[A2k] WIPO Development Agenda -surprising news

Thu Nov 19 23:15:18 2009

Hi Jeff,

I posted the entire exchange below - the two questions asked and the
answer I heard. The delegate of France did not ask those questions,
just the two I listed below..

As to the Secretariat's (further) response, IP Watch has published a
story by Kaitlin Mara with a statement from Carlos Mazul - excerpt
below.
<http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/11/19/wipo-development-committee-deepe=
ns-look-at-technology-transfer-coordination/
 >
--

WIPO and the United Nations

One part of the Algeria, Brazil, Pakistan and India proposal which
sources said caused both discussion and confusion during the meeting
was a proposal to include a chapter on Development Agenda
implementation in WIPO=92s annual report to the UN.

This annual report is a requirement of the 1974 treaty between WIPO
and the UN, but not all member states were aware of it. France during
the plenary session on 18 November asked why such a report would be
sent, adding to the best of their knowledge there was no precedent of
WIPO presenting a report to the UN general assembly, a source told
Intellectual Property Watch.

The same country asked a staff member of the legal counsel=92s office at
WIPO about this report today. The staff member answered: =93At present,
no. No such report is being made to the UN,=94 according to Gwen Hinze
of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who was in the meeting.

Carlos Mazal, senior counsellor at WIPO, told Intellectual Property
Watch that WIPO does not prepare a special report for the United
Nations, but that it does every year send the report of its General
Assemblies. This, he said, fulfills its obligations. An analysis of
the Development Agenda would have to go through the General Assemblies
to be included in this report.

--

Gwen Hinze

On Nov 19, 2009, at 11:35 AM, Gwen Hinze wrote:

> The dialogue was as I pasted below.
>
> The question was asked and the answer was provided in a meeting of
> the WIPO Member States, intergovernmental organizations and
> accredited non-governmental organizations in the Committee on
> Development and IP, in the presence of representatives of the WIPO
> Secretariat.
>
>
> Gwen Hinze
> On Nov 19, 2009, at 11:16 AM, Jeffrey A. Williams wrote:
>
>> Gwen and all,
>>
>> Just out of curiosity did the legal offices staff person
>> offer any explanation as to why no report was done or is
>> forthcomming?  Secondly was this same staff person ask
>> specifically why they were not complying with UN article
>> 6 as you indicated below?  Has the UN secretariat been
>> formally or informally notified that the WIPO legal staff
>> and/or those otherwise responsible withing WIPO are failing
>> to comply with Artyicle 6 requirements?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Gwen Hinze <gwen@eff.org>
>>> Sent: Nov 19, 2009 6:14 AM
>>> To: Gwen Hinze <gwen@eff.org>
>>> Cc: a2k discuss list <a2k@lists.essential.org>, The Public Voice <coali=
tion@mailman.thepublicvoice.org
>>> >
>>> Subject: Re: [A2k] WIPO Development Agenda -surprising news
>>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> Clarification and some additional information on this.
>>>
>>> The context is discussion of paragraph 8 of a proposal from the
>>> delegations of Algeria, Brazil and Pakistan, supported by India,
>>> on a
>>> mechanism for coordination within WIPO of implementation of the
>>> Development Agenda. Paragraph 8 of that proposal requires WIPO to
>>> provide a report on Development Agenda implementation (presumably
>>> part
>>> of its annual report) to the UN, in accordance with WIPO's
>>> obligation
>>> to provide an annual report to the UN under Article 6 of the 1974
>>> UN-
>>> WIPO Agreement (the agreement under which WIPO became a specialist
>>> body of the UN).
>>>
>>> Here are my notes of the dialogue that took place this in the
>>> morning's CDIP session:
>>>
>>> Question from delegate of France to female member of WIPO's Legal
>>> Counsel's Office:
>>>
>>> I think I addressed another question to the Secretariat yesterday
>>> about paragraph 8. On Article 6 of the UN-WIPO Agreement, what is
>>> the
>>> current status of implementation of this obligation? Are annual
>>> reports provided?
>>>
>>> Legal Counsel's Office staff person: At present, no. No such
>>> report is
>>> being made to the UN.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Nov 19, 2009, at 2:56 AM, Gwen Hinze wrote:
>>>
>>>> At this morning' session of the WIPO CDIP 4, legal counsel from
>>>> WIPO's
>>>> Office of Legal Counsel just stated that WIPO is not in compliance
>>>> with its obligation to report to the UN under Article 6 of the 1974
>>>> UN-
>>>> WIPO Agreement.
>>>>
>>>> <http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/agreement/index.html>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Gwen Hinze
>>>> International Policy Director
>>>> Electronic Frontier Foundation
>>>> email:gwen@eff.org
>>>> Tel.: + 1 415 436 9333 x110
>>>>
>>>> Please support EFF - Working to protect your digital rights and
>>>> freedom of speech since 1990
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> A2k mailing list
>>>> A2k@lists.essential.org
>>>> http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/a2k
>>>
>>> --
>>> Gwen Hinze
>>> International Policy Director
>>> Electronic Frontier Foundation
>>> email:gwen@eff.org
>>> Tel.: + 1 415 436 9333 x110
>>>
>>> Please support EFF - Working to protect your digital rights and
>>> freedom of speech since 1990
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> A2k mailing list
>>> A2k@lists.essential.org
>>> http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/a2k
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Jeffrey A. Williams
>> Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 294k members/stakeholders
>> strong!)
>> "Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
>>  Abraham Lincoln
>>
>> "Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is
>> very
>> often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt
>>
>> "If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B;
>> liability
>> depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by
>> P: i.e., whether B is less than PL."
>> United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
>> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>> Updated 1/26/04
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>> div. of
>> Information Network Eng.  INEG. INC.
>> ABA member in good standing member ID 01257402 E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom=
.com
>> Phone: 214-244-4827
>>
>
> --
> Gwen Hinze
> International Policy Director
> Electronic Frontier Foundation
> email:gwen@eff.org
> Tel.: + 1 415 436 9333 x110
>
> Please support EFF - Working to protect your digital rights and
> freedom of speech since 1990
>

--
Gwen Hinze
International Policy Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
email:gwen@eff.org
Tel.: + 1 415 436 9333 x110

Please support EFF - Working to protect your digital rights and
freedom of speech since 1990