WIPO’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) reviewed draft provisions for the protection of traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) and traditional knowledge (TK), and considered options for future work on intellectual property (IP) and genetic resources at a meeting from December 7 to 11, 2009, paving the way for mandated negotiations in 2010.
From Monday, December 14, 2009, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center will launch essentially paperless UDRP procedures. This removes the requirement for mandatory filing and notification of paper pleadings in WIPO cases filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
The Government of Italy announced on December 10, 2009 that it will build on its extra-budgetary contributions to WIPO with an additional one million Euros. The announcement was made by Italy’s Secretary or State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Vincenzo Scotti, and Mr. Giussepe Tripoli, Chief of Department, Ministry of Economic Development at an international conference in Rome, organized jointly by WIPO and Italy’s National Council for Economies and Labor (CNEL) with the participation of CNEL President Antonio Marzano and WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
A meeting hosted by WIPO on December 7, 2009 with a number of United Nations (UN) specialized agencies in Geneva concluded with agreement on the need for closer inter-agency collaboration in favor of visually impaired persons (VIPs). During the meeting, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry outlined the Organization’s VIP Initiative, which aims to facilitate and enhance access to literary, artistic and scientific works for the blind, visually impaired and other reading-disable persons and stressed the importance of common activities in this area.
Top government officials, business leaders and senior law enforcement authorities meeting in Cancún, Mexico urged national and international political and business leaders to step up actions against counterfeiting and piracy to help boost global economic recovery. The call for increased action came at the close of the Fifth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy held in Cancún from 1-3 December.
Senior decision makers from governments, law enforcement, customs and the private sector are gathering in Cancun for the Fifth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy to identify solutions to the worldwide trade in fake products which pose a threat to health and the global economy.
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, speaking at the opening of the World Trade Organization (WTO) seventh ministerial conference in Geneva on November 30, 2009, underlined the importance of innovation in dealing with some of today’s most pressing global challenges – economic recovery and climate change. He further pledged the Organization’s commitment in assisting countries to develop national innovation strategies.
WIPO has launched an enhanced online patent information service that will improve public access to information on patents filed and granted around the world. WIPO’s PATENTSCOPE®, which currently hosts data on more than 1.6 million international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), has been extended to include several collections of national and regional patent information.
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry wrapped up a five day official visit to New Delhi on November 13, 2009 in which he held a series of high level meetings, including with the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh - that addressed a range of issues of specific interest to India and areas of joint cooperation with WIPO.
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, joined by India’s Secretary, Department of Industry and Commerce, Mr. Ajay Shankar, opened on November 13, 2009 an international conference by highlighting the importance of developing a balanced international legal framework for the effective protection of traditional knowledge (TK), genetic resources (GRs) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs).