The aim of the dialogue is to present the findings of recent research on piracy and intellectual property (IP) enforcement in a number of developing countries and consider their possible implications for international discussions on IP enforcement.

Background
The enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRs) has gained prominence in recent years in the global trade and IP agenda. A number of initiatives at the global, regional and bilateral level aiming at the strengthening of IPRs enforcement carry far-reaching implications for the regulation of the knowledge economy.

However, many of these initiatives - and the discourse underpinning them – are mostly confined to a legalistic and repressive approach. The meeting of the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) offers an opportunity to address piracy and IP enforcement from a broader social and economic perspective taking into consideration recommendation 45 of the WIPO Development Agenda, which underlines the need “to approach intellectual property enforcement in the context of broader societal interests and especially development oriented concerns,” in accordance with Article 7 of the TRIPS Agreement.

In addition, under Strategic Goal VI of WIPO, the objective of Program 17 (Building Respect for IP), is namely “Informed and empirically well-founded policy discussions at the international level to support the creation of an enabling environment that promotes respect for IP in a sustainable manner and strengthened capacity in Member States for the effective enforcement of IP rights in the interests of social and economic development and consumer protection.”

In this context, recent research published by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in 2009 has focused on the economic dimension of enforcement and has been made available to fifth session of the ACE as one of its documents.[1]

At the same time, the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is undertaking an important project – the Media Piracy Project- to investigate music, film, and software piracy in a number of developing economies. The project is built around studies of piracy and IP enforcement efforts in India, Brazil, South Africa, Russia, Mexico, and Bolivia, and framed by a wider examination of IP policymaking and enforcement at the international level.  Six institutions and twenty-five researchers have been involved in the 2-year research project. Some preliminary results of these studies will be presented at the Dialogue.
The Dialogue aims to foster a constructive debate on IP enforcement by providing new perspectives on its economic and sociological dimensions in a development context and consider lessons which could be useful for international discussions and efforts in this area.

Draft Programme

Introduction

ICTSD

Speakers

Joe Karaganis, Social Science Research Council (SSRC), New York
Pedro Mizukami, Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), Rio de Janeiro

Commentators

Exchange of views with participants

A light lunch will be served.

Pre-registration by Monday November 2nd 2009 is required due to space and security requirement. Please contact Hannah Leone (hleone@ictsd.ch).
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[1] Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights: An Economic Perspective, by Carsten Fink, document (WIPO/ACE/5/6) originally published by ICTSD as part of Issue Paper 22, The Global Debate on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights and Developing Countries, ICTSD Programme on IPRs and Sustainable Development (available at http://ictsd.net/i/publications/42762/).

Irfan Barloch Presentation

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) are pleased to invite you to a dialogue on: IP Offices and the Implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda: Challenges and Opportunities, Friday 18th September 2009, 13:15-14:45, Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG) 17, rue de Varembé, 1211 Geneva.

Objective

The aim of the dialogue is to examine the role and contribution of IP offices to the implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda recommendations, which were adopted by the WIPO Assemblies in 2007.

Background

In the past decade, IP offices worldwide have been engaged in an important process of modernization to upgrade their technical capabilities and streamline their operations in order to meet the growing demand in IPRs and to implement new global IP rules (most notably the TRIPS Agreement, WIPO instruments and IP provisions in regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs)). This remains an ongoing challenge that is addressed by the WIPO International Symposium for IP authorities (17-18th September 2009) in the context of the organization’s strategic goal to create a more effective and coherent global IP infrastructure.

At the same time, global debates have centered on the achievement of a more balanced and development-oriented IP system, which is supportive of public policy objectives in the areas of innovation, health, climate change, food security and biodiversity. The WIPO Development Agenda (2007) - as well as other outcomes such as the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health (2001) and the WHO Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (2008) - is an important milestone in this process. The effective implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda recommendations also remains an ongoing challenge.

Several of the WIPO Development Agenda recommendations are directly related to the work of IP offices. Recommendation 10 in particular requests WIPO “to assist Member States to develop and improve national intellectual property institutional capacity through further development of infrastructure and other facilities with a view to making national intellectual property institutions more efficient and promote fair balance between intellectual property protection and the public interest (emphasis added).
In this context, how can IP offices become more actively engaged in the implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda recommendations? What are recent examples of actions and initiatives which have been taken in this regard?
The Dialogue seeks to foster a constructive debate to discuss these questions and raise awareness about the importance of IP offices in efforts to implement the WIPO Development Agenda and to achieve an IP system and infrastructure that are supportive of public policy objectives and responsive to the views of all stakeholders.

Draft Programme

Introduction
Christoph Spennemann, UNCTAD

Moderator
Pedro Roffe, ICTSD

Speakers
Irfan Baloch- Acting Director, Development Agenda Coordination Division, WIPO
Ruth Okediji- Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School

Exchange of views with participants

Pre-registration by Thursday September 17th 2009 is required. Please contact Mr. Thomas Henninger (thenninger@ictsd.ch; tel: 022-917 88 55).

In this context, the Policy Brief, Negotiation Trade, Innovation and Intellectual Property: Lessons from the CARIFORUM EPA Experience from a Negotiator’s Perspective, by Malcolm Spence - Senior Coordinator, Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery- provides a background on the negotiations between CARIFORUM States and the European Commission (EC) on innovation and intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the framework of their recently concluded Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). It analyses the main provisions reached and points to some lessons learned which could be of relevance for other sub-regions negotiating an EPA with the European Union (EU).

In particular, the inclusion of a specific section on “Innovation” within a chapter on “Innovation and Intellectual Property” is a distinctive feature of the agreement sought by CARIFORUM, which it believes represents “a small but important step in changing the paradigm in which the subject of IP is dealt with in trade negotiations.”

The author shows how the EPA negotiations provided an opportunity for CARIFORUM States to encourage partnerships with the European Union (EU) that could give momentum to the development of national and regional innovation systems.

In the section on IPRs, references are made to the development priorities of CARIFORUM States and their levels of development, reflecting the need for achieving an appropriate balance between the scope of IP protection and the level of development of the region.

This Policy Brief was commissioned under the UNCTAD - ICTSD Programme on IPRs and Sustainable Development. It is also available at http://www.iprsonline.org/

The dinner provided the opportunity for participants at the WTO-WIPO Colloquium for Teachers of Intellectual Property to meet informally over dinner with the Geneva-based community working on intellectual property.

Each year, the WTO and WIPO offer a two-week in-depth Colloquium for around 20 selected experts teaching in the field of intellectual property, predominantly from universities in developing countries. The colloquium gives this group of academic experts an intensive programme on current issues in the WTO and WIPO, and on the state of negotiations. This dinner, hosted by ICTSD and QUNO is the key opportunity for participants to meet with national counterparts and get a more informal, practical account of how negotiations are shaped in Geneva and beyond.

This event affords the colloquium pparticipants, who will shape the knowledge of future IP policymakers, can discuss informally the national positions in the TRIPS Council and WIPO with those involved in the negotiations. Given your experience, and that there will be a participant from xxx in the colloquium your participation would be most valuable.

During the dinner, there was also a short panel presentation entitled ‘Developing Countries and the Global IP Agenda,’ with Maximiliano Santa Cruz (Mission of Chile, Chair-WIPO Standing Committee on Patents), Pedro Roffe (ICTSD), and Sisule Musungu, IQSensato.

Please email to cdommen@quno.ch or quno@quno.ch or by phone on 022 748 4810 for further information.

Exchange of views with participants

 
 
Pre-registration by May 28th is required due to limited space and security requirements. Please e-mail: crussell@ictsd.ch or call +41 22 917 8855

Welcome and Introduction
ICTSD-UNCTAD and World Bank Chairs
 
9:30 a.m. -11:15 a.m.             

The IPRs provisions of deep FTAs: is implementation an issue?
Petros Mavroidis (Columbia Law School), On the binding nature of RTA provisions in US and EU agreements
Jean-Christophe Maur (WBI), Contrasting the European and US approaches on IPR
Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan (Max Planck Institute), The notion of binding ceilings in IPR protection
 
Sisule Musungu (IQsensato), discussant
                                                               
11:15 a.m. -11:30 a.m.            Coffee break
 
11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.            

From negotiation to implementation: further challenges? The case of US FTAs
Santiago Roca (Universidad Esan), Peru’s experience with USA’s pre-requisites
Pedro Roffe (ICTSD), An overview of US FTAs and recent developments
 
David Vivas (ICTSD), discussant
 
12:45 p.m.-14:15 p.m.            Lunch
 
14:15 p.m.-15:45 p.m.           

From negotiation to implementation: further challenges? The case of EU FTAs

Maximiliano Santa Cruz(Mission of Chile), Contrasting Chile’s experience with the EU and the USA
Malcolm Spence (Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery), The CARIFORUM EPA Agreement: A Forward Look
Ahmed Abdel Latif (ICTSD),  The Egypt Euromed Association Agreement
                                                       
Christoph Spennemann (UNCTAD), discussant
 
15:45 p.m. – 16:00 p.m.         Coffee break                            
 
16:00 p.m. – 17:00 p.m.        

Drawing lessons for developing countries
Members of the panel will offer for discussion with the floor an outline of the main conclusions of the day’s discussion as well as preliminary recommendations for future work and policy guidance. 
 
Panelists: Pedro Roffe, Petros Mavroidis, Santiago Roca, Sanya Reid Smith (TWN), Malcolm Spence

PROGRAMME
 
Welcome and Introductory remarks
 
Transfer of Technology between the trade, IP and climate change regimes:
From shared frustrations to converging expectations?
ICTSD
 
Speakers
 
Innovation and Technology Transfer to Address Climate Change: Lessons from global policy development on intellectual property and public health
Frederick Abbott

Professor, Florida State University College of Law

 
Climate Change Policy and Technology Transfer:  Recent work and analysis from the OECD using patent information
Nick Johnston, OECD

Commentators

Maximiliano Santa Cruz

Mission of Chile, Chair of the SCP

Dr. Konstantinos Karachalios

European Patent Office (EPO)
 
Dalindyebo Shabalala
Director, Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Project
Center for International Environmental Law  (CIEL)
 
Exchange of views with participants

Pre-registration by March 25th is required due to limited space and security requirements.
Please e-mail: crussell@ictsd.ch or call +41 22 917 8855; fax +
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visit: http://www.ictsd.org/subscribe/subscribe_form.htm
 
 
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Médecins Sans Frontières, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and the University of Amsterdam are pleased to invite you to a roundtable discussion entitled “Reflecting on Recent Developments and Future Challenges in the area of Access to Medicines, IP and Health Innovation”, on Friday 27th of March 2009, 14h45-16h45 at Room B, Centre International de Conférences CICG, Genève, (17 Rue de Varembé 17. 1211 Geneva, CICG).
 
Ellen ‘t Hoen, UNITAID Senior Advisor on IP & Medicines Patent Pool, will present her book, the Global Politics of Pharmaceutical Monopoly Power,  which addresses a  number of issues relating to drug patents, access to medicines and health innovation  (http://www.amb-press.nl/Webwinkel-Product-1220215/Ellen-t-Hoen-The-Global Politics-of-Pharmas.html ).
 
From the recent seizures of generic drugs in transit to announcements by some major pharmaceutical companies in relation to patent pools and cheaper drugs for the poorest countries, both issues of access and innovation remain pressing concerns on the global agenda.
 
MSF, ICTSD and the University of Amsterdam have invited a number of scholars and experts to reflect on the status and future prospects of access to medicines and health innovation. 
 
Keynote speakers include Ellen’t Hoen and Frederick Abbott
 
Ellen’t Hoen, formerly Director of Policy and Advocacy at MSF, has been closely involved in the most important developments on issues relating to access to medicines and intellectual property in the past decade. She will present her book The Global Politics of Pharmaceutical Monopoly Power. In this book, the author suggests that a policy agenda for access and health innovation needs to tackle the fundamental question of how to create incentives for R&D that do not create access barriers.

Research on this book was conducted by the author as a fellow of the IS (international cooperation) Academy HIV/AIDS, a partnership program of the Amsterdam School for Social science Research (University of Amsterdam) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Professor Frederick Abbott, a Professor of Law, Florida State University College of Law, is a well known international expert on IP and health and has been a consultant to many governments, international organizations and NGOs in this area.

A number of experts and negotiators will also address the meeting.

The presentations will be followed by a discussion with participants.

This event will take place at the on Friday 27th of march 2009,  14h45-16h45 at  Room B, Centre International de Conférences CICG, Genève, (17 Rue de Varembé 17. 1211 Geneva, CICG).
 
Pre-registration by March 25th is required due to limited space and security requirements. Please e-mail: crussell@ictsd.ch or call +41 22 917 8855;