Original news and analysis on international IP policy
World Intellectual Property Organization members this week agreed to a year-long plan to intensively negotiate for a legal instrument(s) on the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore. Next year’s annual WIPO assembly in October will decide on whether to schedule a diplomatic conference to finalise the instrument.
The Union Cabinet of India has approved ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing, a measure that provides a tool against biopiracy. The 4 October action comes on the eve of the 11th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The World Intellectual Property Organization committee addressing protection of traditional cultural expressions (folklore) concluded a weeklong meeting today with progress on a draft text but doubts about moving to a high-level diplomatic conference in 2013, according to participants. The issue now moves to the annual WIPO General Assembly in October, where some said the debate may become more heated.
After a late start, delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization today are trying to make up for lost time in an attempt to draft a potential treaty text to protect traditional cultural expressions on the last day of a weeklong meeting. The first revision of draft articles was issued yesterday at the end of the afternoon. The status of Indigenous Peoples was also examined by delegates the day before without much interest.
Delegates at the World Intellectual Property Organization today finally adopted the agenda of the 22nd session of the Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), and started work. But not before being sharply reminded of their duty in representing the public.
NEW DELHI - The “Nagoya Protocol,” an international agreement struck in the Japanese town of Nagoya in October 2010, has nearly 100 signatory countries, and is a major talking point in the international discourse on biodiversity. But ratification by the governments of these countries remains painfully slow, and the process towards it fraught with daunting challenges, as was evident last week during a key inter-governmental meeting in the Indian capital New Delhi. In an interview with Intellectual Property Watch, the new head of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity had much to say about intellectual property rights.
On opening day of weeklong meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on the protection of folklore, what was characterised as a procedural matter by the chair kept delegates in informal consultations most of the day without reaching a compromise on the agenda. And at the outset, a panel of Indigenous Peoples reminded delegates of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and called for considerations of the Declaration during this week's negotiations.
The last session of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on the protection of folklore before the annual General Assembly promises to be lively as the prospect of a potential treaty exacerbates stronghold positions. The treaty fervently supported by developing countries as a way to protect their cultural heritage and biodiversity has met a more cautious view from developed countries.
A key committee of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing treaty aimed at ensuring fair sharing of the benefits of genetic resources is meeting this week in New Delhi.
The question of the use of material in the public domain for the inspiration of new works has been complicated in South Africa by legislation which purports to grant retrospective perpetual protection to so-called “traditional works”. A case pending in the South African High Court highlights the question of what is “traditional” and raises the question of to whom music companies will have to look in the future to obtain permission to use anything that smacks of a traditional flavour. Prof. Owen Dean asks: Could this be a disincentive to use traditional material belonging in the public domain and thus slow cultural expression?
The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill currently in the in-tray of South African President Jacob Zuma and awaiting a signature, holds the hope that it will finally pave the way for the protection of the country's most famous red tea, Rooibos, as well as other local staples.
After the thirteenth quadrennial session of the United Nations body focusing on trade and development, which was to set its mandate for the next four years, delegates reached consensus and avoided major pitfalls, according to several developed and developing country sources. The governments also worked out differences on UNCTAD’s mandate for work on intellectual property rights.