UN to Relax Protection for Intellectual Property to Help Developing Countries
AP 2004/09/29
Geneva
The United Nations should relax protection for owners of copyright, patents and trademarks and pay more attention to the interests and needs of developing countries, a group of activists said today.
Five hundred scientists, economists, legal experts and consumer activists have signed a statement lending support to a proposal by a group of developing countries to the UN body that oversees intellectual property, the World Intellectual Property Organization.
"This development agenda would involve a moratorium on the negotiation of new treaties that hike intellectual property protections, and redirecting the agency to a range of initiatives more responsive to development and the concerns of WIPO's critics," the signatories said in a statement.
WIPO's mission statement says it is "dedicated to helping to ensure that the rights of creators and owners of intellectual property are protected worldwide ... This international protection acts as a spur to human creativity."
But campaigners claim WIPO, a specialist agency based in Geneva, is blinkered and is only directed toward protecting the rich. They say intellectual property protection should be a means to promote innovation and creativity rather than an end in itself, and that WIPO must evaluate the economic and social benefits of protection rather than just enforcing the law.
For instance, the agency's copyright treaty, which came into force in 2002, includes technological protection measures which preclude "fair use of educational learning tools," harming the interests of developing countries, said Thiru Balasubramaniam, Geneva representative of the Washington-based Consumer Project on Technology.
"In a lot of (WIPO) treaties, the U.S. norm becomes the standard," Balasubramaniam said.
Brazil and Argentina tabled the development proposal, which is being discussed at WIPO's general assembly this week. It calls on the agency to consider the broad development goals of the United Nations and not to limit itself to increasing protection for intellectual property.
If accepted by WIPO's 181 member states, the proposal could lead to a change in the agency's constitution.
"Today many developing countries are concerned that they have to adhere to patent or copyright levels ... that are excessively high," said Martin Khor of Third World Network, a nonprofit organization which promotes the interests of developing countries. "This is the right time to reconsider the role of WIPO."
Other developing countries such as Iran, Kenya, South Africa and Venezuela are expected to support the proposal.
"WIPO is working to maintain a balance between the interests of the holders of intellectual property rights and those of the public at large," WIPO spokeswoman Samar Shamoon said.
"The WIPO secretariat is entirely neutral on all proposals that are presented by its member states for discussion," Shamoon told The Associated Press, adding that "any decision taken by the member states will be followed-up by the secretariat."
Most rich countries claim there is no need to discuss the development agenda, said Julia Oliva of the Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law.
There should be greater balance between the interests of poorer countries and the owners of intellectual property, Oliva said. "This balance is being skewed."
Since 1997, WIPO has introduced several measures which help to protect the interests of developing countries. These include creating a department concerned with rules for small and medium enterprises and new rules on the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore, issues of particular importance to the Third World.
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