29th September 2004
DECLARATION ON FUTURE OF WIPO URGES BALANCED APPROACH TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
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A 13-14 September conference organised by the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) released a declaration calling on the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to change its ways. The declaration, termed the ‘Geneva Declaration on the Future of WIPO’, emphasises that there are fundamental flaws in the governance of knowledge, technology and culture, and points to the importance of alternative incentive systems of innovation. While acknowledging the role of WIPO for setting the standards that regulate the production, distribution and use of knowledge, the declaration challenges WIPO “…to enable its members to understand the real economic and social consequences of excessive intellectual property protections, and the importance of striking a balance between the public domain and competition on the one hand, and the realm of property rights on the other.” Calling for a moratorium on new treaties and standards that expand and strengthen monopolies and further restrict access to knowledge, the declaration says that WIPO must now address the substantive concerns of civil society, such as the protection of consumer rights and human rights. “For generations WIPO has responded primarily to the narrow concerns of powerful publishers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, plant breeders and other commercial interests…Long-neglected concerns of the poor, the sick, the visually impaired and others must be given priority.” The declaration is open online for signatures from groups and individuals. Signatories include Consumers International and Medecins sans Frontieres, as well as two Nobel laureates.
The declaration comes at a time when WIPO is under heavy scrutiny from civil society organisations, academics and some of its member governments. A proposal initially drafted by Argentina and Brazil, demanding the establishment of a development agenda in WIPO, will be discussed on 30 September during the organisation’s ongoing General Assembly (see BRIDGES Weekly, 8 September 2004).
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