At this week’s WIPO Standing Committee on Law of Patents (SCP) meeting the main discussion centres on four preliminary studies prepared by the WIPO Secretariat. The studies relate to: patents and standards;  exclusions from patentable subject matter and exceptions and limitations to patent rights; dissemination of patent information; and client-attorney privilege. As I noted in my earlier post on the changing landscape of WIPO’s patent agenda, all the preliminary studies are worth reading. Each of them deserves some commentary and I start with the study on patents and standards. I comment, in separate posts to come, on each of the other preliminary studies.  Read the rest of this entry »