FICPI participated in the 64th “WIPO General Assemblies” on 6-14 July 2023 focusing on the WIPO Committees and International Normative Framework and the so-called Global Intellectual Property Services covering the PCT, Madrid, Hague and Lisbon Systems, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, as well as the session on the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) and the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (STLT).

Kim Finnilä and Robert Watson represented FICPI. We would like to briefly highlight some of the issues discussed.

PCT

  • The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property was appointed as an international searching and preliminary examination authority.
  • The PCT Regulation was amended in view of languages upon filing (Rule 26.3ter). If the description and claims, wholly or partly, are filed in different languages accepted by the Receiving Office, a translation into a single language of the filing documents is requested within one month of filing.
  • The minimum documentation requirements (Rule 34) were also made more precise.

Madrid

  • The regulations were amended in view of some prosecution timelines and notifications.

Copyright

  • The protection of broadcasting organisations was intensively discussed, particularly related limitations and exceptions. An agreement on an international treaty seems to be far away.

IGC

  • The Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore is still not a standing committee; its mandate is reviewed bi-annually.
  • A Diplomatic Conference is scheduled for 2024. This has special focus for FICPI, also the preparatory sessions in advance of the conference. We made contact with the Chair (Ms Lilyclaire Bellamy/JM) and Vice-Chair (Mr Jukka Liedes/FI) of the IGC and forwarded our resolution - Proposal on Disclosure Requirements Relating to Genetic Material Resources -  from 2004 which remains pertinent.

We will continue to report on future WIPO sessions when they resume towards the autumn.

 

FICPI’s view and involvement 

Independent IP attorneys help organisations protect and build value in their IP assets, and bring insights and counsel from a wider external perspective and a commitment to high quality work. FICPI brings IP attorneys from around the world together to connect, share knowledge and grow. 

Next steps

Photo: Copyright: WIPO. Photo: Violaine Martin. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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