As a response to the growing demand from the business community for executive programs on intellectual property (IP) management, the WIPO Worldwide Academy and the Kellogg School of Management - a leading business school - have teamed up for the second year running to offer the 2008 executive program on "Strategies for Management of Intellectual Property". This year’s program will be held at the Kellogg Campus in Chicago from June 9 to 12, 2008.
Member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) agreed this week on elements of a program of work for the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). Meeting from March 10-12, 2008, the SCCR decided that it would continue to address issues such as the protection of broadcasting organizations and the protection of audiovisual performances, as well as exceptions and limitations.
The Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), established by the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in October 2007, held its first meeting from March 3 to 7, 2008 and moved forward in discussing the implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda (summary by the Chair below). The meeting, which was attended by 100 member states, 7 inter-governmental organizations and 30 non-governmental organizations, adopted the rules of procedure of the CDIP and held detailed discussions on developing a work program for implementation of the recommendations approved by the General Assembly.
WIPO Director General, Dr. Kamil Idris met, on Thursday, 6 March 2008, with a high-level Ghanaian delegation led by H.E. Mr. Ambrose Dery, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department of the Republic of Ghana, to discuss the use of intellectual property (IP) as a strategically important tool for development and on ways in which WIPO could further support Ghana in promoting effective utilization of the IP system for development.
The fourth in a series of public symposia on intellectual property as it relates to the life sciences will take place on April 7 and 8, 2008 at the Geneva headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and will address how patent landscaping may be used within the life sciences for public policy purposes. The event is taking place within the context of a cooperation program between the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and WIPO on patent landscaping for policy makers.
Business managers and senior executives and corporate strategists can register on-line at https://www.wipo.int/academy/en/execed/sipm/za_apr_08/index.html to participate in the first executive program on strategic intellectual property (IP) management to be held in Africa. The course, which will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, on April 15 and 16, 2008 is being organized by the Worldwide Academy of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in cooperation with the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, one of Africa’s leading business schools.
A key committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), meeting in Geneva from February 25 to 29, 2008, explored practical steps to intensify and accelerate its work relating to intellectual property and traditional knowledge, genetic resources and folklore, with a view to developing concrete international outcomes following the renewal of its mandate by the WIPO General Assembly states in October 2007. Under its new mandate the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Folklore (IGC) is required to accelerate its work. The mandate leaves open the possibility for specific outcomes, including international instruments.
A record 39,945 international trademark applications were received in 2007 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under the Madrid system for the international registration of trademarks, representing a 9.5% increase on figures for 2006. Applicants from Germany, for the 15th consecutive year, led the list of top filers, followed by users in France, the United States of America (USA) and the European Community (EC). China remained the most designated country in international trademark applications reflecting increasing levels of trading activity by foreign companies in China.
In a year that saw a record number of filings under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the cornerstone of the international patent system, inventors from the Republic of Korea (4th place) and China (7th) consolidated their top ten position in 2007, along with the United States of America (1st) , Japan (2nd), Germany (3rd), France (5th), United Kingdom (6th), Netherlands (8th), Switzerland (9th) and Sweden (10th). In total, a record 156,100 applications were filed in 2007, representing a 4.7% rate of growth over the previous year. For the fourth year running, the most notable growth rates came from countries in north east Asia which accounted for over a quarter (25.8%) of all international applications under the PCT.
Fifteen candidatures for the post of Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) were received by 5 p.m. (Geneva time) on February 13, 2008, the deadline fixed for the submission of names. The WIPO Coordination Committee, which is composed of 83 member states, will meet on May 13 and 14, 2008 to nominate a candidate for appointment to this position by the WIPO General Assembly, which is scheduled from September 22 to 30, 2008.