[Ecommerce] Bridges Weekly: DEVELOPING COUNTRY GROUP OFFICIALLY REJECTS INFORMAL WIPO MEETING OUTCOME

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/05-03-09/inbrief.htm#1


*DEVELOPING COUNTRY GROUP OFFICIALLY REJECTS INFORMAL WIPO MEETING OUTCOME*

A group of developing countries has rejected the outcome of a recent
meeting during which selected members of the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO) discussed the continuation of the global patent
harmonisation process. The meeting, held in Casablanca, Morocco, had
been put together at the invitation of WIPO Director-General Kamal
Idris, and came up with an "action plan" on how to move forward on
global patent harmonisation. Several developing countries and civil
society organisations had criticised the 15-16 February gathering for
its exclusionary nature (see BRIDGES Weekly
<http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/05-02-23/story5.htm>, 23 February 2005).
Brazil, the only supporter of the WIPO Development Agenda invited to
attend the Casablanca meeting, was also the only country that refused to
endorse the statement that was adopted there.

In direct response to the Casablanca meeting, the 'Group of Friends of
Development' sent an official statement to the WIPO Secretariat on 7
March, formally challenging the legitimacy of the action plan that had
been adopted there. Countries including Argentina, Egypt, Iran, and
South Africa joined Brazil in signing the statement, which emphasised
that decisions taken by WIPO's General Assembly must be taken
transparently and multilaterally. The group's statement stressed that
according to the General Assembly's mandate, informal consultations by
the Director General should focus on establishing a date for convening
the Standing Committee on Law of Patents. They argued that informal
meetings cannot legitimately involve substantive discussions that go
beyond the current state of negotiations in the General Assembly.

The next official meeting to discuss the WIPO Development Agenda will
take place on 11-13 April 2005 at the Intersessional Intergovernmental
Meeting at WIPO.

The Group of Friends of Development includes Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia,
Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Peru, Sierra
Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Venezuela.

ICTSD reporting.