The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published a report, "Intellectual Property on the Internet: A Survey of Issues," that addresses the far-reaching impact that digital technologies ? the Internet in particular ? have had on intellectual property (IP) and the international IP system. After a brief introduction describing general trends affecting the evolution of the Internet, the Survey addresses the evolving digital economy and the migration of intellectual property to the Internet, as well as the broader questions raised for intellectual property by the impact of information and communications technologies in the digital environment. The Survey focuses on recent developments in the traditional fields of copyright, trademarks and patents, as well as domain names, and progress in private international law and alternative dispute resolution. It also explores the particular concerns that face developing countries in e-development, and outlines the ways in which WI
It has become fashionable to toss copyright, patents, and trademarks – three separate and different entities involving three separate and different sets of laws – plus a dozen other laws into one pot and call it “intellectual property”. The distorting and confusing term did not become common by accident. Companies that gain from the confusion promoted it. The clearest way out of the confusion is to reject the term entirely.