[DMCA-Activists] US Paper Counters WIPO Development Agenda

[Seth Johnson]

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Subject: US paper counters Development Agenda in WIPO
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 08:01:50 -0600
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TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar05/11)
25 March 2005
Third World Network
www.twnside.org.sg


US draft paper counters Development Agenda in WIPO


The US has informally circulated a draft paper containing its
views and proposals for the meeting in WIPO (World Intellectual
Property Organisation) on a Development Agenda scheduled for
11-13 April.

The paper, titled "Establishment of a Partnership Program in
WIPO" states that WIPO already has a "robust development agenda"
in all its work, and it clearly ignores and sidesteps the demands
of the proponents of a "development agenda" in WIPO.

Those demands, as elaborated in the Development Agenda proposal
by Brazil and Argentina and 12 other countries include an
amendment to the WIPO Convention (1967), a reorientation of the
content of present proposals in treaties now being negotiated at
WIPO, the establishment of new pro-development treaties and a
change in WIPO's technical assistance activities.

In contrast to this reform programme, the US paper merely
proposes the creation of a "WIPO Partnership Program", an
Internet-based database to bring together "donors and recipients
of IP development assistance."

The meeting in WIPO on 11-13 April is shaping up to be a battle
between those countries that want to see a change in WIPO so that
its work will be more development-oriented, and those that want
to maintain the status quo.

Below is a report By Sangeeta Shashikant on the US paper and the
context of the Development Agenda initiative in WIPO.   It was
published in the SUNS (South-North Developmenht Monitor) on 24
March and is reproduced here with permission.

With best wishes
Martin Khor
TWN

________________________


US draft paper counters Development Agenda in WIPO

By Sangeeta Shashikant, Geneva, 23 March 2005


A draft proposal by the United States titled "Establishment of a
Partnership Program in WIPO" for a forthcoming World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) meeting on the Development Agenda in
April is circulating among some delegations in Geneva.

Stating that WIPO already has a "robust development agenda" in
all its work, the draft paper by the US clearly ignores and
sidesteps the demands of the proponents of a "development agenda"
in WIPO.

Those demands, as elaborated in the Development Agenda proposal
by Brazil and Argentina (WO/GA/31/11, dated 27 August 2004) and
later co-sponsored with 12 other developing countries, include an
amendment to the WIPO Convention (1967), a reorientation of the
content of present proposals in treaties now being negotiated at
WIPO, the establishment of new pro-development treaties and a
change in WIPO's technical assistance activities.

In contrast to this reform programme, the US paper proposes that
WIPO continue to "promote intellectual property around the world"
as its way of fostering development. Its only new suggestion is
the creation of a "WIPO Partnership Program", an Internet-based
database to bring together "donors and recipients of IP
development assistance."

The proposed database would have sections on partners, countries
or regions, and success stories.  A WIPO partnership office would
evaluate requests for assistance and seek partners to fund and
execute the projects.

The draft paper is expected to form the basis of the US position
at the forthcoming WIPO inter-sessional inter-governmental
meeting on the Development Agenda on 11-13 April. The meeting had
been mandated by the WIPO General Assembly last October, in which
the issue of a WIPO development agenda had figured prominently.

Argentina and Brazil had then presented a formal proposal for the
establishment of a Development Agenda for WIPO, in which
development would be established in all the work and bodies of
the organization.   Co-sponsored by 14 countries, it was also
supported from the floor by the Asian and African Groups and many
individual developing countries.

The US draft paper states that "WIPO already has a robust
'development agenda' in all of its work for a long time,
delivering high-quality development activities to Member States
on a demand-driven basis." In the past decade, WIPO's budget has
tripled, greatly expanding WIPO's role in IP (intellectual
property) development assistance. "WIPO has played and must
continue to play, an important role in fostering development
through the promotion of intellectual property around the world."

The paper puts forward the view that WIPO is already fulfilling
its function as a UN agency, thus implying that reform is
unnecessary.  It says that WIPO's contribution, as a specialized
agency of the UN, "to development is made through promoting
creative intellectual activity and technology transfer, has a
very important, albeit somewhat limited, role to play in
fostering economic development and cultural diversity".

WIPO's role as a UN agency and in achieving the UN's development
goals is defined narrowly by the paper, which states that WIPO is
not a core development agency like the United Nations,  UNCTAD or
the UNDP.  The 1974 Agreement (between WIPO and the UN), "while
encouraging coordination and cooperation with the UN and its
organs and agencies (in Article 2), also seeks to avoid
overlapping or conflicting relationships with other UN bodies
that would result in waste or inefficient expenditure of UN
resources," says the paper.

"WIPO's contribution to overall the UN development goals is best
achieved not by diluting WIPO's role within the UN system but,
rather, by strengthening WIPO's intellectual property expertise
and its IP-related development assistance."

The US proposal thus advocates that WIPO should concentrate only
on promoting intellectual property and should leave development
concerns to other UN agencies.

This is clearly a counter to the Development Agenda proposal of
Brazil, Argentina and others that made the case that  "as a
member of the UN system, it is incumbent upon WIPO to be fully
guided by the broad development goals that the UN has set for
itself, in particular in the Millennium Development Goals.

"Development concerns should be fully incorporated into all WIPO
activities. WIPO's role, therefore, is not to be limited to the
promotion of intellectual property protection. WIPO is
accordingly already mandated to take into account the broader
development-related commitments and resolutions of the UN system
as a whole."

The Brazil-Argentina proposal asks that the WIPO Convention
(1967) be amended to ensure that the "development dimension" is
unequivocally determined to constitute an essential element of
the Organization's work program. It called on WIPO to act
immediately to incorporate a "Development Agenda" in its work
programme.

In contrast to the systemic reforms called for by the developing
countries, the US paper proposes the creation of a "WIPO
Partnership Program". This Internet-based tool will "bring
together all stakeholders to match specific needs with available
resources and to amplify the developmental impact of intellectual
property development assistance" says the proposal.

The proposed partnership program would have two features: a "WIPO
Partnership Database" and a "WIPO Partnership Office".

The database would bring together donors and recipients of IP
development assistance, and have three sections:  a "Partners
Section" (that would include IGOs, NGOs, IP offices, private
sector groups, universities, charities and others wishing to
assist developing countries on IP issues); a section on
"Country/Region" (where developing countries and their
institutions would state their specific needs for IP assistance
requests); and a "Success Section" that lists successful
partnership matches.

The partnership office would evaluate requests for assistance and
seek partners to fund and execute projects.  WIPO's international
Bureau would maintain the website and database as well as the
Partnership Office.

According to several developing-country officials as well as
experts on IP and development, the US draft paper does not
address the concerns raised by the proponents of the WIPO
development agenda.

Nor does it address the concerns raised in the "Geneva
Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property
Organization" issued last September by over 500 eminent persons
such as scientists, economists, legal experts, consumer
advocates, and health activists (including two Nobel Laureates),
and in the NGO statement endorsed by 25 organizations in support
of the Development Agenda initiative.

The US draft proposal is viewed as an attempt to set aside the
Development Agenda initiative in charting a new course for WIPO
and incorporating economic, social and cultural development
within its mission, instead of its present single-minded pursuit
of stronger forms of intellectual property rights without
consideration of the negative effects.

A major concern in the developing countries' Development Agenda
initiative is the norm-setting activities taking place in various
WIPO technical committees, which require developing countries to
take on IP standards and obligations that are far beyond what is
required under the TRIPS Agreement, at a time when they are still
struggling with implementation of their TRIPS obligations.

The developing countries want from WIPO and its many technical
committees outcomes that preserve public interest flexibilities
and the policy space of Member states to apply IP standards
according to their development needs and in a way that enables
development.

The Development Agenda proposal also recognizes that access to
information and knowledge are essential elements in fostering
innovation and creativity in the information age.  It thus takes
issue with the addition of new layers of IP protection (as is
taking place in WIPO), particularly to the digital environment as
this obstructs the free flow of information and hampers efforts
to set up new arrangements for promoting innovation and
creativity.

The Development Agenda proposal is also critical that existing IP
agreements and treaties have failed to promote a real transfer of
technology to developing countries and calls for corrective
measures, including clear provisions on technology transfer to be
included in treaties currently under negotiation in WIPO.

The Development Agenda also called for WIPO's  technical
assistance programme to ensure that national IP laws are tailored
to meet each country's level of development and that developing
countries are trained to the use of the flexibilities (oriented
to public objectives) in existing IP agreements.

According to experts on IP and development, WIPO would need to be
reformed in two ways, if it is to incorporate the "development
dimension" into its activities. The first aspect includes
reviewing existing activities and treaties that have been
negotiated or that are on the negotiating table in WIPO to ensure
that these treaties do not restrict or prevent developing
countries from having access to tools such as information and
technology that they need to develop.

The review should include the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the
proposed Substantive Patent Law Treaty and the Treaty on the
Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, which are now being
negotiated.

The other aspect of a Development Agenda, according to the
experts, would be a "positive agenda" for development, which
could include the creation of new treaties, for example, on
access to knowledge, on access to technology and on minimum
limitations and exceptions in relation to copyright and patent
protection.

Several developing-country officials, as well as  independent
experts and NGOs involved in IP issues, are of the view that the
forthcoming April meeting provides developing countries with a
vital opportunity to advance their development agenda.

However, as the US draft proposal shows, it will be an uphill
battle to convince the major developed countries of the need for
even a little change, let alone a systemic reform in WIPO.

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