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Kathmandu Saturday June 16, 2001 Ashadh 02, 2058.
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WIPO, WTO launch new initiative
Post Report
KATHMANDU, June 15 - The World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) launched a new initiative
Thursday to help least-developed countries maximize the benefits of intellectual property
protection.
According to a press release received here
today, the joint initiative was simply an expression of commitment to least-developed
countries. From integration to participation, national ownership of intellectual property
protection is crucial in assisting poor countries. Intellectual property is a tool for
technological advancement, economic growth and wealth creation for all nations, especially
for least-developed countries, the release states.
Least-developed countries by 1 January 2006,
will have to comply with the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPs Agreement). They have to bring their laws on copyright, patents, trademarks and
other areas of intellectual property into line with the TRIPs Agreement. They also have to
provide ways of enforcing the laws effectively, in order to deal with piracy,
counterfeiting and other forms of intellectual property infringement, says the release.
Ambassadors representing least-developed
countries welcomed the initiative as further evidence that both organizations are more
committed to help the world’s poorest countries, according to the release.
The joint initiative builds on existing
cooperation between WIPO and WTO and on each organization’s own technical assistance
programs. It is also similar to a joint WIPO-WTO project launched in 1998 to help all
developing countries, particularly those that are not least developed, which had to comply
with the TRIPs Agreement by 2000, the release says.
The technical assistance available under the
joint initiative includes cooperation on preparing legislation, training,
institution-building, modernizing intellectual property systems and enforcement. Of the 49
countries defined by the UN as least developed, 30 are members of the WTO (another six are
negotiating WTO membership) and 41 are members of WIPO. All least-developed countries can
participate in the technical assistance offered; they do not need to be WIPO or WTO
members, the release says.
The joint initiative envisages assistance in two
phases. In the first phase, two regional workshops will be organized in 2002, one for
sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti, and the other for the Asia-Pacific region. In the second
phase, assistance provided will focus on action plans specific to individual countries,
the release concludes.
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