The tenth session of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) meets from Monday, 23 November 2015 to Wednesday, 25 November 2015.
As noted by WIPO, the
Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) was established by the 2002 WIPO General Assemblies with a mandate to carry out technical assistance and coordination in the field of enforcement (norm-setting is explicitly excluded from the mandate).
Within the framework of recommendation 45 of the WIPO Development Agenda, the ACE focuses on:
coordinating with public and private organizations to combat counterfeiting and piracy;
public education;
assistance;
coordination to undertake national and regional training programs for all relevant stakeholders; and exchange of information on enforcement issues (Source: http://www.wipo.int/enforcement/en/ace/).
On Monday, 23 November 2015, India delivered the following statement on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific Group.
Madam Chair,India has the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific Group.
Madam Chair,
At the outset, I on behalf of my group would like to congratulate you and the 2 Vice Chairs for assuming the bureau of this session of the ACE. We are confident that under your able leadership we will have a very productive and enriching session of this advisory committee. Our group would also like to thank the WIPO secretariat for organizing preparatory informal consultations & providing documents for this meeting.
Madam Chair,
The Advisory Committee on Enforcement has the mandate to carry out technical assistance and coordination in the field of IP enforcement. Asia and the Pacific group expects that the technical assistance provided by WIPO on IP enforcement should be in sync with the Development Agenda Recommendation number 45, which calls upon WIPO to address IP enforcement in the context of broader societal interests and especially development-oriented concerns.
Our group firmly believes that the protection and enforcement of IP rights should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation, at the same time we are of the view that it should also transfer and disseminate technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and a balance of rights and obligations.
Our group would like to support the proposal made by DAG which calls for the review of possibilities to intensify and improve WIPO’s enforcement related technical assistance, including legislative assistance.
Madam Chair
The WIPO Secretariat has prepared a report on recent activities of WIPO in the field of building respect for IP. This report refers to an evaluation conducted by the Internal Oversight Division of WIPO of WIPO’s Strategic Goal VI and Program 17 on building respect for IP, which addresses WIPO’s work in the area of IP enforcement.
Our group would like to request that this report is placed for discussions and comments from member States in the ACE. The report concludes that WIPO’s activities in this area are in compliance with the WIPO development Agenda though; we would like to see more factual details to be presented in order to corroborate this conclusion.
Madam Chair
Adequate training is necessary to ensure that relevant government institutions involved in IP enforcement can adequately determine on a case by case basis balance between the interest of the right holder and the public interest. We would like to seek more clarity from the Secretariat on how WIPO is providing adequate training to ensure this balance.
Madam Chair
The Group’s members would make interventions during the discussions on specific agenda items and during various presentations of the expert speakers. We look forward to contributing to the discussions in the Committee and hope for an insightful session.
With these words, I thank you for the opportunity.