Compromise Future Work Plan Adopted For WIPO Committee On Enforcement

The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on enforcement concluded yesterday with an agreement on the future work of the committee. The adoption of this programme was heavily discussed during the week, reflecting the different approaches on enforcement of intellectual property rights among countries.

The tenth session of the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) took place from 23-25 November.

The work programme [pdf] which, had been suggested as a consensus by Chair Amanda Lotheringen, of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, South Africa, and was adopted on the last day of the ACE is as follows:

1. “Exchange of information on national experiences on awareness building activities and strategic campaigns as a means for building respect for IP among [the] general public, especially the youth, in accordance with Member States’ educational or any other priorities.
2. Exchange of information on national experiences relating to institutional arrangements concerning IP enforcement policies and regimes, including mechanism to resolve IP disputes in a balanced holistic and effective manner.
3. Exchange of information on national experiences in respect of WIPO’s legislative assistance, with a focus of drafting national laws of enforcement that take into account the flexibilities, the level of development, the difference in legal tradition and the possible abuse of enforcement procedures, bearing in mind the broader societal interest and in accordance with member states priorities.
4. Exchange of success stories on capacity building and support from WIPO for training activities at National and Regional Levels for Agencies and National Officials in line with relevant Development Agenda Recommendations and the ACE mandate.”

Those activities to be undertaken by the ACE stem from several proposals [pdf] put forward by countries, such as the Development Agenda Group; Group B; and Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States (IPW, WIPO, 24 November 2015).

A preliminary summary [pdf] by the chair, not including future work, was issued on 25 November but, short of time, the ACE could not adopt it. According to a source, it will be made available for comment by the end of the year, and expected to be adopted at the next meeting of ACE in 2016.

Divergent Perspective on Enforcement

According to a developing country sources, developed countries would like to harmonise enforcement efforts among countries, while developing countries want enforcement to be balanced, in coherence with their development levels, and in accordance with their priorities.

In particular, Group B developed countries wanted the reference to “the possible abuse of enforcement procedures” to be removed from the third point of the future work programme. They said that the third point borrowed language from Recommendation 45 (other issues) of the WIPO Development Agenda, but that Recommendation 45 contains no reference to the possible abuse of enforcement procedures, and was not present in earlier version of the proposed work programme by the chair. Group B finally consented to the adoption of the work programme as proposed.

According to another developing country source, the adoption of the work programme is seen as a positive step for developing countries as the third point of the programme was based on the DAG proposal.

The source said that concern also was expressed by developing countries on the nature of the legislative advice given by WIPO to countries and whether it takes into account the use of flexibilities when providing assistance in the drafting of national policies.

There was an effort by Group B to remove the mention of flexibilities in the wording of the future work but Nigeria, Brazil, Iran, and South Africa pushed for its inclusion, the source said.

National Presentations

On the first two days of the ACE, a number of countries presented activities that they have undertaken to raise awareness about IP, and in particular efforts geared toward young people and children, through educational materials, in primary, secondary schools, as well as at the university levels.

For example, the Italian Patent and Trademark Office presented [pdf] research on consumer attitudes and its “Small and Big Inventors are Growing” competition.

A panel discussion also took place on 24 November, on public communication campaigns on respect for IP and awareness for young people. The panel included representatives of the National Registry of Costa Rica, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, the State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova, and the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights.

The presenter from the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights said young people are so tolerant of piracy because they do not have an “emotional connection” with IP. She said the observatory has the possibility to monitor what young people share with their friends on social media and the observatory uses that intelligence to adapt campaigns, “keeping sure we are on track,” she said.

She added that in the European Union, the teaching of IP comes much later in the curriculum than in the United States or in Switzerland, where IP is understood as part of citizenship, and respect for others.

Lotheringen, speaking as a presenter for the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa, said the commission is seeking a balanced approach to enforcement, with awareness-raising campaigns. The commission, for example, created a fake website called “free2download” on which when users try to download content, they would get a warning message.

Anti-piracy campaigns based on negativity are not yielding much results and the commission decided to turn the message around and reinforce the value of IP in Africa.

WIPO hosted an exhibition during the ACE, featuring eight exhibitors displaying their initiatives to fight infringement of IP rights and to raise awareness about IP.