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WIPO Assemblies Open

Geneva, September 27, 2004
Press Releases PR/2004/391

The meetings of the Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which bring together WIPO's 181 member states will be held in Geneva from September 27 to October 5, 2004, to take stock of progress in the Organization's work and discuss future policy directions.

Opening the meeting, the Chairman of the WIPO General Assembly, Ambassador Bernard Kessedjian (Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in Geneva), asked delegates to observe a few moments of silence in memory of Dr. Arpad Bogsch, former Director General of WIPO (1973 to 1997), who passed away on September 19, 2004. Ambassador Kessedjian remarked that Dr. Bogsch had left an "indelible mark on the Organization".

Ambassador Kessedjian said the Assemblies is a significant time in the work of the Organization as it allowed member states to take stock of the Organization's work over the previous year and to take decisions on future work. He called upon delegates to display inventiveness and openness in dealing with the various subjects that were before them. He highlighted the importance of intellectual property as a tool for progress and sustainable development and its relevance to all people. "Intellectual property does not only concern a few people - it is a concern for all. It is a powerful engine of growth and progress." He said that intellectual property is an integral part of sustainable development and "its benefits must be equally shared."

WIPO Director General, Dr. Kamil Idris, thanked member states for their continued support and gave an overview of the achievements of the Organization over the past year. He pointed to the widespread legal and technical assistance offered by the Organization to developing and least developed countries and economies in transition. He referred to a range of technological enhancements to WIPO's international filing and registration systems, and, in particular, to the simplification of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and a revised patent system accessible to all. "This is a prerequisite for the promotion of innovation and inventiveness and for making the patent system accessible to all," he said.

The Director General outlined WIPO's work in the area of norm-setting and codification of international intellectual property law. He said this activity complements the Organization's work in supporting developing countries in the use of the intellectual property system. Dr. Idris said that "WIPO must continue to be sensitive to other issues of global concern including a balance between intellectual property rights holders and the public at large and that in this regard we are in close cooperation with several inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations." The Director General said he looked forward to hearing the views of the member states throughout the Assemblies, calling upon them to undertake constructive discussions in a spirit of cooperation. The Director General's remarks were followed by individual presentations by top WIPO officials who reported on specific progress in their respective areas.

In addition, an exhibition, featuring the work of some 100 children from the Heilongjiang Province of China, will also be inaugurated on the sidelines of the annual assemblies in the presence of a number of the child artists. The centerpiece of the exhibit "Creativity by Children -A Chinese Experience," is an original 60 meter scroll which aligns some 100 paintings by the children. All the paintings depict a theme relating to intellectual property.

The scroll was completed in April 2001, to mark the first World Intellectual Property Day. The idea was launched by the intellectual property office of the Heilongjiang Province, which asked children from ages ranging from five to fifteen years to paint pictures that depicted respect for the sciences and touched on themes of innovation, invention and progress.

Highlights of the Assemblies Agenda (in proposed order of discussion):

  • Member states will review the status of consultations on outstanding issues relating to the protection of audiovisual performances and decide on future action on this question. (Please see PR 367/2003)
  • The WIPO General Assembly will consider approving the convening, at an appropriate time, of a Diplomatic Conference on the protection of broadcasting organizations to update international intellectual property standards for broadcasting in the information age. The process of updating the IP rights of broadcasters, currently provided by the 1961 Rome Convention on the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, began in earnest in 1997. A growing signal piracy problem in many parts of the world, including piracy of digitized pre-broadcast signals, has made this need more acute. (Please see WIPO/PR/2004/386).
  • WIPO member states will consider a recommendation to approve the convening of a Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of a Revised Trademark Law Treaty in the first half of 2006. This would update the existing Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) bringing it in line with the technological advances in telecommunications and would create an institutional framework allowing the adaptation of certain administrative details regulated under the treaty. The revision of the TLT envisages the inclusion of provisions on electronic filing of trademark applications and associated communications, provisions concerning the recording of trademark licenses, relief measures when certain time limits have been missed, and the establishment of an assembly of the contracting parties.
  • The General Assembly will also review the work of the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE). The ACE was set up by WIPO member states in 2002 as a forum for discussion of enforcement matters with a mandate to provide technical assistance and coordination, cooperation and the exchange of information on questions of enforcement. (Please see Update 227/2004)
  • The General Assembly will consider a progress report (document WO/GA/31/5) on the work of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). In 2003, the Assembly granted a fresh mandate for the IGC: this continued the key role of this body in working on these issues, but required the Committee to focus on the international dimension and to accelerate its work. It raised the possibility of an international instrument in this area, and excluded no outcome. The Assembly also requested an interim report on the IGC's work for its session in 2004. The IGC met in March this year, and decided to progress towards a set of concrete outcomes, in the form of provisions on the protection of traditional knowledge (TK) and expressions of folklore/ traditional cultural expressions. These provisions could express a shared international perspective on the objectives and the core principles of protection, with the goal of safeguarding the interests expressed by traditional and indigenous communities. The report to the Assemblies provides an update on this work, and related activities, including cooperation with other UN agencies in this field, with civil society and with representatives of indigenous and local communities. The IGC next meets in November, when it will consider draft texts for these outcomes.
  • The Assembly will also consider the relationship between the patent system and legal regimes governing access to genetic resources and equitably sharing benefits from the use of these resources. A number of countries have called for various changes to patent law standards to require patent applicants to declare where they obtained genetic resources or TK used in a claimed invention. This is an issue that has been raised in several WIPO forums, as well as other international organizations. It is also the subject of a detailed technical study developed under the aegis of the IGC (WIPO publication 786(E)). The Technical Study was prepared at the invitation of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In expressing appreciation for the Study at its last meeting, the CBD COP invited WIPO to examine further questions on disclosure requirements relevant to genetic resources and TK, and to address these issues where appropriate. The CBD COP also signaled that it would provide further feedback to WIPO once this additional material had been received from WIPO. This partnership between the two bodies, also recently articulated in a cooperation agreement, is intended to promote the CBD objectives of conservation, sustainable use and equitable benefit sharing. Since this issue is under consideration in a number of WIPO fora, the General Assembly has been requested to provide guidance on how WIPO's response to the invitation should be undertaken (document WO/GA/31/8). WIPO and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) will also shortly release an in-depth study, jointly commissioned, on the role of intellectual property in benefit-sharing under the CBD.
  • Member states will also discuss the future work plan of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents as regards the draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) on the basis of a proposal by the United States of America and Japan to limit the scope of the SPLT to an initial package of priority items relating to prior-art issues and to defer discussion of other issues of substantive patent law pending resolution of the initial package of issues. The so-called "first package" of provisions covers definition of prior art, grace period, novelty, and non-obviousness/inventive step. The draft SPLT covers a range of basic legal principles that govern the grant and validity of patents in different countries, such as the criteria for assessing whether an invention is novel and involves an inventive step, whether it is industrially applicable (or has utility) and whether it is sufficiently described in the patent application concerned, and how patent claims should be drafted and interpreted. It aims to simplify, streamline and achieve greater convergence among national and regional patent laws and practices to the benefit of all stakeholders in the patent system.
  • The Assembly of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) will consider progress made in the reform of the PCT and PCT automation projects and will consider a proposal from the secretariat to readjust the PCT international filing fee upward by 12%. The PCT which seeks to ensure a more user-friendly, cost-effective and efficient system, continues to enjoy growth in its use by companies and individuals seeking international patent protection. The PCT is an international patent filing system that facilitates the process of obtaining patent protection in up to 124 countries.
  • Delegates will review one of the major programs of WIPO, namely the assistance the Organization provides to developing countries in order for each country to use its national intellectual property system to achieve national development goals particularly aimed at creating employment, facilitating world trade and stimulating wealth creation. This program is very much in line with the United Nations Millennium Goals designed to create an environment conducive to development and elimination of poverty.

Today, developing countries are increasingly using intellectual property as a strategic tool for economic growth and are requesting WIPO's help in deriving value from their intellectual property systems, especially in the area of protecting and leveraging their creative assets. In response to this the Program and Budget for 2004/2005 specifically states WIPO's goal of supporting developing and least developed countries (LDCs) in their initiatives to maximize the use and effectiveness of IP as a tool for economic, social and cultural development.

  • The WIPO General Assembly will also consider a proposal from Argentina and Brazil relating to the establishment of a new development agenda for WIPO including amendment of the WIPO Convention (1967) to ensure that the development dimension of WIPO's work is enshrined in the Organization's work program.
  • The WIPO General Assembly will be briefed on the status of recommendations approved by member states in 2002 to amend the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) to provide protection for country names and for the names and acronyms of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). These recommendations are currently being considered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). WIPO's Arbitration and Mediation Center is the leading provider of services for the resolution of disputes arising from the abusive registration of Internet domain names. (Please see PR/2003/363)

For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:


  • Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
  • Fax: (+41 22) - 338 88 10
  • Email: publicinf@wipo.int.
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