[Ecommerce] IP-Watch: Chile Urges WIPO To Act To Protect Public Domain

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

    12/1/2006


      Chile Urges WIPO To Act To Protect Public Domain

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?print=3D1&res=3D1024_ff&print=3D1

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posted by William New @ 12:31 pm

The government of Chile this week submitted a proposal to an upcoming
meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organisation=92s new committee
on the development agenda that calls for positive steps to protect
information in the public domain.

The first meeting of the new Provisional Committee on Proposals Related
to a WIPO Development Agenda will be held in Geneva on 20-24 February.
The committee created by the WIPO General Assembly in October reflects a
compromise extension of discussions over a proposal to expand WIPO=92s
focus on developing countries=92 needs (IPW, 3 October 2005). The original
development agenda proposal was put forward at the 2004 General Assembly
by Argentina and Brazil, supported by 12 other Friends of Development.
Subsequent proposals have followed.

In its proposal, Chile highlights the benefits to society of a rich base
of freely available public information. The public domain is of =93crucial
importance=94 to researchers, academics, educators, artists, authors and
enterprises, as well as all varieties of institutions, it said.

Developing countries in particular have raised concern that WIPO=92s
emphasis on the protection of rights, rather than the protection of
public knowledge, may reduce their ability to innovate since most rights
belong to developed countries.

The proposal, obtained by /Intellectual Property Watch/, mentions a
series of previous documents negotiated by governments in various bodies
such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation, and the UN World Summit on the Information Society.

Chile calls for an analysis of the implications and benefits of a
substantive and accessible public domain, and elaboration of proposals
and models for the protection and identification of and access to the
contents of the public domain. It further calls for protection of the
public domain to be considered in the making of policy at WIPO.

To address these issues, Chile also urged the establishment at WIPO of a
permanent venue for the analysis and discussion of incentives that
promote creative activity, innovation, and technology transfer, within
the intellectual property system.

Chile also proposed a study evaluating adequate levels of intellectual
property taking into account each nation=92s situation, especially its
level of development and institutional capacity. The study should
include consideration of the relationship between intellectual property
policies and competition policies, exceptions to and limitations of the
intellectual property system where necessary, and the economic and
social effect of changes in levels of protection of intellectual
property rights.

The value of the study will depend upon it being based on terms of
reference fully and openly discussed by WIPO members, handled by an
independent body in an open and transparent process, Chile said.

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//William New, the author of this post, may be reached at
wnew@ip-watch.ch <mailto:wnew@ip-watch.ch>./