IPTango

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Convenio contra la entrada de Mercancía Ilegal al País

Gilberto Macias (@gmaciasb) March 02, 2010 No comments:

El Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI) y la Asociación de Agentes Aduanales del Aeropuerto de México, A.C. (AAADAM) refrendaron el Convenio de Cooperación y Coordinación que mantienen desde el 2009.

El interés de ambas instituciones por refrendar este convenio nace del creciente comercio internacional de mercancía pirata que, de acuerdo con el estudio de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OECD) sobre el Impacto Económico de la Falsificación y la Piratería, en el 2005 ascendió a $200 billones de dólares.

Durante el acto, Jorge Amigo explicó que "la labor que realizan los Agentes Aduanales es de suma importancia, como coadyuvantes de las autoridades y asesores de los importadores, por lo que es necesario que conozcan la legislación aplicable en materia de propiedad intelectual y, sobre todo, su observancia en nuestro país”.

Entre los objetivos planteados en el convenio IMPI-AAADAM se encuentran:

El desarrollo de programas conjuntos para la colaboración en actividades de consultoría, y desarrollo de cursos, seminarios, conferencias y simposiums, orientados a difundir la propiedad intelectual.

Asesorías y Concientización en Materia de Propiedad Intelectual.

Un programa de capacitación en materia aduanera.

El texto completo del comunicado de prensa aquí.

‘Agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries’

Patricia Covarrubia March 02, 2010 No comments:

This is the title for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United States (FAO) international conference taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico during 01 -04 March.

“The focus of modern and conventional biotechnologies should be redirected so as to benefit poor farmers in poor countries and not only rich farmers in rich countries”, FAO said on Monday. Modibo Traore, FAO Assistant Director-General adds, "at present, there is a lack of appropriate and useful technologies, policies, technical capacities, and requisite infrastructure for their development, evaluation and deployment in most developing countries."

Hopefully, the conference will give a push to major players and so developing countries can find support. The international community can help by “fostering partnerships and providing a framework for international cooperation and funding for the generation, adaptation and adoption of appropriate biotechnologies”.

For more information about the conference here.

INDECOPI tries to stop counterfeited book

Patricia Covarrubia March 02, 2010 No comments:

A pirated version of 'La Guia de Gaston - un dato para cada antojo' (Gaston’s Guide – a note for every craving) by the renowned chef Gaston Acurio, is being marketed directly on the streets of Lima and the southern beaches in Peru. The INDECOPI, through the Directorate of Copyright, requested the intervention of the Provincial Criminal Attorneys Specializing in Intellectual Property, municipalities and the National Police to combat the reproduction, distribution and sale of this pirated version.

While I support the INDECOPI’s action, I wonder what the editor, publisher and/or the author are doing to stop the infringement of the book. There is clearly a cause of action in here, don’t you think?

México: Conocida página web cerrada por “Cyberpiratería”

Gilberto Macias (@gmaciasb) March 01, 2010 No comments:

La página web “Dark Ville” ha sido cerrada y su administrador puesto a disposición del Ministerio Público de la Federación.

La detención se realizó dentro del marco de acciones que realiza la autoridad para desalentar los delitos de piratería. El Ministerio Público de la Federación, en coordinación con peritos en materia de informática, electrónica y comunicaciones y elementos de la Policía Federal Ministerial aseguraron equipo de cómputo y lograron la detención de una persona en Estado de México.

En el domicilio cateado se sorprendió a una persona en la comisión del delito flagrante, previsto en el artículo 424 bis fracción I del Código Penal Federal, por lo que se ordenó su detención y traslado a las oficinas de la Unidad Especializada en Investigación de Delitos de Derecho de Autor y Propiedad Intelectual, para determinar su situación jurídica.

Según la información proporcionada por la PGR, “Dark Ville” comercializaba membresías que permiten al consumidor descargar videogramas, fonogramas y juegos de video previo pago en depósito a la cuenta bancaria propiedad del inculpado, por lo que una vez efectuado éste, se les proporcionaba una clave de acceso que les permitía realizar las descargas.

Sin lugar a dudas se trata de un buen golpe, pero ya le han salido sustitutos rápidamente…

Fama de America expropriated

Jeremy March 01, 2010 No comments:

IP Tango has received from Richard N. Brown (De Sola Pate & Brown, Abogados) this newspaper report (from El Nacional, 24 February 2010) that the Venezuelan Government has expropriated the 120-year-old Venezuelan coffee roasting company Fama de America. According to Richard, all the company's property, including the trade mark Fama de America, has been expropriated. It appears that the government plans to export coffee under the expropriated brand.

Says Richard, "Venezuela’s government has expropriated many companies but this is the first case of expropriation for a trade mark".

IBM México nuevo sistema de almacenamiento de información X I V.

Gilberto Macias (@gmaciasb) February 26, 2010 No comments:

IBM México lanza un nuevo dispositivo de almacenamiento de datos con una capacidad de 180 terabytes (la de cosas que podemos guardar!!), basado en tecnología de disco duro de última generación. Dicho dispositivo cuenta con más de 50 patentes y se ha invertido la friolera de 20 millones de USD.

Según IBM, dicho dispositivo permitirá a los clientes obtener un ahorro de energía de 80% y una reducción de costos operativos de un 70 por ciento.

Directivos de la compañía destacaron la participación de mexicanos en el proyecto, que además cuenta con el apoyo del Gobierno de Jalisco, diseñado para ofrecer alto rendimiento, escalabilidad y facilidad de administración, a la vez que se aprovecha la gran capacidad de almacenamiento y bajo costo de la tecnología SATA.

Más información aquí y aquí.

IP Provisions in EU-Peru/Colombia FTA

Aurelio Lopez-Tarruella Martinez February 26, 2010 1 comment:

IP Watch informs that Peru, Colombia and the European Union have reached an agreement on the the content of the section concerning Intellectual Property of their Free Trade Agreement. According to the information in IP Watch: "makers of branded drugs will enjoy “test data exclusivity” over the scientific formulae they have used and will be able to delay generic versions of their products from appearing on the market. This data exclusivity will apply for five years – six fewer than the EU had been pressing for. The five-year exemption is similar to that contained in agreements that the US signed with the two Andean countries in 2006".

Although the EU has watered down its original demand of 11 years of exclusivity, Health policy activitists still believe that these requirements may imperil access to affordable medicines in Peru and Colombia by hampering the availability of generic drugs. Furthermore, the data exclusivity requirement may have effects for other countries of the Andean Community.

Other key provisions of the agreements concern geographical indications. It looks like 200 GIs from both sides will be covered by the text.

Talks on the agreement are at an advance stage. It might be ready of the EU-Latin American summit in Madrid on May if the European Parliament (with new powers on EU Commercial Policy thanks to the Lisbon Treaty) approves it.

Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA)

Patricia Covarrubia February 25, 2010 No comments:

ACTA is a proposed plurilateral agreement which aims to establish international standards on IPRs. The treaty is not part of any international agreement and it is criticised as being too severe. From Latin America, the only country that has joined the negotiations is Mexico; other countries are the US, the EU, Japan, Australia, Canada among others.

This week the European press has covered the 7th round of negotiation of this agreement - held in Mexico. The focus has being in a leaked document from last meeting. In this text, the United States proposed to establish a new role for Internet Service Providers (ISP) requiring them to engage fully in the fight against piracy. According to analysts, this role will put the Internet under total surveillance by private actors because they will need to block and filter sites.

To this effect, the European Data Protection fears for the privacy of the citizens and thus, it call for transparency in these negotiations. The next meeting of ACTA negotiators will take place in New Zealand in April.

For more info see also a report in the Numerama magazine (in French).

Mexico: first survey of piracy

Patricia Covarrubia February 25, 2010 1 comment:

The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI, in Spanish) announces that from February to April it will be conducting surveys in two of its cities (ciudad de León and Guanajuato). The purpose is, according to the Institute, ‘to understand the habits of consumption and the views of the inhabitants of that city in relation to this phenomenon’.

While I do see this means of approach as an intention to protect IPRs, I cannot figure out how so. I better explain myself.

Last time I visit my family I went to purchase some CDs with the latest ‘latin music’, and to my amaze there was not one single High Street Music Store that sold ‘originals’. Moreover, there were everywhere – streets and malls. This is not all. The presentation and quality of those sold at the mall were extraordinary beautiful and of course very cheap. The same happen when my mother arrived with rented DVDs, they were not original and the answer was that there were not places where to get them (after being called snobby!).

After enquiring, as a normal consumer, I became aware that there were different prices for these ‘non-originals’ products, depending though on the quality. Moreover, after telling the DVD shop that the rented movies were not original he replied very politely: do you want your money back?

The moral of the story is that counterfeit appears to have a market on its own and besides, it appears to be extremely common giving you the sensation that it is legal.
I just wonder how the IMPI is going to promote and disseminate the benefits of the IP system if the consumers are happy to buy counterfeit products. Of course the examples that I gave are the date to date and most common ones and the one that appear not to harm customers. But, as said, I just would like to see how surveys will help the IMPI.

Chile: counterfeit products exceed half a million

Patricia Covarrubia February 24, 2010 No comments:

Today’s front page of the Mercurio newspaper reports that in 2009 more than half a million counterfeit goods were seized in shops and malls.

According to the head of the Brigade of Intellectual Property, Patricio Bascuñán, PlayStation games is at the top of the list with over 100 thousand counterfeit products. They are followed by sportswear bearing marks such as Nike and Adidas.

Following investigations it was found that the goods reach the country from China, through an importer. However, it is also recognised that there were cases in which the store owners bought the products online.

Mr Bascuñán explains that one of the biggest concerns is related to health. He gives an example of cylinders of oxygen which were seized – even though they were bearing the mark Indura, they were filled by another company. That said, he says that it is uncertain if they had the adequate quality and purity for human use.

He adds that there are also unusual cases such as 40 thousand bottles of Coca-Cola, from China. The packaging of the 600 ml bottle did not resemble the original and the label was written in English and did not specify the ingredients. The studies found that the substance was not toxic, but it did not have the ingredients of the original drink.

Lastly, he mentions that 113 people were arrested for importing or selling counterfeit goods in 2009 - double the figure of that in 2008.

Some IPTango moves

* Listed as one of the "Best blogs on Intellectual and Industrial Property Law". The University of Alicante Intellectual Property & Information Technology Project (UAIPIT).

* One of the only two Latin American blog listed in the "Top 100 Intellectual Property Blogs". Feedspot, as of May 2021.

* Listed as one of the "Top 15 Blogs For An Intellectual Property (IP) Enthusiasts". Buzzfeed.com, January 2017.

* Listed as one of the "World's Best IP Blogs". BananaIP.com, December 2015.

* IPTango founder Professor Jeremy Phillips was listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2005, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

* Listed as one of the "Influential intellectual property blawgs". A Dictionary of Intellectual Property Law, Peter Groves, 2011.

* Listed as one of the "Communities of Blawgers". Los blogs jurídicos y la web 2.0. para la difusión y la enseñanza del derecho, Gonzalo Ramírez Cleves, 2010.