New Committee For WIPO Development Agenda; Patents Reinvigorated 03/10/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organisation tonight overcame a flare-up in tensions to reach agreement on the future of a proposed WIPO development agenda and the future work of a key patent committee. The final texts of both, which represent the last two sticking points for the 10-day WIPO General Assembly, will be […]
WIPO Negotiators Agree On Way Forward For Broadcasting Treaty 03/10/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organisation today agreed on a plan to negotiate a treaty on the rights of broadcasters by 2007 after two more committee meetings. The proposal before the WIPO General Assembly, meeting from 26 September to 5 October, was whether and when to schedule a diplomatic conference (a high-level […]
WIPO General Assembly Calls For Action On Financial, Personnel Concerns 02/10/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The member states of the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organisation on Friday called on the organisation to act on independent recommendations to clean up its financial and personnel management practices. The recommendations were made earlier this year by the independent U.N. inspection team whose investigation in late 2004 found fault with WIPO’s practices. The WIPO […]
WIPO Negotiators Seek Final Agreement On Key Issues At General Assembly 01/10/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Government negotiators at the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organisation General Assemblies continued their work into the weekend to try to reach agreement on key outstanding issues. All discussions of these issues have reverted to closed, informal meetings, in contrast to the weeklong formal meetings open to accredited non-governmental observers. Since the assemblies began on 26 […]
US Holds Out On Extension Of High-Level Meeting On Development Agenda 30/09/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment After a week of meetings at the World Intellectual Property Organisation General Assembly, the United States is possibly alone in firmly objecting to the continuation of a high-level meeting on a proposal for a WIPO development agenda. The proposal for cross-cutting reform of WIPO toward developing country concerns was first introduced at the General Assemblies […]
WIPO’s Future Work, Past Credibility On Table At General Assemblies 26/09/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The top officials of the World Intellectual Property Organisation member states this week gather for their annual meeting facing an unusual number of critical issues for the U.N. body, several of which involve the credibility of the organisation itself. The issues before the WIPO General Assemblies, which range from global patent harmonisation sought by its […]
Failure Of Patent Harmonisation Not Critical For WIPO, Official Says 07/09/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Failure to get agreement on a proposal to harmonise national patent laws by World Intellectual Property Organisation members will not impact the functioning and credibility of the organisation, a top WIPO official said today. Failure to agree “is not necessarily the end of the world for WIPO,” Francis Gurry, WIPO deputy director general, said in […]
Industry, Non-Profits Advise Negotiators On WIPO Development Agenda 26/07/2005 by Allison A. Meyer for Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Non-profit and industry organisations last week offered a wide range of views on the incorporation of a development agenda into the work of the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Their views came as WIPO member governments debated greater participation of civil society in its activities. Statements by civil society groups were heard on the final two […]
WIPO Negotiators End In Deadlock On Development Agenda 23/07/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment After months of debate, officials addressing a proposal to make the World Intellectual Property Organisation more sensitive to developing countries could agree only that further discussion is needed. “We had a chance to discuss a huge quantity of proposals made by delegations,” Chairman Rigoberto Gauto Vielman, the permanent representative of Paraguay in Geneva, said afterward. […]
Europe Calls For Continuation Of WIPO Development Agenda Talks 21/07/2005 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The 25 nations of the European Union on Thursday proposed that talks on a stronger development-oriented agenda for the World Intellectual Property Organisation be continued through 2006. The Group of African nations on Thursday also put forward a new list of proposals for consideration at the IIM that are more far-reaching than the EU proposal. […]