The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is hosting a Seminar on Rights Management Information at its Geneva headquarters on September 17, 2007. Rights management information (RMI) consists of metadata used to identify digital content and owners of rights, and to express licensing information in digital form. The seminar will explore the relevance of RMI, survey emerging technologies and standards, and identify challenges affecting copyright owners, Internet users and intermediaries such as search engines. The seminar will also address crucial questions such as ownership, licensing and management of IP as well as the tools used to manage creative content and identify users and owners.
The 2007 edition of the Patent Report of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (https://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/patent_report_2007.html) shows that worldwide filings of patent applications have grown at an average annual rate of 4.7% with the highest growth rates experienced in North East Asian countries, particularly the Republic of Korea (ROK) and China. The report is based on 2005 figures, the last year for which complete worldwide statistics are available. It showed that patents granted worldwide have increased at an average annual rate of 3.6% with some 600,000 patents granted in 2005 alone. By the end of 2005, approximately 5.6 million patents were in force worldwide.
Museums, and the broader cultural heritage community, now have access to a new guide, commissioned by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to help them use the intellectual property (IP) system to improve the management of their collections in the digital environment.
Finance executives, managers and analysts can, from August 1, 2007, register on-line at www.wipo.int/academy/en/execed to participate in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Executive Program on Strategic Intellectual Property (IP) Finance, which will be held at WIPO headquarters, in Geneva, from November 12 to 15, 2007.
A combination of strong demand for WIPO’s services to the private sector and strict budgetary discipline means that the financial situation of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is strong and has led to a situation where available reserve funds have exceeded a target level established by member states. The Program and Budget Committee (PBC) will make its final recommendation in early September to the annual session of the WIPO Assemblies, which will meet from September 24 to October 3, 2007, on options to use these available reserve funds. Also, work on the construction project for a new administrative building for WIPO is set to begin early 2008. The deadline for the submission of bids for a general contractor was July 23, 2007.
Talks between the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, and a delegation of senior Bahraini officials led by the Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Dr. Hassan A. Fakhro, on July 19, 2007, focused on the strategic importance of intellectual property in today’s knowledge economy and explored ways to further strengthen cooperation between WIPO and Bahrain.
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, met with the Prime Minister of Tunisia, Mr. Mohamed Ghannouchi, to explore ways to further strengthen cooperation between WIPO and the Government of Tunisia in the field of intellectual property during an official visit to Tunisia on July 11 and 12, 2007.
A key committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), meeting in Geneva from July 3 to 12, 2007, recommended that the WIPO General Assembly should renew its mandate to continue work on intellectual property and traditional knowledge (TK), traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) (also termed 'expressions of folklore'), and genetic resources. The current mandate of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) expires in December 2007.
The huge economic potential of the creative industries was at the heart of talks between the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris and the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Georgi Parvanov, in Sofia on July 5, 2007. Discussions focused, in particular, on the dynamism of the creative industries sector and its potential to generate employment and promote trade and wealth creation. Discussions also underlined the strategic importance of intellectual property in the development of both the creative industries sector and the national economy in general.
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Dr. Kamil Idris, applauded the generosity of donors to the WIPO Voluntary Contribution Fund for Accredited Indigenous and Local Communities (“the Fund”) and urged member states and other potential donors to continue to offer their practical support by contributing to the Fund. This followed a review of the Fund this week by participants in the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) which is meeting in Geneva from July 3 to 12, 2007.