[Ecommerce] Short note on WIPO Policy Advisory Commission report

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

During the presentation of the report of the WIPO Policy Advisory
Commission report in the afternoon session of the WIPO General Assembly
today, a discussion of a "global patent" came up.



Paragraph 31 of WO/GA/31/1 states:


31. "On the issue of the global patent system, many recognized the value
of such a laudable goal, and encouraged WIPO to strive towards it.
Members confirmed that it commonly remained difficult and expensive for
inventors to obtain patents in the world=92s biggest markets, a state of
affairs which led to prejudice against the system in both developed and
developing countries. One member noted that the Patent Cooperation
Treaty (PCT) did permit multinational patent offices, and that a number
of these existed around the world. It would therefore not be out of the
question, and was at the very least worthy of discussion, that WIPO
itself could (upon the necessary vote of the governing bodies) create an
international patent examining office; WIPO might not necessarily
examine the patents itself, it could serve as an umbrella while passing
on the applications to other examination centers, but it could
ultimately issue the patent. Inventors would be attracted by the concept
of a global patent, especially if it were under the umbrella of an
organization that was considered independent and trustworthy, as WIPO
was, and the issues of passing up sovereignty would be less burdensome
to countries concerned by that issue. Furthermore this would create
another source of income for the Organization, which could be put
towards other development activities."



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Switzerland: The representative from Switzerland noted that future
thought on a =93world patent=94 is important but is not appropriate for
WIPO=92s work now. He stressed that the harmonization of patent laws is a
pre-requisite.

India: The representative from India noted his government's concern that
the PAC (Para 31, WO/GA/31/1) was considering the establishment of a
=93global patent.=94 The Indian delegate mentioned a recent TACD meeting on
the "Future of WIPO" in Geneva and noted that there were many
authoritative experts present at this meeting whose voice should be
represented at the WIPO Policy Advisory Commission. The representative
from India requested that the DG of WIPO may wish to consider the
inclusion of eminent academic experts in the PAC who made presentations
at the TACD "Future of WIPO" meeting. The representative from India
noted that the PAC should include a wider range of opinions rather than
being limited to industry and government figures.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
CPTech