US Ambassador: WIPO Needs More Balance Toward Rightsholders

This week, US Ambassador to the UN Betty King told Intellectual Property Watch that WIPO is still out of balance – against intellectual property rights holders.

Asked about remarks she made in 2010 that an over-focus by WIPO on development would “kill” the organization (IPW, WIPO 17 December 2010), King said she is not concerned about the Development Agenda, but that there is still a need for greater balance for those who have IP rights.

“We’re not there yet,” she said in a brief interview at the 23 September-2 October WIPO General Assembly.

WIPO held an Innovation Forum yesterday (IPW, WIPO, 25 September 2013) that came from a proposal to bring industry and innovator perspectives in touch with policymakers. King said the forum was important for helping with the balance, as it showed to developing countries people from developing countries who have made IPRs work successfully.

“That’s what the Development Agenda should be doing,” she said.