Conferencia sobre los ADPIC
La Comisión europea organiza una Conferencia sobre los ADPIC que comenzara mañana (23.06.2004) coincidiendo con el 10º aniversario del Acuerdo.
In order to look back at these ten years and, more importantly, to examine the prospects for the future, the Commission organises a conference to be held in Brussels on 23-24 June 2004. This conference will bring together influential actors - from industrialists to government representatives, international organisations, NGOs and academics - with an interest in intellectual property world wide. The aim is to assess from the widest possible number of perspectives the implications of the TRIPs Agreement and future trends and challenges in global intellectual property protection.
The Conference is meant to offer a high profile platform to address the key issues, such as the implications of the TRIPs Agreement for developing countries, enforcement challenges, the interplay between intellectual property and human rights, the relationship between intellectual property and the public domain and the question on whether the TRIPs Agreement is adequate to the challenges of globalisation and the knowledge society.
En otro lugar de la pagina de la UE se encuentra un resumen del Acuerdo y de la posición de la UE sobre su futuro.
Other issues: shifting towards more DC-friendly positions
DC= Developing Countries
TRIPs/Health
The entry into force of TRIPs triggered public controversy concerning the impact of IP on developing countries. The main issue exemplifying this problem was the effect of IP on the price of medicines (a problem amplified by the AIDS crisis in Africa).
The EU played a key role in the negotiation of the Doha Declaration which confirmed the right of each WTO member to grant compulsory licences for reasons related to public health. However, many countries do not dispose of manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector. For these countries, the right to grant compulsory licences remained a theoretical one. Hence the need to find a solution for these countries.
Under paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration, the members undertook to find, by the end of 2002, a solution to the problems facing members with little or no pharmaceutical production capacity in making effective use of compulsory licences. This solution was found on 30 August 2003. More recently, the EC has heavily insisted on the proper implementation of the Doha Declaration, by calling all WTO members to respect and promote the Declaration and by calling all technical assistance providers (in particular WIPO) to integrate the health dimension in their policies and practices (Communications to the TRIPs Council of June and November 2003). It has also insisted on finalising the amendment to TRIPs mandated by the 30 August Decision.
The Commission is also preparing a draft Regulation to implement the 30 August Decision into EC law.
TRIPs/biodiversity
The debate on the relationship between intellectual property and biodiversity mainly evolved around the alleged contradiction between the recognition, by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), of states' sovereign rights over their generic resources (or biological material) and the possibility, under TRIPs, to provide patents on inventions incorporating genetic resources. Developing country Members have expressed the view that the TRIPs Agreement should be reconciled or brought into harmony with the CBD.
This issue is now part of the WTO negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda. The EU has taken a development-friendly approach. In a Communication to the WTO in September 2002, the EU indicated its readiness to examine limited accommodations of the TRIPs Agreement in order to ensure a more effective interplay with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Enforcement as a new priority
By now, most of the WTO members have adopted legislation implementing the minimum standards set by the TRIPs Agreement for the protection and enforcement of IPR. However, in spite of this, the levels of piracy and counterfeiting continue to increase every year.
These activities have, in recent years, taken industrial proportions, because they offer considerable profit prospects with often a limited risk for the infringers.
It is thus clearly insufficient to limit the efforts of the EC to the mere reinforcement of legislative frameworks in WTO Members. It is now essential to increasingly shift our focus towards a vigorous and effective implementation of the enforcement legislation.
Outlook for the future : emerging issues
IP is not only an issue of debate between North and South, but also within developed countries. A number of issues are of relevance in this context:
Biotech patents: how far can we go in patenting genes or gene applications? Do too broad patents in the field of biotech stifle innovation, rather than promoting it?
Software patents and copyright: there is a raging debate on how software should appropriately be protected. There is an emerging movement in favour of ‘open-source' software, based on the premise that over-protection stifles innovation. One issue here is how to interpret the TRIPs-provision which provides that patents should be available in “all fields of technology”.
IPRs and human rights: To what extent do human rights require the protection of IP, and to what extent do they set limits? The emerging consensus seems to be that, unlike tangible goods, ideas and knowledge cannot be in the property of someone. The function of IP is to promote innovation and creativity to the benefit of all. It is subordinated to these ends. Innovation and creativity are themselves subordinated to goals such as Development, Public Health, Access to nutrition, etc.
Shrinking public domain: Private rights over knowledge have become the rule. The public domain is shrinking, and has become to a large extent meaningless, as technological evolution goes faster and faster. Some claim that this will have a counterproductive effect on research and on knowledge diffusion.
Intellectual property and competition law: While the public domain is shrinking, recent trends towards increasing industrial concentration bear the risk of seeing the global market in scientific and technological information becoming ever more concentrated in terms of ownership of that information.
Moratorium on further global IP harmonisation: Certain authors suggest that there should be a temporary moratorium on any attempt to further harmonise IP on a global level, until developing countries have digested the TRIPs agreement.
In order to look back at these ten years and, more importantly, to examine the prospects for the future, the Commission organises a conference to be held in Brussels on 23-24 June 2004. This conference will bring together influential actors - from industrialists to government representatives, international organisations, NGOs and academics - with an interest in intellectual property world wide. The aim is to assess from the widest possible number of perspectives the implications of the TRIPs Agreement and future trends and challenges in global intellectual property protection.
The Conference is meant to offer a high profile platform to address the key issues, such as the implications of the TRIPs Agreement for developing countries, enforcement challenges, the interplay between intellectual property and human rights, the relationship between intellectual property and the public domain and the question on whether the TRIPs Agreement is adequate to the challenges of globalisation and the knowledge society.
En otro lugar de la pagina de la UE se encuentra un resumen del Acuerdo y de la posición de la UE sobre su futuro.
Other issues: shifting towards more DC-friendly positions
DC= Developing Countries
TRIPs/Health
The entry into force of TRIPs triggered public controversy concerning the impact of IP on developing countries. The main issue exemplifying this problem was the effect of IP on the price of medicines (a problem amplified by the AIDS crisis in Africa).
The EU played a key role in the negotiation of the Doha Declaration which confirmed the right of each WTO member to grant compulsory licences for reasons related to public health. However, many countries do not dispose of manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector. For these countries, the right to grant compulsory licences remained a theoretical one. Hence the need to find a solution for these countries.
Under paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration, the members undertook to find, by the end of 2002, a solution to the problems facing members with little or no pharmaceutical production capacity in making effective use of compulsory licences. This solution was found on 30 August 2003. More recently, the EC has heavily insisted on the proper implementation of the Doha Declaration, by calling all WTO members to respect and promote the Declaration and by calling all technical assistance providers (in particular WIPO) to integrate the health dimension in their policies and practices (Communications to the TRIPs Council of June and November 2003). It has also insisted on finalising the amendment to TRIPs mandated by the 30 August Decision.
The Commission is also preparing a draft Regulation to implement the 30 August Decision into EC law.
TRIPs/biodiversity
The debate on the relationship between intellectual property and biodiversity mainly evolved around the alleged contradiction between the recognition, by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), of states' sovereign rights over their generic resources (or biological material) and the possibility, under TRIPs, to provide patents on inventions incorporating genetic resources. Developing country Members have expressed the view that the TRIPs Agreement should be reconciled or brought into harmony with the CBD.
This issue is now part of the WTO negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda. The EU has taken a development-friendly approach. In a Communication to the WTO in September 2002, the EU indicated its readiness to examine limited accommodations of the TRIPs Agreement in order to ensure a more effective interplay with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Enforcement as a new priority
By now, most of the WTO members have adopted legislation implementing the minimum standards set by the TRIPs Agreement for the protection and enforcement of IPR. However, in spite of this, the levels of piracy and counterfeiting continue to increase every year.
These activities have, in recent years, taken industrial proportions, because they offer considerable profit prospects with often a limited risk for the infringers.
It is thus clearly insufficient to limit the efforts of the EC to the mere reinforcement of legislative frameworks in WTO Members. It is now essential to increasingly shift our focus towards a vigorous and effective implementation of the enforcement legislation.
Outlook for the future : emerging issues
IP is not only an issue of debate between North and South, but also within developed countries. A number of issues are of relevance in this context:
Biotech patents: how far can we go in patenting genes or gene applications? Do too broad patents in the field of biotech stifle innovation, rather than promoting it?
Software patents and copyright: there is a raging debate on how software should appropriately be protected. There is an emerging movement in favour of ‘open-source' software, based on the premise that over-protection stifles innovation. One issue here is how to interpret the TRIPs-provision which provides that patents should be available in “all fields of technology”.
IPRs and human rights: To what extent do human rights require the protection of IP, and to what extent do they set limits? The emerging consensus seems to be that, unlike tangible goods, ideas and knowledge cannot be in the property of someone. The function of IP is to promote innovation and creativity to the benefit of all. It is subordinated to these ends. Innovation and creativity are themselves subordinated to goals such as Development, Public Health, Access to nutrition, etc.
Shrinking public domain: Private rights over knowledge have become the rule. The public domain is shrinking, and has become to a large extent meaningless, as technological evolution goes faster and faster. Some claim that this will have a counterproductive effect on research and on knowledge diffusion.
Intellectual property and competition law: While the public domain is shrinking, recent trends towards increasing industrial concentration bear the risk of seeing the global market in scientific and technological information becoming ever more concentrated in terms of ownership of that information.
Moratorium on further global IP harmonisation: Certain authors suggest that there should be a temporary moratorium on any attempt to further harmonise IP on a global level, until developing countries have digested the TRIPs agreement.
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