[Ecommerce] WIPO developments and upcoming meetings

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://fromgeneva.blogspot.com/2005/12/wipo-developments-and-upcoming.html

FromGeneva
Thursday, 8 December 2005
WIPO developments and upcoming meetings
Thiru Balasubramaniam

Today the WIPO Secretariat is holding "Consultations on the Open Forum
on the Draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty" with Member States in an
effort to vet names and topics for this open forum to be held from March
1-3, 2006. According to sources close to the discusssion, Benoit Muller,
Director of Software Policy Europe, Business Software Alliance has been
nominated to speak on inter-operability issues. David Martin, an expert
in domestic and international technology transfer and in patent
enforcement and issuance and the founding CEO of M-CAM has been proposed
to speak on the patent landscape.

Here are some excerpts of a speech David Martin gave in November 2004 on
real economic consequences of the non-accountability of the patent
establishment.

"Some of you are familiar with what I talk about when I mean the
ethernet plug. That wonderful little thing that actually looks like a
phone plug, just a few extra more little spiky things on them. There
currently are 683 patents in force covering... the ethernet plug. Not
the use of it, the plug.

That means every time any of you actually plugs that thing into the
wall, there's an outside chance that you're actually infringing when you
even plug your computer into the ethernet plug, much less to a goddamn
thing with your ethernet once you get it hooked up.

You actually don't have a place to start. You can't plug a computer in
without infringing a series of patents on plugging your computer in...

Our patent systems have sovereign immunity from any economic consequence
and until that reform happens, Ladies and Gentlemen, we're rearranging
deck chairs on the Titanic."
(http://wiki.ffii.org/ Martin041109En)

Here are the dates associated with the WIPO Standing Committee on Patents.

SCP Open Forum: March 1 to 3, 2006
Informal session of the SCP: April 10 to 12, 2006
Formal session of the SCP (if any): July 3 to 7, 2006

WIPO Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda

The dates for the Provisional Committee Meetings on Proposals Related to
a WIPO Development Agenda (PCDA) have been set. The dates for the first
session are from February 20 to 24, 2006. The dates for the second
session are from June 26 to 30 2006. The agenda for the first session of
the WIPO PCDA can bee found at this site:
(http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=53452).

WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional
Knowledge and Folklore

Although it has not been posted yet on WIPO's website, the next meeting
of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources,
Traditional Knowledge and Folklore will take place on March 6-10, 2006
according to a WIPO source.

WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR)

There are two meetings of the SCCR scheduled for April 2006 and June
2006. At this time there have been no precise dates given by the WIPO
Secretariat for these two meetings. I have requested information on this
and have yet to hear from the Secretariat. The April meeting of the SCCR
is scheduled to discuss (1) the broadcast/webcast treaty and (2)
copyright limitations and exceptions.