WIPO Committee On Development Outcome Hailed As Most Positive In Years

After years of mostly discontented discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on IP and development, last week proved positive, with a 10 year political knot solved, an international conference, and a new project approved, as well as a number of recommendations to implement the 2007 WIPO Development Agenda.

Some issues, however, are expected to be further discussed at the next session, including the way WIPO should contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and whether a conference on IP and development should be organised biennially.

The 19^th session of the Committee on Development and IP (CDIP) took place from 15-19 May. Short closing statements on 19 May reflected the satisfaction of member states on the progress made during the week.

Standing Agenda Item on IP and Development Agreed

A 10-year old dissent was solved on the last day of the CDIP last week after a number of informal discussions held during the week, as reflected in an appendix of the summary by the chair [pdf].

Some countries, such as members of the African Group, the Asia and Pacific Group, and the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries, had been asking that a permanent agenda be added to the CDIP on “IP and development.” Some other countries, such as the United States and members of the European Union, had countered that IP and development is already contained in the title of the committee and thus this new agenda item would only be redundant.

Proponents of the standing agenda item answered that this item would allow for broader discussions about IP and development, going beyond development projects.

This was agreed, but proponents of the agenda item had to let go of another request.

Proponents had been asking that all WIPO committees report to the WIPO Development Agenda coordination mechanism, which requests from committees that they report about their development-related activities.

Until now, the Committee on WIPO Standards (CWS), and the Program and Budget Committee (PBC) did not fulfil this request. The same group of countries that opposed the standing agenda item mainly said that those committees were not relevant, one only dealing with technical standards, the other addressing the budget. Each committee, they argued, should decide if it is a relevant committee for the coordination mechanism reporting.

The CWS and the PBC will not be requested to report about their activities under the coordination mechanism. According to a developing country source, and as stated in the appendix, this decision does not prevent WIPO members from expressing their views in all WIPO committees.

The source told Intellectual Property Watch that the standing agenda item opens a wealth of possibility for new discussions at the CDIP. Though not celebrating victory, the source said it was a good step forward.

Eight Recommendations on DA Implementation Approved

During its last session, the CDIP considered the recommendations of an Independent Review [pdf] of the Implementation of the Development Agenda Recommendations (DARs – the independent review provided recommendations on the implementation of the 45 DARs). The independent review suggested 12 recommendations, addressed to the WIPO secretariat, WIPO member states, and the CDIP.

Last week, the CDIP considered a report [pdf] by the WIPO secretariat on its response to those recommendations.

The 12 recommendations were discussed last week and 8 of them were approved:

• Recommendation 3 (WIPO should continue to ensure an effective coordination, monitoring, reporting, evaluation and mainstreaming of the implementation of the DARs.)
• 4 (The CDIP, in implementing the DARs, should consider how best to respond to evolving circumstances and to the emerging development challenges being faced by the IP system)
• 6 (Member States are encouraged to enhance coordination between Geneva-based Missions and their IP offices and other authorities in capital in order to have a coordinated approach in dealing with the CDIP and raising awareness about the benefits of the DA)
• 7 (Member States are encouraged, in light with their national needs, to formulate new project proposals for the consideration of the CDIP)
• 8 (Future work related to the development of new projects should be modular and customizable and should consider the absorption capacity and the level of expertise of the beneficiaries),
• 9 (WIPO should pay more attention to recruiting experts that are very well versed and knowledgeable about the socio-economic conditions of the recipient countries.)
• 10 (The Secretariat’s Progress Reports submitted to the CDIP should include detailed information about the utilization of financial and human resources related to the DA projects.)
• 12 (Member States and the Secretariat should consider ways and means to better disseminate information about the DA and its implementation.)

Discussions were postponed to the next session on two recommendations. These were: Recommendation 5 (WIPO should consider linking DARs to Expected Results contained in the Program and Budget, wherever it is possible. Expected Results may be modified or new Expected Results may be introduced so as to ensure the integration of DARs into WIPO’s work more effectively and in a sustained manner.); and 11 (A mechanism should be put in place to report on the agreed recommendations contained in the evaluation reports and on the mainstreamed outcomes of the DA projects).

According to the summary by the chair, recommendation 1 (The good progress made in the CDIP needs to be consolidated by introducing a higher level debate to address emerging needs and to discuss the work of the Organization on new emerging issues related to IPRs.), and 2 (Member States should take measures to resolve the outstanding issues related to the mandate of the Committee and the implementation of the Coordination Mechanism) are expected to be adopted at the next session.

SDGs, Projects, International Conferences – One In, One Not

A WIPO report on the way the organisation participates in the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Sustainable Agenda was discussed during the week. Several comments were made to the secretariat were made to improve the reporting. A standing agenda item on SDGs was suggested by Brazil and supported by a number of countries, but not approved (IPW, WIPO, 19 May 2017). Discussions are expected to continue on the proposed agenda item and on the way to address SDGs in future CDIP sessions.

A new project was adopted as proposed by South Africa, on IP management and transfer of technology: promoting the effective use of IP in developing countries, least-developed countries, and countries with economies in transition.

Also agreed was an international conference to raise awareness of least-developed countries related to public sector information and copyright. This is the 6^th activity of the project: New WIPO Activities [pdf] Related to Using Copyright to Promote Access to Information and Creative Content.

A separate Intellectual Property Watch story will provide details on the approved activity and new project.

However, a proposal [pdf] by the African Group that an international conference on IP and development be organised by WIPO every two years did not meet agreement from some countries, such as members of the European Union, and the United States. Discussions are expected to continue at the next session of the CDIP.

Future Work

The future work agreed upon by the CDIP on 19 May includes:

• Progress Reports the on Implementation of DARs and Projects
• Outputs of ongoing CDIP projects
• Description of the Contribution of the Relevant WIPO Bodies to the Implementation of the Respective DA Recommendations forwarded by the GA to the CDIP.
• Discussion on the way to address SDGs in future CDIP sessions including the request for a permanent Agenda item
• Continuation of discussion on the recommendations of the Independent Review of the implementation of the DARs
• Revised proposal on the Biennial Conference on IP and Development
• Approval by the upcoming WIPO General Assembly of the decision stated in appendix one of the chair summary concerning the standing agenda item on IP and development
• Annual report on the dissemination of the information contained in the WIPO Database of Flexibilities
• Study on Green Patents to be presented by the Delegation of China

Elise de Geyter contributed to this story.

 

Image Credits: WIPO: Emmanuel Berrod