Expert Witness : World News

On 13 February a joint statement was issued by President Obama and the EU's José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy committing them to negotiations on a transatlantic 'trade and investment partnership'.

The statement read: "The transatlantic economic relationship is already the world's largest, accounting for half of global economic output and nearly one trillion dollars in goods and services trade, and supporting millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic."

The announcement followed a recommendation by a 'High-Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth', co-chaired by US trade representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht in Washington DC.

As of 26 January it is now illegal for Americans to unlock their mobile phones, or cellphones. The surprising – and some would think bizarre – regulation is the result of a ruling by Library of Congress revoking an exemption under the USA’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

According to an article in the American University Intellectual Property Brief: “The DMCA makes it illegal to ‘circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access’ to copyrighted material, in this situation software embedded in phones that controls carrier access. Unlocking a cellphone is a common practice for those wanting to change cell carriers. Unlocking the phone involves removing certain security features that keep the phone set in a particular mobile carrier’s network.

On 27 December it was announced that a Florida man had pleaded guilty to "engaging in a scheme to illegally import the fossilized remains of numerous dinosaurs that had been taken out of their native countries illegally and smuggled into the United States". The skeletons included that of a Tyrannosaurus bataar – an Asian relative of Tyrannosaurus rex – that had been imported via the UK and sold at auction in May for over $1m, despite an injunction issued by a US judge.

The guilty plea by self-proclaimed 'commercial palaeontologist' Eric Prokopi was announced by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York 'Preet' Bharara, who had taken up the case on behalf of the Mongolian Government. As part of a plea bargain, Prokopi has agreed to the forfeiture of the nearly complete Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton, as well as a second nearly complete specimen in the US, a Saurolophus skeleton and an Oviraptor skeleton, all of which had been in his possession and were recently recovered by the government. He will also forfeit his interest in a third Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton believed to be still in Great Britain.

On 12 December the European Parliament voted to implement a common European patent law. It follows an agreement earlier this year to unify the patent courts into three centres in the UK, Germany and France.

According to a release issued by the Parliament: "After over 30 years of talks, a new regime will cut the cost of an EU patent by up to 80%, making it more competitive vis-à-vis the US and Japan. MEPs cut costs for small firms and tailored the regime to their needs, in a compromise deal with the Council endorsed by Parliament on Tuesday."

Bernhard Rapkay, the German MEP who led on the regulation setting up the unitary system, commented: "Intellectual property must not stop at borders. The path towards the introduction of the EU patent was long and troubled, but ultimately it has been worth the effort. Today's vote is good news for EU economy and especially for European small and medium enterprises."

Italian MEP Raffaele Baldassarre, who led talks on the regime for translating EU patents, described the current regime as "...effectively a tax on innovation".