The South Centre is pleased to announce the publication of Policy Brief No. 40 entitled "Outcomes of the Nineteenth Session of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property: A Critical Reflection" by Nirmalya Syam, Programme Officer of the Development, Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme (DIIP) of the South Centre.

Despite the high relevance of the issues discussed in the agenda of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), the effectiveness of the CDIP in leading the development orientation of the work of WIPO has diminished remarkably. Under the banner of the implementation of the Development Agenda recommendations agreed in 2007, significant reform was expected, but today much continues as business as usual.

This Policy Brief reports on the outcomes of the nineteenth session of the CDIP. It suggests that increased, coordinated engagement by developing countries in the CDIP is needed in order to achieve meaningful outcomes in the CDIP in accordance with the WIPO Development Agenda.

The nineteenth session of the CDIP took place from 15 to 19 May 2017 in Geneva. The session was chaired by Ambassador Walid Doudech from Tunisia.

Below are the conclusions of the Brief. 

To access the full policy brief directly, go to this webpage: https://www.southcentre.int/policy-brief-40-june-2017/
 

Conclusion

The nineteenth session of the CDIP witnessed a con- tinuation of the recent trend of dwindling participa- tion of member States in the discussions in the  CDIP. Even where the CDIP had established interim  processes for receiving contributions from member  States on specific issues such as the implementation  of the recommendations of the independent review  of the DA recommendations, the only submission  before the CDIP was from developed countries.

There is an urgent need for developing countries  to ensure their effective and coordinated participa- tion in the future discussions in the CDIP and to  renew engagement on the proposals that they have  made in the past. It will be critical for developing  countries to take the initiative and regain the owner- ship of the CDIP.

The agreement in the CDIP to include a standing  agenda item on IP and development offers the  opportunity to introduce a higher level of debate on  IP and development issues, moving beyond a pro- ject based approach to implementation of the Devel- opment Agenda that has dominated the CDIP.  Another critical challenge before developing coun- tries will be ensure that bodies such as the PBC that  have so far not reported to the General Assembly on  their contribution to the Development Agenda  under the coordination mechanism are made  accountable for the implementation of the Develop- ment Agenda. With regard to the recommendations  of the independent review of the Development  Agenda, discussions will continue on the outstand- ing recommendations in the next session of the  CDIP and it will be critical for developing countries  to make coordinated submissions and ensure large  scale participation and intervention from develop- ing countries in support of their proposals Similarly, on transfer of technology, technical  assistance, guiding WIPO activities in the area of  SDGs, guiding WIPO activities on South - South  cooperation, it is necessary for developing coun- tries to develop common proposals within and  across their regional groups.

The history of the inception and adoption of  the Development Agenda, and the adoption of  important projects and initiatives that led to out- puts suggesting the need for further reforms in  areas such as technical assistance, transfer of tech- nology, etc., clearly tells us that the developing  countries have been able achieve the most in the  CDIP only when they have worked together in a  coordinated manner. The need of the hour in the  CDIP is to revive the spirit of the cross - regional  Development Agenda Group and expand its  membership.

www.southcentre.int