Racing Against Time To Close On Difficult Issues At WIPO General Assembly

With hours to go before the end of the annual World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly, delegates are trying to find last resort solutions on a range of remaining issues. Keeping WIPO members busy are: the adoption of the budget and a new plan for financing the Lisbon appellations of origin treaty, fate of the WIPO committee on genetic resources and traditional knowledge, the work of the copyright committee, and whether to mandate the final negotiation of an industrial design treaty.

WIPO General Assembly Chair Gabriel Duque briefed the full membership this morning on the state of the informal discussions that took place yesterday and progress made.

Items still open on the agenda are the following:

• 11 (Program and Budget),
• 12 (Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights – SCCR),
• 14 (Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications),
• 15 (Convening of a diplomatic conference for the adoption of a design law treaty),
• 17 (Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore – IGC),
• 19 (Patent Cooperation Treaty – PCT – system),
• 20 (Madrid system – Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks), and
• 27 (Administration of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications).

Duque reported “signals of flexibility” on most of the issues. Yesterday, he presented the remaining issues as belonging to five groups: four issues that have been around for some time (IGC, External Offices, Design Law Treaty, and SCCR), as well as the issue of the Lisbon / Program and Budget, which he said is new.

Tentative Breakthrough on Traditional Knowledge – with Concerns

On the protection of traditional knowledge and other issues, a new text [pdf], the fourth draft from facilitator Ian Goss of Australia came out last night. Goss said the fourth draft decision he issued is “his text” and includes no alternatives.

There is potential for breakthrough, he said, in particular around the principle of text-based negotiations, but it is too early to confirm that. Discussions are in a “very delicate state,” he said, but he expressed hoped for a positive conclusion.

The draft decision includes the possibility of continuing text-based negotiations, “with the objective of reaching an agreement on an international legal instrument(s) relating to intellectual property which will ensure the balanced and effective protection of genetic resources (GRs), traditional knowledge (TK), and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs).”

Goss’ document includes a work programme including six sessions of the committee during the biennium 2016/2017, and also envisages inter-sessional seminars and workshops. The document also foresees that in 2016 the IGC would provide, “for information only, a factual report to the General Assembly on its work up to that time.” And in 2017, the General Assembly would take stock of progress made, and decide on whether to convene a diplomatic conference (high-level negotiating meeting) or continue negotiations.

The proposal contains the possibility for members, at any time, to consider the conversion of the committee into a permanent standing committee by making a recommendation to the 2016 or 2017 General Assembly.

Today, the Nigerian ambassador delivered a statement on behalf of the African Group, the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC), China, the majority of the Asia and Pacific Group, and the Group of Like-Minded Countries.

He underlined the importance to those countries of a renewed mandated including text-based negotiations and stressed the contribution of traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and traditional cultural expressions for global development. He called for WIPO member states to “live up to their commitment,” in reference to the original common decision to tackle the issue of misappropriation of those resources.

Brazil for GRULAC, India on behalf of the majority of the Asia and Pacific Group, China, and the Group of Arab States supported the statement. Group B developed countries said they were ready to engage in further consultations.

The main issue of those discussions is whether the IGC should conduct normative work or not (IPW, WIPO, 13 October 2015).

Design Law Treaty, External Offices, SCCR

Duque indicated that informal consultations led to an acceptance on principle of guiding principles on the opening of new WIPO external offices. A number of countries signalled that the adoption of guiding principles was a prerequisite to any further discussions on WIPO external offices. Numerous WIPO members have requested that a WIPO external office be set up in their territory. The African Group restated its position that there was currently no external office in the continent and have requested that two offices be opened in Africa.

The decision on the design law treaty has been held up by two main issues: the possible inclusion of an article on technical assistance, and the more recent request by some developing countries to have an article in the text on disclosure requirement.

Martin Moscoso of Peru, conducting the informal consultations on the SCCR, reported that four regional groups provided support for a draft of the committee work, and that three other groups are still trying to reconcile positions within their groups. He hoped to get a “green light” during the day.

Lisbon, SCT

Yesterday, a draft decision of the Lisbon Union [pdf] reflected an acknowledgement of the deficit of the Lisbon system, and measures to expunge the projected deficit of the 2016/2017 biennium. A draft decision on the Program and Budget refers to the Lisbon Union decision, recognised that the allocation methodology for the income and budget by Union is a cross-cutting topic, and requested the WIPO Secretariat to conduct a study on potential alternatives for an allocation methodology for the income and budget by Union for consideration at the next session of the Program and Budget Committee.

The draft decision also mentions that the SCT should examine different systems for protection of geographical indications.

Duque, who chairs the informal discussions on Lisbon, said at the technical level, some breakthrough had been reached.

On the Madrid and PCT systems, he said the proposed decision would simply report that no consensus has been reached.

Members have agreed to do some work on geographical indications in the SCT, he said. The topic of geographical indications had been prickly as the United States had asked that the committee revise the New Act of the Lisbon system, and Lisbon members had opposed it (IPW, WIPO, 8 October 2015).

On the Programme and Budget, Duque also reported some progress as members agreed to look into the budget allocation methodology and note the fact that has been supported by the WIPO Director General, that if a diplomatic conference is organised in the next biennium, it will be open to all WIPO members.

Those two requests had been put forward by the United States as two of the conditions for their approval of the 2016/2017 budget (IPW, WIPO, 21 September 2015). The US have been trying to get Lisbon members to recognise that the system has been in deficit since its entry into force, and find solution for financial sustainability, without the recourse to other WIPO treaties.