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intellectual property

Guatemalan court suspends "Monsanto Law"
2-Sep-2014 La Voz
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has provisionally suspended the entry into force of the controversial "Monsanto Law" required by CAFTA to legalise property rights over plant varieties
Guatemala: People reject "Monsanto Law" for threatening food security
29-Aug-2014 Servindi
Guatemalan civil society has strongly rejected the country’s new plant breeders’ rights law imposed through the free trade agreement with the US (CAFTA).
Médecins Sans Frontières warns about IP inclusion in Asian FTA
27-Aug-2014 IPWatch
The inclusion of intellectual property in the ongoing negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership between 16 countries, most of them Asian, is raising concerns about “TRIPS-plus” measures that could jeopardise generic drugs production in India, according to Médecins Sans Frontières.
Registered lobbyists elbow their way back into TPP committees
27-Aug-2014 EFF
New relaxed rules on lobbyists mean that Hollywood will now be able to exercise their influence on US trade policy more than ever.
US cheesemakers raise stink over geographic labeling restriction proposals
26-Aug-2014 IBTimes
Gouda, muenster and cheddar cheese are staples at delis and restaurants from New York to Vancouver. But if the final version of a cross-Atlantic trade agreement released earlier this month is approved, Canada will include them on a list of 173 food and beverage products barred from being sold under their common names unless they are produced in Canada or in the European regions for which they are named or commonly associated.
Leaked CETA treaty: One thing to applaud
20-Aug-2014 The Tyee
Massive, controversial EU-Canada deal manages to do copyright right, says Michael Geist
Leaked EU trade pact suggests Canada caved on drug patents
14-Aug-2014 Canadian Press
A leaked copy of the full text of the Canada-EU free trade agreement was posted online late Wednesday and appeared to confirm the fears of the deal’s critics on both sides of the Atlantic.
’Sharing is not a crime’: Why a Colombian student faces prison for posting research online
31-Jul-2014 TakePart.com
A South American biologist who found a five-year-old master’s degree thesis online, then shared it with fellow graduate students on a Web page, could spend the next eight years in prison for copyright infringement — thanks to the US-Colombia FTA.
GIs becoming growing cheese trade barrier
30-Jul-2014 Dairy Herd Management
The US National Milk Producers Federation and the US Dairy Export Council say that geographical indications established as a direct result of EU FTAs are a new and growing type of trade barrier restricting access to the Korean and other markets for key US cheeses.
Concern over copyright ’super powers’ in free trade agreement
15-Jul-2014 Computerworld
The Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement grants "super powers" to intellectual property owners, according to IP expert Dr Matthew Rimmer.
Overcoming Transatlantic differences on intellectual property: IPR and the TTIP negotiations
13-Jul-2014 EPRS
A report from the European Parliament Research Service
EFF: We join dozens of organizations and businesses to protest TPP copyright proposals
11-Jul-2014 EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and its partners in the global Our Fair Deal coalition join together with an even more diverse international network of creators, innovators, start-ups, educators, libraries, archives and users to release two new open letters to negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The US / Peru Free Trade Agreement and generic medicines
2-Jul-2014 Inca Kola News
Peru’s National Association of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Alafarpe) has filed a petition in the Peruvian courts to stop generic drugs from being sold based on the terms of US-Peru free trade agreement, according to Inca Kola News
Videos from TACD’s June 25, 2014 side event on intellectual property in the US, EU trade agreement (TTIP)
1-Jul-2014 KEI
A set of videos from the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue’s June 25, 2014 event on intellectual property and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement.
What does copyright have to do with "free trade"? Unpicking the undemocratic TTIP
30-Jun-2014 EFF
Reports are that TTIP may focus less on copyright and IP enforcement issues compared with TPP, and more on other legal regimes that are commonly lumped into the "intellectual property" catch-all, such as trade secrets.
French concerns over geographical indications will hamper TTIP talks
18-Jun-2014 EurActiv
Wine is a casus belli for the French government, who may block transatlantic negotiations if geographical indications are not protected. EurActiv France reports.
Bill C-18 – CETA combination would entrench corporate control of food system, says NFU
18-Jun-2014 Daily Exchange
Under CETA, Canada has agreed to empower the courts to apply provisional and precautionary measures that include seizure of assets, destruction of equipment, and freezing of bank accounts against someone suspected of intellectual property rights infringement — that is, before any trial takes place. Plant Breeders’ Rights, which would be bolstered through Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act, are included among the intellectual property rights covered by these measures.
Fight rages over definition of Tennessee whiskey
12-Jun-2014 AP
The fight over labels on whiskey bottles comes amid a global drive to seek labeling protections by a smorgasbord of regional foods such as cheeses, hams and wines.
Free trade agreement with the US threatening fruit and vegetable diversity
13-May-2014 DWN
The seed industry is planning to take advantage of the free trade agreement between the US and the EU (TTIP) to implement its patents in the European market.
Vilsack says sanitary issues delaying TTIP
30-Apr-2014 Agri-Pulse
Disagreements over sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) are delaying US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.