Group B+ meeting
24 September: A possitive discussion
The Japan Patent Office hosted a meeting of Group B+ in Geneva before the start of the General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The meeting discussed patent law harmonisation, intellectual property (IP) and development, and general WIPO affairs.
Patent law harmonisation
The meeting discussed detailed proposals relating to issues within the reduced package that the group had identified at the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) in WIPO. The meeting regretted the failure of the SCP to agree an effective way forward and turned to the discussions amongst its members on this subject. The Chairman of Working Group 1 had identified a compromise package taking account of the views of members and users.
Following the discussion, the meeting agreed that the compromise package forms a basic platform on which to base agreement. The compromise package will be turned into more formal “treaty language” for discussion in Tokyo on 20 - 21 November. All will make every effort to reach an agreement at the meeting in Tokyo in November. Such agreement would facilitate further progress in WIPO. Such harmonisation is an essential component in addressing the simplification of the global patent system and the complexities faced by users and offices.
IP and development
The meeting discussed the work of the Provisional Committee on Proposals related to a WIPO Development Agenda (PCDA) and the work of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).
Regarding the IGC the meeting supported the 2nd year of the work programme and its existing mandate and considered that good progress was being made and this should not be jeopardised by a change to the mandate.
Regarding the PCDA all were very disappointed by the lack of progress. All were committed to providing real and effective solutions enabling developing countries to make effective use of IP in their development but agreed that the current process was not leading to anything definitive. The meeting discussed grouping proposals into those capable of implementation in the short term and those still requiring exploration, together with the combining of overlapping and duplicating proposals. All agreed that unless the process is structured it would not be possible to focus on producing tangible results. All were agreed that developing countries could not afford continued discussion without such result.
WIPO governance
Delegates were concerned with the health of the organisation and looked to effective implementation of the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) proposals, the desk to desk review, and the contribution of the Audit Committee to improving the management process within the organisation. All see WIPO as an essential part of the global intellectual property rights (IPR) system and agree that members must accept the responsibility to ensure its efficient and effective contribution.
Footnote
Participated Members of Group B+ at the meeting:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Commission, European Patent Office, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States (Council of the European Union)