IPTango

Monday, 21 April 2014

Peru: beyond the 'naughty step technique' for illegal copying in the film industry

Patricia Covarrubia April 21, 2014 No comments:

The Peruvian IP Institute (INDECOPI) is once again looking after its domestic film industry. Two months ago with the release of the Peruvian movie ‘El vientre’ (the womb) we became aware of extra activities that the Institute, together with other institutions such as the Commission to Combat Customs Crimes and Piracy (CLCDAP), the Attorney General's Office, and the National Police of Peru , were putting into effect (here).

The campaign and actions taken appeared to have been a success since before the release of two other domestic films ‘Loco cielo de abril’ and ‘La cara del diablo’, INDECOPI together with the above institutions and organisation will yet again put into practice the same policy: campaigns and actions. INDECOPI's webpage reminds the population the importance of copyright. Added to this is the observation made: “the action of illegal reproduction or illegal marketing of films brings heavy penalties” as well as criminal penalties (up to 8 years in prison). The news also noted that during 2013, INDECOPI’s Copyright Directorate imposed several fines and seized pirate goods in the excess of 26,000,000 PEN (5,585,000 GBP --exchange rate: 0.214809 valid as of: 21/4/2014).

Finally, INDECOPI “urged the public to reject any offer of pirated material from unscrupulous traders who profit from the efforts of others and who do not hesitate to take advantage of the success of writers and artists.”

Is there such a thing as policy ‘space’ in TRIPS?

Patricia Covarrubia April 17, 2014 No comments:

An actual space trip!

Answering this question has been the task of The Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, together with a number of international patent scholars around the world – including ‘Latinos’ contributors such as Carlos Correa (Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Industrial Property and Economics Law, University of Buenos Aires (Argentina)) and Denis Borges Barbosa (Professor at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)). The “Declaration on Patent Protection: Regulatory Sovereignty under TRIPS” (“Patent Declaration” in short) can be assessed here.

Today the “Patent Declaration”, which indeed shows the policy space in TRIPS, is launched and we can participate and support it. According to Matthias Lamping (currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute, who kindly passed the information to the iptango), “The Patent Declaration supplements our existing work on issues of international IP law, such as the Declaration on a ‘Balanced Interpretation of the Three-Step Test in Copyright Law’ (www.ip.mpg.de/en/pub/news/declaration-threesteptest.cfm), which deals with limitations and exceptions to copyright protection, and the ‘Principles for Intellectual Property Provisions in Bilateral and Regional Agreements’ (www.ip.mpg.de/en/pub/news/fta_statement.cfm).”

Scanning through the ‘Patent Declaration’ it seems that actually international law leaves policy space for pursuing national interest. For example, the declaration explains that there exists flexibility for states to use compulsory licenses. Indeed, it asserts that this is “ensured by the fact that neither Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement nor Article 5A of the Paris Convention contains any restriction with regard to the grounds on which a compulsory licence may be issued.”

Another point covered by the declaration is ‘transit’. The “Patent Declaration” goes on to say that “ Patent rights should not create barriers to legitimate trade (cf. Recital 1 of the Preamble and Article 41 of the TRIPS Agreement). Goods in transit cannot be deemed to infringe any of the exclusive rights that a patent normally confers if those goods are not destined for the market of the country where transit occurs. The territoriality principle applicable under patent law has not been overridden by the TRIPS Agreement (see, for example, Paragraph 6(i) in fine of the 30 August 2003 WTO decision on the ‘Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health’, concerning the export of pharmaceutical products produced or imported under a compulsory licence). Customs authorities and courts of the country of transit usually lack competence to determine whether goods in transit are infringing in the countries of origin or destination and cannot decide to grant preliminary or permanent injunctions in their respect.
The detention of goods by customs authorities based on claims of infringement can also violate the principle of freedom of transit enshrined in Article V of the GATT.” In this point, I am sure we could hear some opinions from Brazil – you may remember several seizures of generic drugs in transit by the Dutch customs authorities in 2008 and 2009 which showed friction between the European Union legislation and the World Trade Organization.

I leave you with this piece of information in the hope that it would be of interest to you.

Latin America Chambers of Commerce integrate cultural and creative sectors in their agenda

Patricia Covarrubia April 03, 2014 No comments:

Chamber of Commerce of Latin America signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the Pacific Alliance in the business sector.

The Colombian Chamber of Commerce of Bogota (CCB) informs that the agreement was signed between the Chambers of Commerce of Bogota (Colombia), Mexico City (Mexico) and Santiago de Chile (Chile) to promote exchange of knowledge, networking, participation in tenders, best business practices, trade relations and promoting the image of the region.

Accordingly, the memorandum of understanding contemplates three key areas:
1. - Awareness and information for entrepreneurs, through international forums held in each country of the Pacific Alliance.
2.-Training programs regarding public procurement -- business placed in one of the Alliance members to participate in tenders.
3. - In terms of attracting investment it will undertake workshops to enhance the ‘Region’s Mark’. The Chambers of Commerce will unite to ensure permanent support to entrepreneurs through programs and projects that are managed by the agreement.

Moreover, the CCB informs that an element incorporated into the framework agreement was the Cultural and Creative Industries sectors, affirming that internationally these sectors do have much higher rates of growth than that of traditional sectors. Cultural and Creative industries “add economic and social value to nations and individuals, do constitute a form of knowledge that translates into jobs and wealth , and use creativity - the ‘raw material’ - to encourage innovation in production and marketing processes .”

Finally, the Pacific Alliance will offer opportunities of production to Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Chile, offering competitive products and will open the Asian market through existing agreements.

Source Cámara de Comercio.

Look who's 1?: Mexico and the Madrid Protocol

Patricia Covarrubia April 01, 2014 No comments:

A year ago, Mexico signed the Madrid Protocol giving trade mark owners a simplified mechanism through which they can protect their mark abroad. Administered by WIPO it is said to be the most efficient means of achieving international protection for a registered trade mark.

Before 2012 no Latin American country (apart from Cuba) had acceded and much was speculated (here, here and here). Colombia and Mexico signed just months apart from each other and time flies….Mexico is already celebrating its first birthday with good reports from WIPO ( Mexico’s process of the applications have been of high quality and efficiency).

The Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property (IMPI) reports that after Mexico’s entry, 54 applications from companies and individuals with business activities in Mexico have submitted their trade mark through the Madrid Protocol. These businesses seek protection mainly in the United States, the European Union and China. In addition, abroad applications notifying Mexico as Designated Office have reached 5,476 of which 1,907 has been granted. Countries that have designated Mexico the most are: the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and China.

IMPI emphasises that the Protocol encourages foreign investment providing legal certainty and giving the opportunity to international companies to enter the domestic market providing an easy accessible mechanism for registration of their marks in our country.

Source IMPI.

Chile: A watermelon with a heart

Patricia Covarrubia March 31, 2014 No comments:

Last week Chile celebrated the International Gastronomic and Food Industry (Encuentro Internacional de la Industria Gastronómica y Alimentaria (EIIGA 2014)). One of the parties that decided to participate with a stand and everything (including food!) was the Chilean Intellectual Property National Institute (INAPI).

As expected, the event is visited by the most important representatives of the culinary and food industry at national and international level . INAPI’s aim was to support the ‘Origin Stamp’(Sello de Origen) by providing information and also offering tastings of domestic products. INAPI explains that the ‘Origin Mark’ recognizes and rewards the efforts of traditional producers. It attends to “encourage entrepreneurship and productive development in local communities” through providing recognition to their products by obtaining Geographical Indications ( GIs) , Designations of Origin ( DO) , Collective Marks and Certification Marks.

Finally, Mr Maximiliano Santa Cruz , INAPI’s National Director , says that with the ‘Origin Stamp’ there is hope “to foster, preserve, protect and improve the positioning of the work of artisans, fishermen, farmers and producers".

In the same line, early this month INAPI granted a Collective Mark to the Association of watermelons from Paine – the collective mark being ‘Corazón de Paine’ (Paine’s heart). It is said that this process started in January 2013. However, the aim is to obtain a Geographical Indication (GI) for which they applied for in June. By the collective mark it is “expected to contribute to the preservation of agricultural biodiversity and tourism development of the municipality”.

INAPI’s president informs that up to today there are only four Collective Marks registered in Chile. In this occasion the watermelons from Paine are said to be highly sweet and to have nutritional quality. The region of Paine is located in the metropolitan area, in the province of Maipo, and is mainly characterized by its agrarian culture.

Source INAPI.

Not just a label: Geographical Indication

Patricia Covarrubia March 19, 2014 No comments:

This week, the Brazilian Instituto Nacional da Propiedad Industrial (INPI) presented a certificate of Designation of Origin (DO) to the producers of coffee in the region of the Cerrado Mineiro. The event took place at a national fair called ‘Feira Nacional de Irrigação em Cafeicultura’ and was attended by farmers, exhibitors and officials.

Sergio Francisco de Assis, President of the Federation that represents, manages and promotes the Cerrado Mineiro region, received the certificate and acknowledged that the “certificate summarizes years of work” and recognises the said Regions and its people.

On the other hand, Lúcia Regina, who is the General Coordinator of Geographical Indication at INPI, congratulated farmers for the achievement and at the same time encouraged them to seek protection in other markets and products.

The region of the Cerrado Mineiro is the leading producer of coffee in Brazil. According to Decree of the Government of Minas Gerais the region comprises an area of 147 hectares and approx. 3500 producers. The region has uniform climate pattern allowing the production of high quality coffees.

A soft reminder to my family...

Back in 2005, the coffee from the Cerrado Mineiro was granted an Indication of Source. Currently, the product is giving the highest GI certificate and thus, recognizing (not just labelling) the “qualities and characteristics of the product, the result of geographical environment, including natural and human factors.”

While this news was reported a few months ago (here), it was this week that the event took place. As noted at the time, this is the third national product that receives a DO (there are: ‘Litoral Norte Gaúcho’ for rice (granted in 2010); and, 'Vale dos Vinhedos’ for wines (granted in 2012)).

Source INPI here and here.

DINAPI: Paraguay reorganises its IP administration

Jeremy March 18, 2014 No comments:

According to a note by Barbara Dollstadt (Berkemeyer Attorneys & Counselors, Asunción) in the current INTA Bulletin (vol.69, no.6), Paraguay has a new National Authority of Intellectual Property (DINAPI). DINAPI has been established by Decree No. 460/2013, which regulates Law No. 4798 of December 31, 2012. According to Law No. 4798, DINAPI is an autonomous institution, based in Asunción. Its National Director is vested with both general and special judicial and administrative powers, as well as the power to appoint and remove officers of DINAPI. The National Director thus takes responsibility for the administration of Paraguay’s system for issuing and protecting copyrights and related rights, trade marks, industrial designs and models, patents, utility models and geographical indications, as well as the promotion of technology transfer. Importantly

The Enforcement Directorate (Direccion General de Observancia, or DGO) will be responsible mainly for the promotion and protection of all forms of intellectual property rights. It must develop preventive and investigative actions to suppress the effects of crime, piracy and counterfeiting—at customs checkpoints, in business premises and in other locations—and initiate proceedings regarding alleged intellectual property infringements. These actions may be taken ex officio by the DGO or on application to the DGO by rights holders or their representatives.

Hecho en Quintana Roo

Gilberto Macias (@gmaciasb) March 13, 2014 No comments:

Con el objetivo de fortalecer la competitividad de las empresas quintanarroenses, el Gobierno del Estado de Quintana Roo ha creado la marca “Hecho en Quintana Roo” cuya presentación tuvo lugar a principios de este año.

La meta es que la marca “Hecho en Quintana Roo” sea reconocida y asociada con el origen y calidad de los productos quintanarroenses y que facilite su colocación en nuevos mercados, tanto regionales como internacionales.

La marca si bien goza del apoyo total del IMPI, en realidad no se encuentra registrada ante el propio IMPI como tal, sino que, como nos cuentan nuestros amigos de ALHEN, la protección de la misma tiene lugar mediante dos diferentes figuras plenamente reconocidas: la Marca de Certificación de Calidad y la Indicación de Procedencia.

La Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico de Quintana Roo ha publicado una serie de Preguntas Frecuentes sobre el uso de la marca “Hecho en Quintana Roo” que pueden consultarse aquí SEDE.

Más información:

Sipse

YouTube

@HechoenQROO

Banco de Recursos Genéticos Microbianos de Chile Realizó Primer Depósito Internacional

Rodrigo Ramirez Herrera @ramahr March 04, 2014 No comments:

Debido a un intenso programa de difusión para incentivar el depósito de cepas en la Autoridad Internacional de Depósito chilena y a la inauguración el año pasado de un laboratorio que permite entregar un mejor servicio de conservación, se realizó por primera vez en el INIA de Chile el resguardo de material biológico para procesos de una patente extranjera mediante depósito del Instituto de Ecología A.C. de Veracruz (México).

La cepa depositada se mantiene por un período de al menos 30 años mediante un proceso de criopreservación, para lo cual se somete a un proceso de congelación en nitrógeno líquido (-196°C) que hace que sus propiedades originales se mantengan intactas a lo largo del tiempo, con la posibilidad de reactivarla en el momento que sea necesario. Existe otro proceso de conservación que se utiliza para generar un respaldo de las muestras conservadas denominado proceso de liofilización, que consiste en una deshidratación total de la muestra, pudiendo mantenerla en tubos de vacío y baja temperatura, en buenas condiciones sin necesitar suministro de electricidad o nitrógeno.

El proceso de modernización en estas áreas de resguardo de innovación lo inició el INAPI en el año 2011 con la búsqueda de un centro de investigación de alto nivel con capacidad para constituirse en la Autoridad Internacional de Depósito de Microorganismos para Sudamérica, eligiéndose al Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA). Con el apoyo técnico de los expertos de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual (OMPI) a mediados del 2012, el INIA se convirtió en Autoridad Internacional de Depósito de Microorganismos (sigla en inglés IDA), siendo la primera y única en Latinoamérica.

Según informa el INAPI, este primer depósito desde el extranjero es un incentivo a que otros países de la región envíen sus cepas a Chile, en donde tienen ventajas sobre otros bancos, pues además de menores precios comparten el idioma y los tiempos de trayecto de la cepa al lugar de depósito, son menores que si se enviara a Europa o Norteamérica. Precisamente la ventaja del idioma común fue lo que motivó este depósito según informó la consultora mexicana que asesoró al Instituto de Ecología en este proceso.

En el banco del INIA tienen más de dos mil cepas, las cuales han sido recolectadas a lo largo del país, conservadas a través del tiempo y pertenecen a una colección de carácter público. Sin embargo, esta nueva cepa se suma a otra proveniente de la Universidad del Biobío (Chile), pasando a ser el segundo depósito de carácter privado y primero extranjero, que bajo el tratado de Budapest llega al laboratorio.

Fuente: Constanza Zülch (Comunicaciones INAPI) / INIA

Book Review: Digital Copyright by Simon Stokes

Patricia Covarrubia March 03, 2014 No comments:

The IPtango has received a review copy of Simon Stokes’ Digital Copyright Law and Practice. Simon Stokes is a solicitor and a partner with Blake Lapthorn and he is a visiting research fellow at Bournemouth Law School, UK.

The fourth edition is published by Hart Publishing in 2014 and is up-to-date to June 2013.
The edition covers issues such as the Google Library Project (i.e. scanning material into this searchable database); collaborative and jointly authorship (e.g. Wikipedia); digital images; linking; Open Access; e-books; and apps; among other. Good to see in the book was a Chapter dedicated to Moral Rights. The author asserts that this is new in UK law and yet he manages to bring the principles into the digital environment in a very clear way.

The book is mainly establishing the UK position but sometimes goes further as to look at the US experience. Yet, the book is a fine read for the Latin America audiences since it brings and gives a clear understanding of the policies surrounding this modern issue i.e. digital content.

Here is what the Hart Publishing editorial has to say:

The first edition of this book in 2002 was the first UK text to examine digital copyright together with related areas such as performers' rights, moral rights, database rights and competition law as a subject in its own right. Updated editions have included the UK implementation of the 2001 Information Society Directive and commentary on user-generated content and the development of Web 2.0 and beyond. Now in its fourth edition, the book has been updated and revised to take account of legal and policy developments in copyright law and related areas, in particular the increasing role of the Court of Justice of the European Union in shaping EU copyright law.

The book helps put digital copyright law and policy into perspective and provides practical guidance for those creating or exploiting digital content or technology, whether in academia, the software, information, publishing and creative industries, and other areas of the economy. The focus is on the specifics of the law in this area together with practical aspects, including precedents and precedent checklists dealing with common digital copyright transactions. The latest edition has been expanded to include a discussion of Open Access, eBooks and app development and licensing. Both academics and practitioners will find the book an invaluable guide to this rapidly developing field of law.

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For more information here.
To order a hardcopy here (EU) and here (US).
Electronic publication available from March through the Hart Publishing website.