WIPO Patent Agenda Expected To Be Revived In 2008

After a one-year hiatus, the World Intellectual Property Organization likely will renew its agenda on patent policy issues in 2008 following members’ informal approval Friday of a study on patents to be conducted by the WIPO secretariat in autumn, according to officials.

The WIPO study, or “state of play,” was discussed in consultations with WIPO General Assembly Chairman Enrique Manalo, the Philippines ambassador, and he plans to put it on the agenda for annual assembly meeting in September, he said. The patent agenda, discussed in the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents, is being seen as a departure from contentious past debates over patent harmonisation, Manalo said. In 2007, the SCP was suspended after years of debate over harmonisation.

“We’re trying to embark on a fresh start and get a discussion on patent issues in WIPO,” Manalo told Intellectual Property Watch.

The “state of play” of the patent system, first referred to as a “survey,” will form the basis of discussions in a SCP meeting expected in May or June, officials said. There will be no specific discussion at this point of the Substantive Patent Law Treaty, which would further harmonise national patent laws, Manalo said.

The “indicative draft outline” of the state of play includes nine categories with points beneath. Comments on the draft outline of the “state of play” are due by mid-July. The secretariat will put them together, and Manalo will prepare a new table of contents of the state of play for the assembly, he said.

Manalo said it is “not an exhaustive list,” and would include as many issues as possible that are affecting the international patent system, using facts and statistics and taking into account new developments. An example might be the adoption of the Development Agenda, he said. The paper will not contain a conclusion, Manalo noted.

Indicative draft outline

1. Introduction: Scope of Survey and Sources of Data
2. The Current Multilateral Framework
   1. Existing International Instruments
      1. Paris, Strasbourg (IPC), PCT, Budapest, PLT, TRIPs
   2. Framework Principles
      1. Paris
      2. TRIPs
   3. Substantive Norms and Flexibilities
      1. Paris
      2. TRIPs
   4. Formalities
      1. PLT (and PCT)
   5. Administrative Cooperation
      1. IPC and Budapest
   6. International Filing and Processing System
      1. PCT
3. Demand for Patent Rights and Different Interests and Needs in the International Patent System
4. Patent Systems and Existing Forms of Cooperation
   1. The Application
   2. Search and Examination
   3. Opposition
   4. Issues in Contention: demand management; prior art; subject-matter coverage and exclusions; quality; obviousness; exceptions (including research exemption)
5. Support Structures for the Patent System
6. Technology Disclosure through the Patent System
7. Technology Diffusion and the Patent System
   1. Licensing and the Transfer of Technology
   2. Standards
8. The Innovation Incentive in the Context of other Public Policies
   1. Health
   2. Biological Diversity
   3. Traditional Knowledge
   4. Ethics
9. Perceived Threats to the Effectiveness of Patents as Incentives to Innovation
   1. Litigation
   2. Cost

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William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.