Updates
in cra-briefings35 · March 01, 2006
WHAT’S NEW AT WIPO
The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) has opened a regional intellectual property training centre in Zimbabwe. Dr. Kamil Idris, WIPO’s director general and the Centre’s namesake, highlighted the need for regional and international cooperation in the promotion and establishment of an IP culture. At the inauguration ceremony in Harare, Dr. Idris commended the members of ARIPO for their commitment to the use of IP as a strategic tool for development a wealth creation. ARIPO, established in 1976, “promotes the harmonization of IP procedures, awareness-building and the administration of IP among its 16 member states”. These include Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. (For more information on the launch of this project see WIPO press release Update 266/06.)
WIPO has convened a provisional committee to devise a development agenda for the organization. The proposal for the establishment of a Development Agenda was first advanced by Argentina and Brazil at the WIPO General Assembly in 2004 with the support of 12 other countries. The first session of the committee was held in Geneva in February 20-24, and attended by 98 members. Six main themes have been articulated as a framework for shaping the agenda:
- Technological assistance and capacity building
- Norm-Setting, public policy and public domain
- Technological transfer, information and communication technology, access to knowledge
- Assessment evaluation and impact studies
- Institutional matters including mandate and governance
- Other issues pending. The second meeting is scheduled to take place in June in Geneva.
(For more information on this project see WIPO press release 267/06.)
CONSUMERS’ INTERNATIONAL STUDY
Consumers International has released a study of copyright law in eleven Asian countries, which is highly critical of the legislative advice that WIPO has been giving to developing countries. The report points to the fact that many developing countries are bowing to the pressure coming from WIPO and powerful developed countries to implement laws with measures that go beyond the protections the WIPO treaties require. The multilateral treaties between the US and a variety of countries in Latin America and Asia tie trade policies to the implementation of DMCA like measure protecting IPS, Rights Management Information and technological protection mechanisms. The contents of the report Copyright and Access to Knowledge: Policy Recommendations on Flexibilities in Copyright Law can be found at www.consumersintl.org.