PHM-Exch> 18 developing countries form intellectual property group

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Meghana Bahar meghana at haiap.org

Eighteen developing countries have grouped together to ensure that their
interests are properly reflected at the United Nations intellectual property
body, their coordinator Egypt said.

The new group aims to transform the World Intellectual Property Organisation
(Wipo) from a body servicing mainly holders of intellectual property rights
to a UN agency helping members achieve development goals through "a balanced
and calibrated use of intellectual property", a statement said.

The creation of the new group marks another step in the confrontation
between rich and developing countries over intellectual property rights.

Rich countries like the US believe strong intellectual property rights are
needed to encourage inventions, new technology and improvements in quality,
and that piracy and counterfeits destroy jobs and economies.

But many developing countries say such rights are abused to deprive poor
people of access to essential medicines or to steal developing countries'
traditional knowledge.

Egyptian ambassador Hisham Badr said Wipo's adoption of a Development Agenda
in 2007 was a milestone in efforts to change the view of intellectual
property from an end in itself to one serving broader social, economic and
cultural goals.

But implementing the agenda was proving a considerable challenge, he told
Wipo's Committee on Development and Intellectual Property.

"The Development Agenda Group commits itself to actively contributing to
mainstreaming the development dimension in all areas of Wipo's work," he
said.

The creation of the group at Wipo follows a strategy of combining for
greater effect used by developing countries in other bodies, from the United
Nations to the World Trade Organization.

Badr said the new group, comprising member states at various levels of
development, was open to all countries and aimed to build coalitions among
pro-development groups in the agency.

Besides Egypt, the group comprises Algeria, Brazil, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador,
Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South
Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uruguay and Yemen.

Source: Reuters

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