Coalition Asks WIPO To Follow Proposed Guidelines To Better Defend IP Rights

An international coalition of intellectual property rights defenders wrote a letter to World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry yesterday providing suggested international guidelines to protect IP rights.

In a 20 July letter [pdf] supported by “85 free market think tanks and advocacy groups representing 51 countries,” the Property Rights Alliance, which describes itself as “an affiliate of Americans for Tax Reform,” advocating the protection of IP rights domestically and internationally, drafted international guidelines on international property rights.

Those guidelines in support of “all types of intellectual property” are based on the fact “that rule of law and IP are essential benchmarks to the creation and preservation of a free and just society,” according to the group.

The letter includes several sections outlining various aspects of IP issues, such as that IP rights are affirmed in international treaties as a human right, IP rights promote free speech and expression, and IP rights are integral to consumer protection and global security.

The co-signatories, including a number of taxpayer associations, ask that Gurry consider the guidelines as new and existing treaties are being reviewed and discussed.

“Advanced societies have long understood that by protecting the proprietary rights of artists, authors, entrepreneurs, innovators, and inventors, they were promoting the greater public welfare. The continued protection of these fundamental rights is essential to global innovation, creativity and competitiveness,” the letter said.

The guidelines, which have been sent to “leaders of several other major international organizations,” mean to encourage “the leaders of the international organizations and governments to work together to promote rule of law and protect intellectual property as engines of fair, prosperous and transparent societies. Ensuring that intellectual property rights are respected and protected in every nation is the best guarantee to spur prosperity, innovation and creativity around the globe,” the group said.