[Ip-health] Report from FTAA Negotiating Group on IP

[James Love]

http://www.ftaa-alca.org/ngroups/press/ngipc18e.asp

Panama, January 20-21, 2003

PRESS COMMUNIQUE
The Eighteenth Meeting of the FTAA Negotiating Group on Intellectual
Property Rights (NGIP) was held in Panama from 20 to 21 January 2003.
The NGIP Chair, Mr. Orlando Jorge Mera, of the Dominican Republic,
presided over the meeting.

The Group=92s discussions followed the approved agenda (attached). All the
items on the agenda were addressed.

Pursuant to the mandate of the Quito Ministerial, the NGIP discussed,
and made progress on, Section 1, Trademarks; Section 2, Geographical
indications; and Section 8, Industrial designs, of Part II, Intellectual
Property Rights.

The NGIP has not received any new civil society contributions since its
Seventeenth Meeting.

The following 20 countries were in attendance: Argentina, Bahamas,
Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru,
Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The delegations thanked the Government of Panama for its hospitality as
host country of the FTAA negotiations during this stage.

The next meeting of the NGIP will be held in April 2003, on a date to be
determined by the TNC.

A list of government contacts may be found at:
http://www.ftaa-alca.org/contacts/contpts.asp

For more information on the NGIP, go to
http://www.ftaa-alca.org/ngroups/ngprop_e.asp



--
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technlogy
http://www.cptech.org, mailto:james.love@cptech.org
tel. +1.202.387.8030, mobile +1.202.361.3040