United States Welcomes Outcomes of  2006 WIPO General Assemblies

October 2, 2006

The U.S. Delegation welcomes the results of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) 2006 General Assemblies.  U.S. delegation members particularly applauded the decision taken by Member States to continue the process of expanding and improving WIPO’s ongoing development-related work, as well as decisions on the draft Treaty on the Protection of the Rights of Broadcasting Organizations, and regarding WIPO's Standing Committee on the Law of Patents.

Building on WIPO’s decades-long work in the field of IP and development, the General Assembly agreed to convene two additional meetings of the Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda (PCDA) in 2007 to continue consideration of 111 proposals submitted earlier by Member States.   During positive and constructive debate, members agreed on the need for concrete recommendations on practical results in the near term and continuing discussions of the broader policy issues relating to WIPO’s role in IP and development.

WIPO members recognized the need to narrow differences in the draft text on a Broadcasting Rights treaty before proceeding to a Diplomatic Conference.  To that end, two meetings of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) will be convened and, if outstanding differences have been sufficiently narrowed, will be followed by a Diplomatic Conference from November 19 to December 7, 2007, in Geneva, Switzerland. 

In view of continuing differences over  the workplan of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP), members asked the General Assembly chairman to conduct informal consultations in the first half of 2007 to determine whether to proceed to an informal meeting of all Member States.  These consultations will inform the 2007 General Assembly's consideration of the SCP's  workplan for 2008 and 2009.

On a separate track, the group of countries known as « Group B+ » will continue to seek progress on harmonization of a « limited package » of patent law issues relating to prior art.  (Group B+  includes the developed countries in WIPO known as Group B, and all Member States of the European Patent Convention.)  This Group met immediately prior to the WIPO General Assembly meeting and made significant progress in the « limited package » discussions.   The goal is an agreement that could be brought into WIPO for consideration at the appropriate time.

The successful conclusion of WIPO's General Assemblies strengthens the organization's ability to help countries use intellectual property protection as a tool to promote economic development.  Intellectual property rights are the universal currency of today’s dynamic global innovation economy, a critical vehicle for technology transfer, and an indispensable foundation for the increased prosperity aspired to by all WIPO members.

Geneva, October 2, 2006