Access to Knowledge

Dear Sound Copyright petitioner,

Amid intense lobbying in the European Parliament next Monday’s vote on the proposal to extend the term of copyright has been struck off in a shock move. Following a meeting of the presidents of the political groups in the European Parliament on Tuesday, and with controversy and a lack of consensus surrounding the proposal, MEPs have delayed voting till the end of April – just before this summer’s European elections.

Source: SciDevNet-

To prevent foreign companies from patenting indigenous medicine, the Indian government has made 200,000 traditional medicines “public property” — available for anyone to use but no one to sell as a brand.

Indian authorities have become concerned about the growing practice of foreign companies patenting medicinal plants and other components of traditional medicine systems.

Source: SciDevNet-

Patents on scientific knowledge may not be as useful — or valuable — as many claim them to be.

The speed of the global economic collapse is provoking a widespread — many would say belated — realisation that many of the beliefs underlying economic expansion over the past 20 years need close questioning, particularly those involving the relationship between the state and the market.

But so far the need to reassess the value of protecting intellectual property, and in particular, the claim that scientific and technological patents are essential for economic growth, has drawn little attention.

Few would deny that technological innovation needs some form of patent protection to prosper.