[Ip-health] New report now available: NGOs, Intellectual Property Rights and Multilateral Institutions

[Duncan Matthews]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
A new report, setting out the findings of an academic research project on
non-governmental organisations, intellectual property rights and
multilateral institutions (the IP-NGOs project), is now available and can be
downloaded from the IP-NGOs project website: www.ipngos.org
<http://www.ipngos.org/>



Executive Summary



This report sets out the key findings of an independent academic research
project investigating the significance of non-governmental organisations for
intellectual property rights and multilateral institutions (the IP-NGOs
project). Based on over 60 face-to-face interviews with representatives of
key NGOs, developing country delegations and the secretariats of
multilateral institutions, the IP-NGOs project has analysed patterns in
recent activity by NGOs in relation to intellectual property issues in the
World Trade Organisation (WTO); the World Intellectual Property Organisation
(WIPO); the World Health Organisation (WHO); the Convention on Biological
Diversity Conference of the Parties (CBD-COP); and the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.



Section 1 of the report explains how the project originated as a response to
the UK Commission on Intellectual Property Rights. Section 2 then looks at
how and why international NGOs play an important role in supporting the work
of delegates to multilateral institutions. It also suggests further
activities that international NGOs could undertake in the future. Section 3
describes how NGOs, social movements, indigenous groups and local
communities in developing countries have played a key role in raising
awareness of the implications of intellectual property policy for
development policy. It identifies the limits to what groups in the South
have been able to achieve and suggests how they could make more effective
inputs in the future. Section 4 looks at relations between public action
NGOs and industry, highlighting barriers to dialogue and instances where
good relations have been established. Section 5 assesses current
arrangements for NGO engagement with multilateral institutions and suggests
how these arrangements could be enhanced in the future. Section 6 examines
how NGOs are planning responses to new and emerging issues. It also explains
the limits to what NGOs can hope to achieve. Section 7 concludes the report
by setting out six recommendations for international NGOs, for multilateral
institutions and for the donors of funds that support the work of NGOs.





Duncan Matthews

Senior Lecturer

Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute

Centre for Commercial Law Studies

John Vane Science Centre

Charterhouse Square

London EC1M 6BQ

United Kingdom

www.ipngos.org <http://www.ipngos.org/>

www.qmipri.org <http://www.qmipri.org/>

Tel. +44 (0)20 7882 3445

Fax. +44 (0)20 7882 3446



--