been inadequately written without enough weight on the philosophy of TK and its jurisprudential comprehension.