WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly To Meet On 10-12 December

The World Intellectual Property Organization has scheduled an Extraordinary General Assembly from 10-12 December, in order to complete unfinished work from the annual WIPO General Assembly in September.

The draft agenda [pdf]  of the Extraordinary General Assembly includes several items on which member states must agree, such as the proposed program and budget for the 2014/2015 biennium.

Also on the agenda is consideration of the convening of a diplomatic conference for the adoption of a design law treaty, and discussion relating to the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) for which a work programme still has to be agreed upon (IPW, WIPO, 3 October 2013).

The issue of the governance of WIPO is also expected to be discussed after no consensus could be reached during the September Assembly, as should the issue of whether or not the Committee for WIPO Standards should report to the Committee on IP and Development (CDIP) (IPW, WIPO, 2 October 2013).

According to a WIPO source, delegates will pick up work where they left off at the close of the regular General Assembly, which was held from 23 September to 2 October, and decisions that were taken during the September Assembly will remain.

It is notable that in an election year at WIPO, the Assembly will immediately follow the 6 December deadline for submitting nominations to run for WIPO director general (IPW, WIPO, 29 September 2013).