1. Trademarks and Geographical Indications
A round table on Striking a Balance Between Trademarks and Geographical Indications: The Italian Perspective is scheduled for Nov 21, 2007 (2:30pm)and might be of interest to our readers in Italy (The round table will be presented in Italian.)
According to the INTA Website, the round table will focus on the different degrees of protection offered by trademarks and geographical indications, aimed at opening a debate on whether there exist any shared principles capable of striking a balance between the two systems.
Throughout the discussion, the fundamental differences between the two systems will be examined and two points of view will be presented: on one hand, the viewpoint of producers who have made substantial investments in the production and sale of traditional products and who claim the widest possible protection for geographical indications; and on the other hand, producers who have also invested heavily in the registration and promotion of trademarks and who claim for themselves an exclusive position, albeit in sectors that are traditionally dominated by geographical indications.
SPICY IP is doing a post on Geographic Indications and Certification Trademarks. If any of the readers who attend this conference would like to write a summary of the discussions for the blog, please let us know.
2. G-20 meet in Genvea on Nov 15th
The Financial Express Reports
Trade minister from the developing countries represented in the group – G 20 – is scheduled to meet in Geneva around November 15 to renew efforts toward closing the gap in the much-delayed Doha round of WTO negotiations. G-20 includes countries like India, Brazil, South Africa and China.
According to the deputy director-general of the World Trade Organisation, Harsha Vardhan Singh, “[t]he prospect of a successful conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) looked very bright with member countries engaging in serious negotiations in the last couple of months,….”
3. Evolution of of IPRs and its Management – (24 Nov 2007 – 25 Nov 2007) Ahmedabad/Gujarat, India.
The Purpose of this international seminar is to bring the scientists, researchers, academicians, technocrats Bureaucrats and policy makers on the same platform to share knowledge and their view about IPRs and deliberate on challenges posed by IPR regimes.
4. Tutorials and Conference on Drug Discovery and Clinical Development in India: Scientific Platform for Globar regulatory Landscape through Biologics and Medical Devices. (Tutorial: Nov 18, 2007; Conference: Nov 19-21, 2007)
The event will be held at the Renaissance Mumbai Hotel and Convention Center, Mumbai.
The conference hopes to “serve as forum to address current solid scientific research in India pertaining to global development of drugs and biologics.”
5. The WIPO Website has an updated listing of all upcoming meetings, events and conferences. We are listing a few upcoming ones here:
# National Seminar on Copyright-Based Business: Authorship, Publishing and Access to Knowledge (WIPO/CR/ISB/07)
Nov 12, 2007 to Nov 13, 2007 (Islamabad, Pakistan)
# WIPO International Seminar on the Strategic Use of Intellectual Property for Economic and Social Development (WIPO/IP/LJV/07)
Nov 12, 2007 to Nov 16, 2007 (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
# WIPO Inter-Regional Forum on Leveraging Intellectual Property for Knowledge-Based Development and National Wealth Creation (WIPO/IP/IR/DEL/07)
Nov 14, 2007 to Nov 16, 2007 (New Delhi, India)
