With all of the conflicts and concerns which seemed emblematic of this year’s General Assembly, one thing is of particular note: this year’s refusal of admittance of the Pirate Party International (PPI) to Observer Status for the organization. PPI is an international umbrella organization founded in 2010, and represents 43 parties around the world, with a number of currently elected officials. Continue reading “A Closer Look at the 2013 GA: The Case of PPI”
Exact dates have now been confirmed in relation to WIPO’s much anticipated Extraordinary General Assembly. Member States will convene from December 10 to 12, 2013, in the hopes of finalizing discussions on a number of issues which proved too difficult to resolve during GA meetings earlier this fall.
Continue reading “WIPO Extraordinary General Assembly – Dates Confirmed”
The Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) will meet starting today in a regular session from November 18 to 21, 2013. The CDIP was established in 2008 with the mandate of overseeing the implementation of WIPO’s 45 adopted Development Agenda recommendations. Since then, it has set itself upon the task of making development increasingly central to the goals and priorities of WIPO, through both an extensive array of projects aimed to give technical assistance to those countries which seek it, and through striving to make development a key consideration in all committee work throughout the organization.
Continue reading “Upcoming at the CDIP: The Twelfth Session”
Among the Agenda Items which were left unfinished at this year’s General Assembly, was item 34: Matters Relating to the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). The SCCR is one of WIPO’s busiest and perhaps most important committees to stakeholders within the IP community. Both of the organization’s most recently adopted international treaties, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (2012), as well as the Marrakesh treaty on copyright exceptions for the blind and other visually impaired (2013) were developed through the work of this committee.
Now, moving forward, the SCCR finds itself with three more treaties currently on the agenda, but a certain amount of disagreement remains Continue reading “A Closer Look at the 2013 GA: The SCCR”
It was amidst a backdrop of growing tensions and difficult negotiations at this year’s General Assembly that the 2014 process of electing the WIPO Director General officially began. Two candidates have been formally nominated for the position thus far: current incumbent Director General Francis Gurry from Australia, and Deputy Director General Geoffrey Oneayama from Nigeria. Continue reading “WIPO Elections Update: The Campaign Begins”
