WIPO Lisbon System: Fee Schedule, Common Regulations, Contributions To Quell Deficit

In a quest to address the projected deficit of a World Intellectual Property Organization treaty protecting geographical indications, treaty members have been gathering funds to try to eliminate the deficit. Separately last week, the treaty union annual assembly approved a fee schedule and regulations applying both to the treaty and its 2015 Act.

Appellations of origin, which are geographical indications with more stringent rules, are protected under the WIPO Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration (the Lisbon System). In 2015, a new act of the agreement (the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications), adding protection for GIs, was approved by the 28 treaty members.

This provoked the ire of a number of WIPO members, which contested the fact that the Geneva Act was approved by only a very small part of the WIPO membership. Lisbon members argued they consulted with the whole membership and that it was legitimate that the final voting on the Act was done by Lisbon members only.

The Geneva Act has 15 signatories (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Congo, Costa Rica, France, Gabon, Hungary, Italy, Mali, Nicaragua, Peru, Portugal, Moldova, Romania, and Togo) and no ratifications yet. According to a source, countries do not have to sign the treaty first in order to ratify it. The treaty will enter into force three months after five countries have ratified it.

The annual Lisbon Union Assembly, which is the governing body of the Lisbon System, took place on 6 October, and approved measures aimed at helping the chronic deficit of the treaty.

The annual WIPO General Assemblies are taking place from 2-11 October.

Common Regulations, New Fee Schedule

As for most treaties, the Lisbon System and the Geneva Act each have a set of regulations, which complement the treaty text, detailing administrative and application procedures.

Common Regulations [pdf] under the Lisbon Agreement and the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement were adopted last week by the Lisbon Union Assembly. The regulations under the Geneva Act are not yet in force, as the Act itself is not in force yet.

In 2015, a working group was tasked with drafting Common Regulations for both instruments to simplify the use of the system. The entry into force of the Common Regulations will coincide with the entry into force of the Geneva Act.

Also adopted as part of the Common Regulations was a fee schedule [pdf]: (i) an international registration fee of 1,000 Swiss francs; (ii) a fee of 500 Swiss francs for each modification of an international registration; (iii) a fee of 150 Swiss francs for providing an extract from the International Register; (iv) a fee of 100 Swiss francs for providing an attestation or any other written information concerning the contents of the International Register.

The fee schedule adopted reflects current fees applied under the Lisbon System. Those fees were doubled in 2015. The fees will apply to both the Lisbon System and the Geneva Act, once the Geneva Act enters into force.

Financial Matters

The Lisbon System has a projected biennial deficit of CHF1.5 million (about US$1.5 million) for the 2016/2017 biennium. Following demands from some members, including the United States and Australia, that the Lisbon System find a way to eliminate its deficit, Lisbon members provided funds toward this aim.

On 6 October, the WIPO secretariat said some CHF1,250,604 had been provided by Lisbon members.

The working group, which met twice during the biennium, also worked on financial matters. Last week, the Lisbon Union Assembly decided to extend the mandate of the working group “with a view to allocating further discussions on the development of the Lisbon System, including solutions for its financial sustainability.”

According to the Lisbon Union Assembly meeting document [pdf], during the second working group session, Lisbon members underlined the need to emphasise promotion activities of the Lisbon System and the Geneva Act, and the need to continue reviewing the Lisbon Fee Schedule on a regular basis, taking into consideration that increasing fees may act as a deterrent for new members.

On 6 October, as mentioned in the meeting document, some delegations, such as Hungary, underlined the need to ensure that any solution to the financial sustainability of the Lisbon System be in line with the existing WIPO budget principles and methodology, as well as with the principle of solidarity among all WIPO unions.

This issue is holding up the decision on the 2018/2019 budget of the organisation, as the United States has demanded that the allocation between WIPO unions be changed, while most WIPO members are resisting this idea (IPW, WIPO, 5 October 2017).

During the Lisbon Union Assembly, the US remarked that it would support equal footing between unions if the Lisbon Union would cover its costs and participate in the overall costs of the organisation.

 

Image Credits: Catherine Saez