[A2k] IP-Watch: Standing Committee On The Law Of Patents To Reconvene After Two Year Hiatus

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D1104

<SNIP>

An official from one of the WIPO Group B developed countries, which
had been calling for stronger integration of several patent rules,
said that the group would still =93like to see work=94 on the
harmonisation issues. The areas Group B is interested in harmonising
are prior art (previously available information), novelty and
inventive steps (tests for patentability that require the idea to be
original), and grace periods for patent filing after an invention has
been publicised (thereby allowing a recently published inventor to
still ask for a patent),

But, the source added, it was unrealistic to expect significant work
on harmonisation in the committee at this point, and instead the
assembly would have =93to decide on something else practical to work on.=94

<SNIP>

Developing countries historically have been wary of increased
harmonisation, and have instead pushed for exclusions of certain items
from patenting, exceptions and flexibilities in patent rights, and
disclosure of origin and equitable benefit sharing when traditional
knowledge is included in patent application.

<SNIP>

International Patent System Report

Intended as a =93working document=94 for the upcoming SCP session, this
report by the committee secretariat =93contextualises the existing
situation=94 of international patenting and seeks to characterise the
variant roles of patents in economic prosperity, technology
disclosure, and technology diffusion.

It is intended as a factual report, and thus covers a wide range of
viewpoints, from the ways in which patents are essential to protect
innovation to the ways in which too much litigation, the emergence of
=93patent thickets=94(numerous patents covering aspects of the same
product) and the patenting of =91limited=92 subject matter - such as a DNA
strand - can act as innovation inhibitors.

On technology transfer, the report notes that there is little hard
evidence but that anecdotally it seems a functioning patent system can
=93rather encourage technology transfer and foreign investment=94 but =93to=
o
strong a protection of patent rights, in particular in the early state
of industrialisation when learning takes place through reverse
engineering and duplicative imitation=94 can hinder technology transfer.
The report also acknowledges alternative methods of intellectual
property management, such as open source, as interesting enough an
idea that use has expanded to areas outside of its original use in
software.

Technical interoperability is also important for =93wide adoption=94 of
new technologies, the report says. Open standards - or standards in
which the technical specifications are publicly available and
licensing on intellectual property is either free or affordable. The
report notes that there is disagreement as to whether an open standard
must be simply available or available royalty-free.



-----------

19 June 2008
Standing Committee On The Law Of Patents To Reconvene After Two Year
Hiatus

Posted by Kaitlin Mara @ 11:24 am
   Link This Article   Leave a Comment   Print

By Kaitlin Mara
The World Intellectual Property Organization committee charged with
coordinating relationships between national patent regimes will meet
next week for the first time since an informal session in April 2006.
It is the first formal convening since June 2005.

The bulk of the meeting will be spent discussing future work for the
committee, said sources. Also on the agenda is a review of a recent
report by the WIPO secretariat that provides an overview of the state
of the international patent system and is intended to factually inform
talks on future work.

Discussions in the committee stalled in 2006 (IPW, WIPO, 30 September
2006) following disagreements between WIPO member states over efforts
to further harmonise national patent laws. The year 2007 was spent in
=93informal consultations.=94 The 2007 WIPO General Assemblies charged the
secretariat with preparing the report, which it completed in April.

The 23 - 27 June meeting of the Standing Committee on the Law of
Patents (SCP) is expected to use the report in discussions that
hopefully will result in a work plan, said Philippe Baechtold, head of
the patent law section of WIPO=92s Sector of PCT and Patents,
Arbitration and Mediation Center and Global Intellectual Property
Issues, who is in charge of the SCP meeting for the WIPO secretariat.

An official from one of the WIPO Group B developed countries, which
had been calling for stronger integration of several patent rules,
said that the group would still =93like to see work=94 on the
harmonisation issues. The areas Group B is interested in harmonising
are prior art (previously available information), novelty and
inventive steps (tests for patentability that require the idea to be
original), and grace periods for patent filing after an invention has
been publicised (thereby allowing a recently published inventor to
still ask for a patent),

But, the source added, it was unrealistic to expect significant work
on harmonisation in the committee at this point, and instead the
assembly would have =93to decide on something else practical to work on.=94

Developing countries historically have been wary of increased
harmonisation, and have instead pushed for exclusions of certain items
from patenting, exceptions and flexibilities in patent rights, and
disclosure of origin and equitable benefit sharing when traditional
knowledge is included in patent application.

Baechtold said that the =93big word=94 at the meeting would be =93balance,=
=94
and whether member states could strike one between differing goals and
opinions regarding the use of the international patent system.

Selection of Chair

The meeting will open with the choosing of a chair, which, sources
report, could be cause for discussion. As of press time, it was too
early to say who likely names are or what nations have put forth
candidates.

The process for selecting a chair starts before the meeting, when
coordinators for regional groups such as the Africa Group or Group B
meet and discuss proposals put forth by member states, Baechtold
explained. A member state can nominate an individual, and if a second
member state supports the nomination he or she becomes a candidate.
Candidates are then elected by the committee in question. The WIPO
secretariat has no role in the chair decision-making process, said
Baechtold.

The area likely to take up the most meeting space is the agenda item
on future work, said several sources. It is hoped that countries will
reach consensus on issues that need work at an international level,
though it is unclear what those issues would be. It is likely that any
resolution will happen on technical matters - perhaps on a
clarification of terms, such as the definition of prior art or an
inventive step, said a source - rather than on more complex or
controversial matters. It is, however, hard to say what issues will be
of strong interest to member states, added the source. It could
happen, for example, that matters seeming technical going into the
meeting will end up being hot-button issues.

International Patent System Report

Intended as a =93working document=94 for the upcoming SCP session, this
report by the committee secretariat =93contextualises the existing
situation=94 of international patenting and seeks to characterise the
variant roles of patents in economic prosperity, technology
disclosure, and technology diffusion.

It is intended as a factual report, and thus covers a wide range of
viewpoints, from the ways in which patents are essential to protect
innovation to the ways in which too much litigation, the emergence of
=93patent thickets=94(numerous patents covering aspects of the same
product) and the patenting of =91limited=92 subject matter - such as a DNA
strand - can act as innovation inhibitors.

On technology transfer, the report notes that there is little hard
evidence but that anecdotally it seems a functioning patent system can
=93rather encourage technology transfer and foreign investment=94 but =93to=
o
strong a protection of patent rights, in particular in the early state
of industrialisation when learning takes place through reverse
engineering and duplicative imitation=94 can hinder technology transfer.
The report also acknowledges alternative methods of intellectual
property management, such as open source, as interesting enough an
idea that use has expanded to areas outside of its original use in
software.

Technical interoperability is also important for =93wide adoption=94 of
new technologies, the report says. Open standards - or standards in
which the technical specifications are publicly available and
licensing on intellectual property is either free or affordable. The
report notes that there is disagreement as to whether an open standard
must be simply available or available royalty-free.

A concluding chapter is dedicated specifically to the concerns of
developing countries, who tend to be net importers of technology and
are therefore often more hesitant about the utility of a stronger and
more harmonised international patent system.

Calling development =93one of the most urgent challenges=94 facing the
world and citing the new Development Agenda at WIPO - in particular
its statements on the need for norm-setting, technology transfer,
information technology and access to knowledge, and evaluation and
impact studies - the report discusses the emerging knowledge economy
and the need to bring development in line.

Particular concerns for developing countries are that the information-
diffusion function of patents is made difficult with low
infrastructure, that a harmonised patent system might not allow
adequate flexibilities for development initiatives, the potentially
negative impact of a strong patent system on public health, education,
and biodiversity. For developing countries who want access to the
benefits of the international patent system, there are concerns about
methods for its implementation nationally, especially given the high
cost of creating, maintaining and enforcing an intellectual property
system.

Kaitlin Mara may be reached at kmara@ip-watch.ch.

------------------------------------------------------------


Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997