Join us Thurs, Sept 25 @ 6PM ET for the 14th Annual Jaszi IP Lecture at AUWCL! Prof. Wend Wendland (former WIPO TK Director) speaks on the new WIPO Treaty on TK & Genetic Resources. Reception to follow, register here: https://loom.ly/eLvPm9o #PIJIP #JasziLecture

Join us for the in-person launch of the Centre on Knowledge Governance after the Peter A. Jaszi Lecture—Sept 25, 6PM ET at AU Washington College of Law. Hosted by PIJIP & the Geneva Graduate Institute. Register: https://loom.ly/1xbPZRQ

What's the future of Traditional Knowledge, given resistance to the WIPO TK Treaty? Join Wend Wendland at American University & online on 25 Sept and hear more about the Centre on Knowledge Governance. Registration: t.ly/DnrRK @pijip.bsky.social @profseanflynn.bsky.social @gvagrad.bsky.social

I invite you to follow the new Centre on Knowledge Governance, a partnership of PIJIP and the Geneva Graduate Institute which I am launching this week Thursday at the Jaszi Lecture at AUWCL. bsky.app/profile/know...

Researchers find Llama 3.1 recalls large parts of popular copyrighted books, possibly weakening AI industry claims that such memorization is fringe behavior (Timothy B. Lee/Understanding AI) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

WIPO IGC negotiation on the mandate on whether and how to continue the negotiation of an instrument on traditional cultural expressions and traditional knowledge is hitting bumps, with a proposal by the US to restrict the mandate to just one meeting per year. infojustice.org/archives/46454

US Copyright Office AI Report pt.3: "transformativeness is a matter of degree, and ... will depend on the functionality of the model and how it is deployed. On one end of the spectrum, training a model is most transformative when the purpose is to deploy it for research" p.46

The @who.int is trying to conclude a long negotiation on pandemic treaty, today. This addresses one of the outstanding issues.

!! CALL TO ACTION !! #Booksky please join me in the fight to save our libraries. EveryLibrary is working hard to save the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is the federal agency charged with distributing Congressionally approved funds to state libraries and grant recipients.

I would be shocked if the @wipo.int Broadcast Treaty is recommended for a diplomatic conference by #sccr46 The text appears to be a long way off from the consensus described by the chair in SCCR 45. It is not carefully limited to signal piracy and has many provisions on post-fixation activities.

American University's IP program @pijip.bsky.social has been ranked #6 in the USA.

The Fourth Circuit is famously succinct. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

As part of the A2K Coalition, we are deeply concerned that the draft broadcast treaty currently under discussion at @WIPO is still too broad, encroaching the Public Domain and preventing public interest uses. #SCCR46 More: communia-association.org/publication/...

Work at #WIPO has potential to ensure that #libraries can support access to knowledge, research, education & culture for all without fearing to break the law Find out more about the issues on the table at #SCCR46 this week in Geneva! bit.ly/4jrsor7

Grace Nyongesa, from Kenya’s University Academic Staff Union, delivers a clear message: 🔊 “Broadcast materials are vital for quality education— in times of crisis and every day. Teachers and researchers need fair access." #GoPublic 📡 Don’t cut the signal! eiie.io/4ifLRtS #SCCR46 #WIPO

India #SCCR46 "There is a need for thorough consideration of the impact of ... fixation and post fixation rights. The idea of providing mandatory exceptions and limitations should be explored."

Nigeria @wipo.int #sccr46 "The implications of this particularly regarding its scope of rights, limitations and exceptions and its potential impact on access to information must be fully understood and carefully weighed."

Africa Group @wipo.int #sccr46 "we note that discussions remain complex and Member States continue to hold divergent views on the scope and nature of the protection. ... extending exclusive rights to broadcasters particularly beyond the protection of the signal would have unintended consequences."

US @wipo.int #sccr46 "the US remains concerned the draft continues to exceed the GA mandate for a signal based approach to protect broadcasters in the traditional sense and accordingly in our view significant work remains to be done on this text."

African Group @wipo.int #SCCR46 "The African Group is looking forward to discussing textual proposals on implementing the work plan on LNEs contained in document SCCR/43/8REF."

APG @wipo.int #SCCR46: "Most members of the group are of the view that the scope of the Broadcast Treaty should be confined to the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense and that the Treaty should be narrowly focused on a signal-based approach."

#SCCR46 @wipo.int "GRULAC is favorable to holding a diplomatic conference which will allow us to find a satisfactory end to this large process and allow the Committee to focus on emerging issues, notably challenges and opportunities is thrown up by the developing digital environment.”

Chair Facilitator: "our view as drafters is that this document is mature enough to warrant a convocation of a Diplomatic Conference. There may be other contentious issues. But those contentious issues can be thrashed out during a Diplomatic Conference." #BroadcastTreaty @wipo.int #SCCR

Next was a wide-ranging talk by @profseanflynn.bsky.social on AI and the right to research at @cambridgelaw.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=avbr... (7/12)

AI for Good? As the world grapples with how to tame AI's worst effects, we reflect on how some AI could promote health and culture in the Global South. 7 April 6pm CET. Join blackstripe.live/SideEvent @pijip.bsky.social @profseanflynn.bsky.social @jamielove.bsky.social @wipo.int

Good morning! I had some thoughts on the "reciprocal tariff" madness from last night.

I will be speaking tomorrow at the KEI open workshop and roundtable on the broadcast treaty tomorrow. Join us at www.keionline.org/sccr46 @pijip.bsky.social

More attacks on libraries. time.com/7273583/nava...

IMLS is being shut down. All workers were refused access to the building. All grants to the nation's libraries and those that help them (like @pijip) will likely be canceled. bookriot.com/imls-gutted/

My sense is that the White House is testing the theory that one declassifies material by the act of sharing it. "In his mind." DoD Sec had authority to declassify. He did so by sharing it. Therefore it was no longer classified at the moment it was shared. QED

I just posted Ipse Dixit From the Archives 114: Barbara Ringer on Implementing the Copyright Law: What Librarians Should Know (1977). Many thanks to @zvirosen.bsky.social for providing this recording! shows.acast.com/ipse-dixit/e... @levendowski.net

Group B proposed a sharing session at #SCT49 on graphical user interfaces (GUIs). @wipo.int

Group B at WIPO SCT/50 meeting pushing for graphical user interface IP protections.

Among the areas we have been concerned about are GUI standards that would apply to operating automobiles, the controls on medical devices used in hospital settings, particularly emergency rooms, standards that make a GUI more accessible to persons with disabilities....

Standards for a GUI lower the costs of training users, lower the costs for developers, and reduce the lock-in associated with software and systems when end users find it costly and confusing to switch to competitive products or services. @thirugeneva.bsky.social

Our statement today at the WIPO SCT. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

My statement @wipo.int #SCT supporting the AG call for a study on design protection for GUIs -- citing the work of @design-law.bsky.social docs.google.com/document/d/1... @christinefarley.bsky.social @jamielove.bsky.social @thirugeneva.bsky.social

I haven't been following this issue closely at WIPO but in general, my main issues are: - GUIs aren't proper statutory subject matter for design patents. See www.regulations.gov/comment/PTO-... - People seem to mainly want DPs for GUIs so they can subvert the low standards of copyright. See:

First day statements in GUIs at WIPO. Africa Group asks for a study before adopting a joint recommendation. Sounds like a good idea. @design-law.bsky.social @christinefarley.bsky.social @thirugeneva.bsky.social

EU: "However, areas of divergence were also highlighted which present opportunities for working towards developing more unified and comprehensive approaches to GUI design protection on a global scale." @wipo.int @jamielove.bsky.social @pamelasamuelson.bsky.social @profseanflynn.bsky.social

@design-law.bsky.social design law protections on user interfaces are being discussed tomorrow at @wipo.int Standing Committee on Trademarks. What do we need to know? @jamielove.bsky.social @thirugeneva.bsky.social

In the WTO: “Without prejudice to the U.S. view that the tariffs imposed pursuant to Section 232 are issues of national security not susceptible to review or capable of resolution by WTO dispute settlement ... the United States accepts the request of Canada to enter into consultations.”

Schirru, Luca; Vyas, Lokesh; Jawara, Haddija; Ruthes Gonçalves, Lukas; McGee, Katie; Misto, Yara; and Flynn, Sean Michael Fiil, "Documentary History of the Broadcast Treaty in the SCCR (Global Version)" (2025). Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series. 145. digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/research/145

Flynn, Sean and Schirru, Luca, "Objectives and Principles for an Instrument on Limitations and Exceptions: (Some) Relevant Excerpts and Proposals" (2025). Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series. 146. digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/research/146

I have the honor of speaking at this event on 30 years of TRIPS. I will speak on copyright, which was not as contentious as patents but is part of a long arc reaching through WIPO work today.

www.ala.org/news/2025/03... An executive order issued by the Trump administration on Friday night, March 14, calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for America’s libraries.

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the US Patent and Trademark Office is setting off alarm bells for tech companies and their lawyers. news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/t...

USPTO has a nominee. John Squires, of Florida. His nomination is being supported by Professor John Duffy. They worked together on the Bikski litigation. I don't know much more. www.congress.gov/nomination/1...