Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Members of a 2008 World Trade Organization coalition are trying to rekindle a negotiation to provide the same level of protection granted to wines and spirits to other geographical indications, and to grant intellectual property protection to genetic resources and traditional knowledge. The discussion might not make it to the December WTO ministerial, but the group hopes to open a “fresh window” for discussion.
After an intense 10 days of negotiations, World Intellectual Property Organization delegates this week managed to close all items of the organisation's annual General Assemblies, with major decisions taken, such as the approval of the 2018/2019 budget, and a new mandate and work programme for the committee on the protection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. However the inability to decide at the ambassador level which countries would host new WIPO field offices, and on the convening of a high-level negotiation to conclude a treaty on industrial designs, led to some teeth grinding.
Despite an effort by the Asia and Pacific Group countries to increase their representation, the geographical distribution of membership of the powerful World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee remained the same at the completion of discussions at the annual WIPO General Assembly tonight. But WIPO members did agree to begin consideration of the composition of the committee.
A new draft emerged today, the last day of the negotiations, on renewal of the mandate of a World Intellectual Property Organization committee on protection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
Some 300 global nongovernmental organisations have signed a letter voicing concerns about the agenda of the upcoming World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in December. In particular, they target the alleged push by some countries for a new agenda on digital trade, which they describe as “wrong.”
As the WIPO Annual Assemblies draw to a close this week, governments face a dramatic stand-off over the organisation’s biennial Program and Budget. Unless a series of its demands regarding the organisation’s financing and treaty-making processes are met, the United States is refusing to approve the WIPO budget – a decision Member States normally take by consensus. While sparring among governments over the budget and content of a UN organisation’s programs is not unusual, the debate at WIPO this year highlight challenges at the heart of its governance system, writes Carolyn Deere.
With three days remaining at the annual World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly, delegates are still seeking agreement on the 2018/2019 budget, the mandate of the committee on the protection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, and an update to the international treaty on design law. A number of decisions have however been approved, as WIPO committees reported on their activities.
General assumptions saying that intellectual property protection leads to development through the promotion of innovation are not supported by academic research, a well-known professor said last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Only countries at a certain level of development can truly benefit from IP protection, he said.
The World Intellectual Property Organization Program and Budget Committee is arguably the most powerful committee of the United Nations agency, and is open to a limited number of countries. This year, the countries sitting on the committee have to be renewed, and the Asia and Pacific Group is challenging the way countries are chosen, and their numbers because of under-representation of some regions.
The United States and Japan have submitted a joint proposal for the next mandate of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on the protection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, whose mandate must be decided this week. The new proposal comes on top of proposals from the African Group and the European Union. If there is a large consensus saying the committee should continue its work, the objectives of the committee and the way to achieve them differ widely.
NEW YORK -- Assuring the quality of medicines all the way to the consumer is a key component of the global antimicrobial resistance action plan now beginning to be implemented around the world, a panel of experts said during the recent United Nations General Assembly in New York.
NEW YORK -- At a recent event on the margin of the United Nations General Assembly, a senior World Health Organization official gave an update on global efforts against substandard and falsified medicines in the context of the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). And a key issue is that often after arriving safely in the capitals, something happens just before quality-assured medicines reach the patient, contributing to AMR.