[governance] new leadership at WIPO

Fri Sep 26 13:11:49 EDT 2008

Thought this was of interest,

Best

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Intellectual Property Watch

22 September 2008

Idris Bids WIPO Farewell; Newly Appointed DG Gurry Outlines Initiatives

Posted by William New @ 9:14 pm 

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By William New
Australian Francis Gurry became the next in a short list of leaders of the
World Intellectual Property Organization Monday, and promptly signalled a
programme of increased multilateralism and bolstered global and local
relevance for the United Nations body. 

Gurrys appointment to director general followed an emotional farewell to
WIPO by Kamil Idris, who held the top spot for 11 years. The change brought
with it a general mood of hope among staff, governments and stakeholders
that divisions within the organisation will be put to rest. 

Gurry, who will take office on 1 October until 2014, laid out the makings of
a diverse programme with several new initiatives aimed at boosting
multilateralism of intellectual property policy, and at putting WIPO at the
forefront of its field. He plans to announce his detailed strategy on 20
October, consulting with members until a meeting of the WIPO Programme and
Budget Committee approves a new budget in December. 

Gurry said urgent attention is needed for the backlog in the patent system;
the impact of the internet on copyright; counterfeiting and piracy; using
intellectual property to reduce the global knowledge gap and build
capacity in least-developed countries; and lack of protection of traditional
knowledge and traditional cultural expressions (folklore). 

 <http://www.ip-watch.org/files/Idris%20farewell%20speech.pdf> Idris
farewell speech here [pdf]

 <http://www.ip-watch.org/files/Gurry%20acceptance%20speech%20here.pdf>
Gurry acceptance speech here [pdf]

Multilateral Mantra

Gurry touched on issues of interest to a wide spectrum of stakeholders. 

On patents, he said the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which he called the
backbone of this organisation, is well-suited to address the backlog and
problems of quality in patent offices around the world. The PCT provides a
better basis for constructing the future solution than any other one under
consideration or in the range of current imagination, he said. 

In copyright, the 19th century Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works was one of the origins of WIPO, Gurry said, and
in the 21st century WIPO still is the best place for global solutions to be
discussed on the digital distribution of creative works. The organisation
spent 10 years until 2007 unsuccessfully negotiating a treaty on
broadcasters rights that was seen as backward-looking, but is now moving
into new ideas such as a possible treaty on limitations and exceptions to
copyright. He called such a treaty entirely possible. 

Gurry said the 20th century model of returning value to the creators,
performers and their business associates is under the most radical of
threats from digital technology and the internet. He cautioned against an
unintentional move by default to a private law system of rights, and gave a
nod to copyright holders in pointing out that in each country, there are
many more consumers than creators and performers, making political
management of the discussion uncomfortable. 

A new stronger chord was struck by Gurry on the issue of protection against
illegal downloading of music and film from the internet, and against
counterfeit products. He restated the assertion that organised crime has
become a major participant. As some nations have begun actively
negotiating stronger protections outside WIPO, he said it is time for WIPO
to ask whether its role on enforcement should be limited to
awareness-raising and training, or a more robust engagement possibly with
other organisations. The issue is a global one, not regional, he told
reporters, and while not closing other efforts, WIPO should become the
central point for the process. 

Copyright industry representatives told Intellectual Property Watch they
welcome more discussion in WIPO about enforcement, but were sceptical of the
organisations ability to move the issues quickly enough. So they were
lukewarm to the idea of a centralised discussion on enforcement in WIPO to
the exclusion of other initiatives such as ACTA. 

New Initiatives

Gurry devoted significant attention to the idea of using intellectual
property to reduce the gap in knowledge and increase participation in the
benefits of innovation and the knowledge economy. 

To this end, he called for translating political consensus into concrete
and effective projects. WIPO can construct a global knowledge
infrastructure, comprising public, freely available databases of
technological and scientific information and operating on common standards
for data interchange, he said. 

He said WIPO also could help countries to adopt national intellectual
property and innovation strategies, and he plans to boost human and
financial resources to the Least Developed Countries Division created by
Idris. 

Another initiative will be to create an economic research and statistics
division to provide member states with impact studies to analyse national
processes and new developments affecting the IP world and WIPO. 

Finally, he called for the years-long discussion and negotiation about
protection of traditional knowledge and folklore to move to concrete
outcomes. He did not, however, mention genetic resources. 

Gurry said his ideas reflected the views of members and stakeholders. The
role of WIPO in policymaking is, We propose, they dispose, he told
reporters. 

New Era of WIPOs Global Relevance

Gurry also proposed a new division in the secretariat focussing on the
contribution intellectual property and WIPO can make within the collection
action against these global challenges. 

The organisation needs to become more relevant by participating in the
global discussion on climate change, desertification, epidemics, access to
health care, food security, and the preservation of biodiversity, he said. 

Policies designed to stimulate the creation and diffusion of technology are

 directly relevant to the consideration of the ways in which the global
community can respond to the problems, he said. And intellectual property
rights exist to stimulate creation and innovation, he said. 

The organisation must increase cooperation with other organisations,
including UN bodies, Gurry said. He promised to create trusted
communication between stakeholders and improve organisational
communications and dialogue. 

The organisation is expected to keep a similar level budget next year as
this year, Gurry told the press briefing, as demand for its services is
expected to decline with the economic downturn while fees increase, making
for a similar level of revenues. 

But he expects there to be some new positions to be advertised, such as in
economic research and statistical analysis, and scientific skills, as well
as IP experts. We need new skills in the organisation, he said. 

Next Round of Political Jockeying

Despite the seeming sigh of relief about the end of the DG race by all those
at WIPO headquarters Monday, the next round of political jockeying is only
just beginning. There will be several deputy director general positions to
be filled  starting with the one Gurry just left open, and several
assistant director general positions as well. The process of member states
lobbying the director general, Gurry, to have their candidate nominated by
him has likely already begun. He will likely suggest names in the new year
and the Coordination Committee, WIPO members executive body, will likely
hold a meeting in May or June to choose. Gurry told reporters that he did
not anticipate his vacated position being filled before the committee
meeting next year. 

There may be other top positions to fill as part of Gurrys personal
cabinet. The transition team that worked to prepare the organisation for a
new director general did not focus on decisions, but more practical matters,
he said. 

A Respectful Farewell

Meanwhile, Idriss last address at WIPO included a long list of achievements
of the organisation under his leadership. Officials gave Idris an honourable
farewell despite the disruption of his term over a loss of confidence in his
ability to govern the organisation. 

Kamil Idris has made WIPO, if not yet a household name, then certainly we
might say a famous brand, said Martin Uhomoibhi of Nigeria, the General
Assembly chair. Gurry thanked him and noted that he and Idris were
colleagues at WIPO for 23 of Gurrys 25 years at the organisation.

Idris indicated that he would be returning to Sudan. 

Members Look to Future

Brazil, whose candidate José Graça Aranha lost to Gurry by a single vote, 42
to 41, told the plenary that the future director general would have to
construct consensus, and made several policy suggestions. For instance, WIPO
must work to centralise efforts by governments on enforcement of
intellectual property rights, which has become dispersed to places like the
World Customs Organization and UN Universal Postal Union. They also urged
progress on the Development Agenda, and in the Committee on Genetic
Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore. 

Up to last week Brazil and a few other nations continued to examine the
possibility of requesting a vote in the assembly on Gurrys nomination. On
Friday night, however, a letter of support for Gurry was sent by the Group
of Latin American and Caribbean countries, which includes Brazil. If a vote
were held, it would take one-third of WIPO membership to overturn Gurrys
nomination, and sources said that support appeared to be lacking. Asked
whether Graça Aranha would receive a promotion in WIPO, Idris simply said
there have been no decisions and that he is a valued colleague. 

Pakistan, whose candidate Masood Khan placed a competitive third in the
nomination process, spoke on behalf of the Asian Group and praised Gurry,
noting with satisfaction that the cloud of uncertainty that had settled
over WIPO for the last year is finally lifted. 

United States Ambassador Warren Tichenor, on behalf of the Group B developed
nations (which led the push for leadership change), thanked the staff of
WIPO for enduring an often time tumultuous year of transition. With Gurry,
he said, brighter days are ahead.

William New may be reached at wnew at ip-watch.ch.

  _____  

Renate Bloem

Past President of CONGO

Civicus UN Geneva

Tel:/Fax +33450 850815/16

Mobile : +41763462310

 <mailto:renate.bloem at civicus.org> renate.bloem at civicus.org

 <mailto:renate.bloem at gmail.com> renate.bloem at gmail.com 

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

PO BOX 933, 2135, Johannesburg, South Africa
www.civicus.org
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P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. Thank you.

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