WTO/WIPO Colloquium Aimed At IP Teachers

By Catherine Saez
Teachers of intellectual property from developing countries have been invited to attend a two-week colloquium jointly organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization from 30 June to 10 July.

The fifth edition of this event offers 20 places for applicants from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, the costs related to their participation being covered by the organisers.

The main objective of the colloquium, according to the organisers, is to give lawyers, economists or other university teachers working in the field of IP the opportunity to update their knowledge of the activities and instruments of WIPO and the WTO and to provide a forum for an exchange of information, in particular on teaching methodologies. The main focus will be on recent developments and on policy issues under debate in the two organisations.

Participants are required to work as university teachers, be in possession of an advanced degree and teaching IP law or in international law/economics/management with a specialisation in IP and, have an excellent knowledge of English.

The programme includes presentations on provisions on copyright and related rights in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the WIPO Development Agenda, the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, the Doha Declaration, geographical indications (products whose names derive from places), public health and WTO dispute settlement procedures.

Five additional places are also available for applicants from developed countries, at their own expense. The deadline for application is 4 April.

Hannu Wager of WTO said that over 100 applications had been received and that the selection process would start after the deadline. The selection is based on merit as high-level candidates are favoured and on an equitable geographical repartition he said.

“WIPO and WTO officials present different aspects and other speakers such as TRIPS negotiators and representatives of various organizations give their perspective. The participants are exposed to different view points and it gives richness to the process” he said. A 2007 participant, Dr Ida Madieha from Malaysia, said she found that the choice of participants was a contributing factor to the success of the workshop because “most of the participants have had long experience of teaching and researching on IP law in their countries.”

Assessments from previous participants allowed the organisers to tailor the event. As a result, interactivity has been emphasised, including mock exercises, such as WTO dispute settlement exercises in the upcoming session.

Dr Ben Sihanya, a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, attended the 2005, 2006 and 2007 colloquia [correction: Sihanya clarified that he attended only in 2005 but taught in 2005, 2006 and 2007]. He subsequently taught African perspectives on trade-related aspects of intellectual property at the University of Namibia.

“The colloquium is a wonderful place to share ideas and experiences with teachers of IP from many places of the world,” he said.

“Despite having been teaching intellectual property for more than 10 years and researching on various aspects of it, I found that I have learned a lot” Madieha said.

For more information on the programme and the registration process, please follow one of the two following links:

http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/wipo_wto_colloquium_june08_e.htm

http://www.wipo.int/academy/en/forms/wipo_wto_colloquium/

Catherine Saez may be reached at csaez@ip-watch.ch.