WIPO’s development agenda committee unfolds against the backdrop of a looming Millenium Development Goal deadline
3 June 2013
Kirsten Alisha Williams
WIPO’s development agenda committee unfolds against the backdrop of a looming Millenium Development Goal deadline
The eleventh session of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) took place from May 13 to May 17, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland, and was attended by 94 member states and 37 observers. The mandate of the CDIP, as established by the General Assembly (document A/43/16, page 135) is to develop a work-program for the successful implementation of the 45 recommendations adopted at the WIPO Development Agenda (DA) at the 2007 General Assembly, and to subsequently monitor, assess, discuss and report on progress on the topics of technical assistance and capacity building, norm-setting, flexibilities, public policy and public domain, technology transfer, information and communication technologies (ICT) and access to knowledge, as well as assessment, evaluation and impact studies, and institutional matters including mandate and governance, that constitute the six clusters.
The Committee re-elected Ambassador Mohamed Siad Doualeh, Permanent Representative of Djibouti as Chair, and elected Mrs. Ekaterina Egutia, deputy head, National Intellectual Property Center (SAKPATENTI), Georgia, as Vice-Chair in its opening session as well as adopt the draft report of the tenth session of the CDIP (CDIP/10/18 Prov.) held from November 12 to 16, 2012.
The committee set out to consider the Director General’s Report on Implementation of the Development Agenda (CDIP/11/2), the fourth annual report to provide a high-level overview and appraisal of the implementation and mainstreaming of the DA into WIPOs regular program activities and its various bodies, as well as key developments in the implementation of DA projects, as reflected in the approved Program and Budget for the biennium 2012/13. Member State concern, as initially voiced by Brazil, arose around the availability and accessibility of Member States to Country Plans, that are, in WIPOs characteristic multi-stakeholder horizontal approach model, the product of close consultation between member state and WIPO development sector regional bureaus.
Furthermore urgent calls for a consultation process in the run up to to WIPOs participation in the Rio+20 process, a joint endeavour of the entire UN system, and the MDGs Task Force, that integrates more than 20 UN and other international agencies, were expressed by the African Group. Algeria speaking on its behalf sought ‘clarity on the consultative process that is being followed by the Secretariat to get a clear mandate from WIPOs Member States to participate in those mechanisms’. Bolivia echoed similar concerns with the need for ‘the Secretariat should express the view of all the Members and spread out a balanced IP system’. Concerns were well received by Deputy Director General, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, and Director of the WIPO New York Office, Mr. Rama Rao who established that the Secretariat is to organize briefings to member states on WIPO’s contribution to the work of other United Nations entities.
The Feasibility of Integration of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Related Needs/Outcomes into WIPO’s Biennial Results Framework (CDIP/11/3) as prepared by Mr. Glenn O’Neil, Evaluation Consultant, Owl RE, Geneva, in response to the request that arose from CDIP/10/9 controversially reinforced the contribution of the previous study (document CDIP/10/9) to back the United States of America and Belgium (coordinator of Group B) and conclude that it is not necessary to introduce an additional set of MDG indicators to the Results Based Management (RBM) framework currently in use. Insistence on the part of a notably vocal Algeria saw compromise emerge as the Secretariat was ultimately requested, using existing internal resources, to prepare a compilation of the practices by which other United Nations agencies, in particular the other specialized United Nations agencies, measure their contribution to the MDGs, and to provide a brief report to the next session of the Committee as to how WIPO has contributed to the six targets under MDGs 1, 6 and 8, using the methodology provided in document CDIP/11/3, that should also include an assessment in narrative form as to how WIPO may be contributing to the other five MDGs, without needing to develop an additional detailed methodology to address those five MDGs.
The External Review of WIPO Technical Assistance in the Area of Cooperation (CDIP/8/INF/1, CDIP/9/14, CDIP/9/15, CDIP/9/16, and CDIP/11/4) recognized the Secretariat’s ongoing work on the recommendations, and the need to take further actions. For one, compiling existing materials into a comprehensive manual on the delivery of technical assistance, in line with recommendation A(2) in document CDIP/9/16. Likewise to ensure that WIPO’s website is upgraded to serve as a more effective, accessible and up-to-date resource for communicating information about development cooperation activities, in line with recommendation F(1)(a) and (b) in document CDIP/9/16. Furthermore to examine the Technical Assistance Database (TAD) with a view to facilitate searching capabilities, and ensure the regular updating of the TAD with information on technical assistance activities, in line with recommendation G(1) in document CDIP/9/16. This discussion further reinforced the urgent demands of developing countries, notably Brazil, Bolivia and India for transparency, something that quickly established itself as a recurring theme.
The committee then moved on to consider document (CDIP/11/5) concerned with the organization of the International Conference on Intellectual Property and Development to discuss the role of IP in development at national, regional and international levels sharing experiences and exploring future perspectives. It was also concluded that the Secretariat should finalize a list of speakers for the Conference to be circulated to Group Coordinators for confirmation. Belgium backed by a number of Member States stressed the need for transparency with regard to the budget and furthermore seeks more budget breakdowns in the future. Algeria, speaking on behalf of the African Group stressed the importance of regional diversity in the selection of the speakers.
The Feasibility Assessment on Possible New WIPO Activities Related to Using Copyright to Promote Access to Information and Creative Content (CDIP/11/6) prepared by Mr. Sisule F. Musungu, President, IQsensato, Geneva looks to six activities/ initiatives that fall under the headings of Education and Research (E&R) Resources, Copyright and Software development practices, and Access to and Re-use of public sector information. The Committee responded with a request that the Secretariat prepare a more detailed implementation plan, including information on financial and human resource implications, to be considered at the next session of the Committee.
On the basis of the Project Proposal from the Republic of Korea on Intellectual Property (IP) and Design for Creation for Business Development in developing and Least Developed Countries (LCDs) (CDIP/11/7), in an effort to implement the 45 recommendations of the WIPO Development Agenda, the Republic of Korea was requested to work with the Secretariat to further develop the proposal into a CDIP project document, bearing the observations made from the floor, including by the LDG Group, and present it to the next session of the Committee for approval.
The Committee moved on to discuss the Independent Review of the Implementation of the Development Agenda Recommendations as requested under the Coordination Mechanism and Monitoring, Assessing and Reporting Modalities. As it recalled the related decision of the General Assembly, the Committee took note of the Joint Proposal on Terms of Reference and Methodology for the Independent Review of the Implementation of the Development Agenda Recommendations submitted by the African Group and Development Agenda Group, and agreed to devote sufficient time for discussion on this matter at its next session with a view to implementing the General Assembly’s decision that the Review should be undertaken by the end of the 2012/2013 biennium, and to that end has agreed to hold one informal meeting prior to its next session.
The Potential Impact of Intellectual Property Rights on the Forestry Chain in Uruguay (CDIP/11/INF/2), Intellectual Property (IP) and Socio-Economic Development in Chile (CDIP/11/INF/4) and Conceptual Study on Innovation, Intellectual Property and the Informal Economy (CDIP/11/INF/5) and Intellectual Property and Socio-Economic Development- Country Study Brazil (CDIP/11/INF/3) were discussed at length and the committee looked to a proposal for a CDIP New Agenda item on Intellectual Property (IP) and Development (CDIP/6/12Rev.) in part as an attempt to solidify the role case studies, under the project on Intellectual Property and Socio-Economic Development (CDIP/5/7) should play in committee sessions.
The Committee furthermore continued discussions on Future work on Patent-Related Flexibilities in the Multilateral Legal Framework (CDIP/10/11) and (CDIP/10/11 Add.) and requested the Secretariat to undertake work on the scope of the exclusion from patentability of plants (TRIPS Art.27), flexibilities in respect of the patentability, or exclusion from patentability, of software-related inventions (TRIPS Art. 27).
This rounded off the 11th CDIP session on the road to formally establish the ‘Development Agenda of WIPO’ with an aim to firmly place and mainstream the mission at the heart of the organization’s activities, at a particularly fascinating juncture in time, with under a thousand days to go until the MDG deadline.