WIPO Patent Committee Chair’s Text Shows Possible Future Work

The chair of World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) today circulated a text reflecting possible elements of future work for the committee. The text, which is now the subject of informal discussions, includes key parts of proposals put forward earlier in the week.

The SCP, meeting this week from 11-15 October, is attempting to find a way forward on several critical issues related to patent law. What diplomats are able to come to agreement on is particularly significant as this is the only multilateral forum for the discussion of substantive patent policy issues. The chair of the SCP, Maximiliano Santa Cruz, the head of the Chilean patent office, this morning released a text that is meant to help bring compromise over several contentious issues.

A copy is available here [pdf] (as typed by Intellectual Property Watch). Previous Intellectual Property Watch reporting on this issue is here IPW, WIPO, 14 October 2010.

The text combines aspects of differing proposals made on future work into a list of five items.

Some of the areas of the text appear to need clarification, notably the items “quality of patents” and “patents and public health” under future work, which do not contain details on what the committee should do with those issues, when, and how.

The first item under future work says the secretariat will prepare a draft questionnaire on exceptions and limitations to patent rights by the next SCP. A proposal by Brazil [pdf] made to the SCP in January said the issue of exceptions and limitations on patents rights is of “utmost importance in the future work of the SCP, as it touches upon fundamental development concerns.”

The second item is “quality of patents,” coming from a Group B of developed countries’ proposal [pdf]. The Group B proposal outlines steps to achieve the objective of higher quality patents, which are not included in the chair’s text.

The third is “patents and health.” The African Group had proposed a study on this issue area in its opening statement.

The fourth is to update a preliminary study [pdf] on client-patent advisor privilege. Extending of client-attorney privilege to other actors in the patent process has been an issue of key importance to industry observers to this WIPO session.

The fifth item is to update an existing study on transfer of technology [pdf] taking into account comments on it made by governments. Some developed countries have proposed that a seminar rather than an updated study could be prepared on the matter of technology transfer, but developing countries believe an updated study is important.

Reactions to the text seem so far to be positive, though different regional groups have changes they would like to see made before it is agreed. Governments are as of press time in informal negotiations on the text.