WIPO Earns $724mn a Year on IP Registrations and Member Fees

• Outlines New Design Law Treaty

• US Opposes IGC Diplomatic Meet

The WIPO chief Francis Gurry, who was re-elected in May for a second six-year term, also noted the organisation’s sound financial health. This comes as a result both of the significant increase in membership, as well as the use of the UN agency’s global intellectual property registration systems. These include, for instance, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, and the Hague System for the International Registration of Designs.

These systems combined account for 95 percent of WIPO’s revenue, which amounted to 680 million Swiss francs (US$724 million, at current exchange rates) in 2012-2013.

Design Law Treaty

Regarding the text of a proposed Design Law Treaty intended to simplify and harmonise registration of industrial designs, the EU urged countries to “move to the next phase” by convening a diplomatic conference, which is WIPO’s highest level of negotiations.

However, Algeria said there is still “a legitimate demand” for a technical assistance provision within the treaty, a position that was supported by Iran. The US, in turn, said that “any outcome relating to technical assistance should be decided at the Diplomatic Conference and not at the General Assembly session.”

IGC Conference

The future of discussions at the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) was also raised. The IGC was established over a decade ago, in response to concerns by biodiversity-rich countries and indigenous peoples regarding the misappropriation of their genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

Many developing countries considered that the texts under consideration by the IGC were “sufficiently mature” in order to convene a diplomatic conference. This would, in turn, lead to the adoption of legally binding international instrument(s) aimed at protecting traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and genetic resources.

The African Group, for instance, pointed out that IGC process affects aspects of the Design Law Treaty, and suggested that the IGC be finalised first.

For the US delegation, countries were far “from agreement on even the most fundamental provisions in the draft texts” and thus considered a diplomatic conference on these IGC texts to be “premature.” The US indicated that it would oppose any General Assembly decision that would set any specific timeframe or date for a conference on any of the IGC draft texts.