WIPO Enforcement Committee To Discuss National Experiences In 2017

The enforcement of intellectual property rights – how they are enforced and by whom – is left to countries’ discretion. Members of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on enforcement shared experiences this week on how they raise awareness about IP, their IP enforcement policies and regimes, and capacity-building in relation to WIPO training activities. And at the end of the session, delegates decided to pursue those topics of discussion again in 2017.

The 11th session of the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) took place from 5-7 September.

The ACE is not a norm-setting committee and rather looks at technical assistance and coordination in the field of enforcement of intellectual property rights. It has several areas of focus, one of which is the exchange of information on enforcement issues between WIPO member states.

This week, a number of government officials presented their enforcement practices (IPW, WIPO, 6 September 2016).

On the final day, the ACE swiftly agreed to keep the same work programme that was decided upon at the last meeting of the committee in November 2015 (IPW, 27 November 2015), and adopted the summary by the chair [pdf] without changes.

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry addressed the ACE on the morning of the last day of the session and said he appreciated the “extraordinary wealth” of information provided by the committee. He said the committee is addressing the complex issue of enforcement in a collegial manner, which he found “heartening”.

The work programme of the next session of the ACE is the same as this week’s and is as follows:

– Exchange of information on national experiences on awareness building activities and strategic campaigns as a means for building respect for IP among general public, especially youth, in accordance with member states’ educational or any other priorities.

– Exchange of information on national experiences relating to institutional arrangements concerning IP enforcement policies and regimes, including mechanisms to resolve IP disputes in a balanced, holistic and effective manner.

– Exchange of information on national experiences in respect of WIPO’s legislative assistance, with a focus on drafting national laws of enforcement that take into account flexibilities, level of development, differences in legal tradition, and the possible abuse of enforcement procedures, bearing in mind the broader societal interest and in accordance with member states’ priorities.

– 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.

Member states are invited to submit presentations under those discussion topics for the next session of ACE. The ACE meets once a year in autumn.

This week, the bulk of the presentations were made on awareness-building activities, and on national experiences relating to institutional arrangements concerning IP enforcement policies and regimes.

No presentations were made on the politically charged issue of national experiences in respect of WIPO’s legislative assistance, with a focus on drafting national laws of enforcement taking into account flexibilities enshrined in the IP system, as well as the level of development.

Chile, on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries (GRULAC), requested that the WIPO secretariat prepare, for the next session of the ACE, a document on legislative assistance provided by WIPO in the area of IP enforcement. This was supported by Brazil and Oman.

 

Image Credits: WIPO