WIPO Committee To Review Development Agenda Implementation, Consider Proposals 14/05/2014 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)The World Intellectual Property Organization Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) meets next week with a crowded agenda. There will be reports on development-related projects and core issues such as an independent review of WIPO’s implementation of its Development Agenda recommendations. The thirteenth session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) will take place from 19-23 May. The CDIP looks over the implementation of the 45 recommendations of the WIPO Development Agenda across the organisation’s activities and addresses IP-and-development-related issues. The draft agenda [pdf] of the session is a long one, including the WIPO director general’s report on the implementation of all Development Agenda recommendations, several evaluation reports on completed projects, a number of proposed projects for future work, and ongoing prickly discussions that have not been concluded in past sessions of the CDIP, such as patent-related flexibilities, an international conference on IP and development, and an independent review of the implementation of the Development Agenda Recommendations. During the last session of the CDIP, held from 18-21 November, the committee could not agree on the terms of reference of an independent review of WIPO’s implementation of the Development Agenda recommendations (IPW, WIPO, 22 November 2013). A drafting session in November produced Draft Terms of Reference [pdf] which include textual proposal from the African Group and the Development Agenda Group (DAG), both of which first asked for the review, and several other developed and developing countries’ textual proposals. At the end of the 12th session, CDIP Chair Mohamed Sida Doualeh, the Djibouti ambassador and Vice-Chair Ekaterine Egutia, deputy chairman of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia, were tasked with the preparation of a further draft of the terms of reference, which is not yet available, according to WIPO. A member of the DAG told Intellectual Property Watch that the issue of the independent review was one of the most important subjects of next week’s session of the CDIP. Evaluation of Completed Projects, DG Report Once a year, a report [pdf] of the WIPO director general is presented outlining the WIPO’s implementation of the Development Agenda throughout the organisation’s programmes and activities. The report describes highlights the mainstreaming of the Development Agenda into WIPO’s regular activities and bodies, and the implementation of the Development Agenda projects. A number of evaluation reports are expected to be presented during this session of the CDIP. Evaluations reports are presented upon completion of projects. They are evaluated by an external evaluator who presents the results of the projects and makes recommendations to the CDIP, according to WIPO. Member states are expected to take note of the recommendations and the content of the conclusions of the project and decide on a potential second phase. They also can decide on key activities that they would like the secretariat to undertake following the projects. Next week, four evaluations reports are expected to be presented: Evaluation Report [pdf] on the Project on Intellectual Property and Product Branding for Business Development in Developing Countries and Least-Developed Countries; Evaluation Report [pdf] on the Project on Enhancing South-South Cooperation on IP and Development Among Developing Countries and Least-Developed Countries; Evaluation Report [pdf] on the Project on IP and the Informal Economy; and Evaluation Report [pdf] on the Project on IP and Brain Drain. One self-evaluation report is also on the agenda: Report [pdf] on the Project and the Public Domain. Self-evaluations are presented by the coordinator of ongoing projects, before completion, for the information of member states. The CDIP is expected to comment on the report and take note of it. According to the WIPO secretariat, some projects with limited scope also have a final self-evaluation. A document [pdf] prepared by the WIPO secretariat on patent-related flexibilities also is expected to be taken note of, and commented. This document follows previous work of the CDIP on patent-related flexibilities, in particular on plant varieties and software-related inventions. The document looks at national and regional patentability of plant varieties and software-related inventions, and how flexibilities are being used by countries. Future Work The CDIP next week is also expected to consider projects for future work, whether they are new projects, or an additional phase of a completed project, and approve them. Among them is a project [pdf] on IP and tourism: Supporting Development Objectives and Protecting Cultural Heritage in Egypt and Other Developing Countries, which was proposed by Egypt, and supported by the African Group at the last meeting of the CDIP. At its 12th session, the CDIP followed the recommendation of the evaluator for a second phase of the project [pdf] on Capacity Building in the Use of Appropriate Technology Specific Technical and Scientific Information as a Solution for Identified Development Challenges. The document presented next week is a proposal for the second phase of the project. A Comparative Analysis [pdf] of National Approaches on Voluntary Copyright Relinquishment is also on the agenda of the session. This analysis follows a Scoping Study [pdf] on Copyright and Related Rights and the Public Domain, undertaken by Sérevine Dusollier, and presented in 2010, and the recommendations contained in this scoping study. The analysis ascertains the legal issues surrounding the renouncement of copyright. The CDIP also is expected to continue discussions on possible future work on further patent-related flexibilities. Another item on the agenda is a Revised Proposal [pdf] on Possible New WIPO Activities Related to Using Copyright to Promote Access to Information and Creative Content. This is part of the project on Intellectual Property, Information and Communications Technologies, adopted by the CDIP. The document is a revised version of a previous document [pdf] presented at the last session of the CDIP in November, on six potential activities that could be undertaken by WIPO. Examples are a pilot project on providing legal and technical support for the creation of databases to make education and research resources available on an open access basis, and an international conference for Least Developed Countries on copyright and the management of public sector information. The CDIP is expected to decide on further actions. Country Studies Also on the agenda are seven country studies relating to two main projects. One is the project on IP and the Informal Economy under which three studies will be considered next week. The are: a Country Study [pdf] on Innovation, Intellectual Property and the Informal Economy: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Ghana; a Country Study [pdf] on Innovation, Intellectual Property and the Informal Economy: The Informal Metalworking Sector in Kenya, and a Country Study [pdf] on Innovation, Intellectual Property and the Informal Economy: Informal Manufacturers of Home and Personal Care Products in South Africa. The second main project is IP and Socio-Economic Development, under which is a Study [pdf] on the Impact of Intellectual Property on the Pharmaceutical Industry of Uruguay; an Exploratory Study [pdf] on the Egyptian Information Technology (IT) Sector and the Role of Intellectual Property: Economic assessment and recommendations; a summary of a Study [pdf] on Patent’s Role in Business Strategies: Research on Chinese Companies’ Patenting Motives, Patent Implementation and Patent Industrialization; and a document [pdf] presenting the results of a study on International Patenting Strategies of Chinese Residents, will be considered. The CDIP is requested to take note of those studies. New Item, Unfinished Businesses For the first time, following a decision by the WIPO General Assembly in December, the IP and Global Challenges Program will report on its activities [pdf] to the CDIP. Developing countries had complained about the fact that the IP and Global Challenges Program did not report to any WIPO committee on its activities. The programme is now expected to report to the CDIP and to the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents. The programme includes two multi-stakeholder technology transfer platforms: WIPO Re:Search, and WIPO Green. Discussions should also resume on an International Conference on IP and Development. Although approved by the CDIP, the conference was called off after a list of speakers submitted by the WIPO secretariat, tasked with organising the conference, did not gain consensus among member states, according to WIPO. Also lingering, and still on the agenda, are discussions on an independent external review of WIPO technical assistance. Discussions have been carried out on specific recommendations made in the review. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Related Catherine Saez may be reached at csaez@ip-watch.ch."WIPO Committee To Review Development Agenda Implementation, Consider Proposals" by Intellectual Property Watch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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