the spirit of invention copyright in court world ip day round-up - WIPO

27
Combating counterfeit – time for more creative thinking
I write in response to your article
on counterfeiting and piracy
(Recent Challenges for Enforcement
of Intellectual Property
Rights, April 2006). Nobody would
dispute that counterfeiting and
piracy are serious problems for
the rightful owners of IP. They
cannot be allowed to run
unchecked, and there will always
be a need for enforcement. But
perhaps the time has come to be
more creative in searching for alternative
approaches.
ent. Successful counterfeiters
demonstrate ingenuity, manufacturing
skills, marketing and distribution
capabilities. They invest in
machinery and equipment and
employ a large number of people.
But they operate on the wrong
side of the law. My question is
whether there might not be scope
for efforts aimed at attracting
skilled pirates and counterfeiters
out of the black economy and into
legal operation As well as offering
amnesties or other incentives
to counterfeiters, such efforts
might include incentives to encourage
IP owners to find creative,
low-cost licensing solutions,
Photo: Unilever
Among counterfeiting and piracy
operations there is a vast pool of
technical and entrepreneurial talwhich
would allow the (former)
counterfeiters to put their business
on a legitimate footing.
After all, Unilever makes many
brands of laundry detergent other
than OMO, and lets these brands
“compete” in the market. Why not
add AMO to the collection
From Richard Lennane,
Geneva, Switzerland
Copyright: Roche
Avian flu and patents –
more like this
Kudos to the WIPO
Magazine with a New
Look. The contents
are interesting and
enjoyable to read.
The format is rich
and pleasing.
As a patents manager in the pharmaceutical sector, I
found the information on avian flu drugs and the
patent situation (Avian Flu Drugs: Patent Questions,
April 2006) really useful. Particularly the details regarding
the Oseltamivir patent, its licensing situation
and details of licence holders, flexibilities within international
IP Laws, and details regarding countries
which do not have patent for Oseltamivir. I am looking
forward to having more such good articles.
From M.A.Ganapathy, IPR Patents Manager,
Natco Pharma Limited, Hyderabad, India
Who invented the
airplane
Santos Dumont and a drawing of his flight on Oiseau de Proie.
Your article about the creation of the airplane
(The Flying Machine – One Hundred Years On,
November/December 2005) talks about the Wright
Brothers but overlooks the Brazilian inventor Alberto
Santos Dumont. His aircraft, Oiseau de proie (bird
of prey) is considered to be the first to take off, fly,
and land without the use of catapults, high winds,
launch rails, or other external assistance. So we consider
Santos Dumont to be the Father of Aviation
and the true inventor of the airplane.
From Marcelo Tredinnick, Patent Division,
National Institute for Industrial Property (INPI), Brazil