Okay, now something interesting has finally
happened. At least, interesting within the context of WIPO . . .
Brazil has submitted something audacious which will no doubt result in absolute opposition from the US and others, and you almost never see absolute opposition here. So our juices are flowing to see some fireworks.
Brazil has submitted a draft of a decision to be made by this IIM, which would be a recommendation to the WIPO General Assembly in September.
This is audacious, because if there is a predetermined outcome of this Development Agenda exercise, what was the point of all these discussions and deliberations?
The Brazil draft decision consists of:
Some other less-explosive proposals include:
Now, this is interesting because 1) Brazil is pushing for a concrete recommendation to come out of this meeting, 2) Brazil seems to understand that they aren't going to get their whole set of demands by two months from now at the 2005 General Assembly but is trying to get an incremental victory in the form of the Declaration, and 3) Brazil is pushing for an extension of the discussion of the development agenda.
Opponents of the Development Agenda have been determined to not let this process go on any further. So there will almost certainly be a clash on the issue of extending the IIM process, and also a clash on this Declaration which still would have the effect of modifying WIPO's mission beyond promoting IP, and in fact move WIPO toward exploiting exceptions to IP, rather than promoting IP.
Brazil has submitted something audacious which will no doubt result in absolute opposition from the US and others, and you almost never see absolute opposition here. So our juices are flowing to see some fireworks.
Brazil has submitted a draft of a decision to be made by this IIM, which would be a recommendation to the WIPO General Assembly in September.
This is audacious, because if there is a predetermined outcome of this Development Agenda exercise, what was the point of all these discussions and deliberations?
The Brazil draft decision consists of:
- Three more meetings (IIMs) "with a view to addressing effectively the issues raised in the proposals to establish a Development Agenda for WIPO." These meetings would run through July of 2006, and would report back to the 2006 General Assembly. So this is an extension of the Development Agenda IIM process, something that I understand that the US is absolutely opposed to.
- A declaration that states that WIPO is free to promote "models of innovation other than intellectual property." This declaration would also say that "attempts to pursue upward harmonization of laws on intellectual property protection, without consideration of the potential social and economic costs for developing countries and LDCs, runs contrary to WIPO's UN mandate."
- Approve the formation of a WIPO Evaluation and Research Office (WERO).
Some other less-explosive proposals include:
- Adopting Principles and Guidelines on Technical Assistance
- Implement a code of conduct for technical assistance provision
- Implement a process designed to improve the participation of civil society and public interest groups in WIPO.
Now, this is interesting because 1) Brazil is pushing for a concrete recommendation to come out of this meeting, 2) Brazil seems to understand that they aren't going to get their whole set of demands by two months from now at the 2005 General Assembly but is trying to get an incremental victory in the form of the Declaration, and 3) Brazil is pushing for an extension of the discussion of the development agenda.
Opponents of the Development Agenda have been determined to not let this process go on any further. So there will almost certainly be a clash on the issue of extending the IIM process, and also a clash on this Declaration which still would have the effect of modifying WIPO's mission beyond promoting IP, and in fact move WIPO toward exploiting exceptions to IP, rather than promoting IP.