Another Side of the WIPO

The WIPO
© 2004 Jane Lambert: all rights reserved
















Jane Lambert

WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement 14th Session 2 - 4 Sept 2019

The World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") is a specialist agency of the United Nations with 192 member states. Its mission is "to lead the development of a balanced and effective international IP system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all." Its mandate, governing body and procedures are set out in the WIPO Convention to which the British government is a party.

One of the WIPO's services is alternative dispute resolution through arbitration, mediation and domain name dispute resolution and I have been one of its panellists since 2003.  Every year the domain name dispute resolution panellists are invited to Geneva for a day of continuing professional development training.  I have attended every session since 2005 (see Needled in Geneva 18 Oct 2005 NIPC Law).  I shall return on 21 Oct 2019 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (see WIPO Conference – As the UDRP Turns 20: Looking Back, Looking Ahead Geneva, Switzerland - October 21, 2019.

Last year, Professor Frederick Mostert and I were commissioned by the WIPO to write a Study on Intellectual Property Enforcement Measures, Especially Anti-piracy Measures in the Digital Environment. You will find the full version and our executive summary on the WIPO's website.   After the publication of our study, we were invited to prevent our paper to the 14th session of the Advisory Committee on Enforcement ("ACE") which took place at the WIPO's offices in Geneva between 2 and 4 Sept 2019.

ACE was established by the 2002 WIPO General Assemblies with a mandate to carry out technical assistance and coordination in the field of enforcement.  Membership of ACE is open to all member states of the WIPO or contracting parties to the Paris or Berne Conventions.  Further information on the Committee's work is given by Tobias Bednarz in this YouiTube video.   Some 80 national delegations were listed in the provisional list of participants as well as representatives from the EU, Palestine, South Centre, Eurasian Economic Commission, Gulf Cooperation Council, Organization of the Eastern Caribbean Staes, Food and Agricultural Organization, WTO, ITU, UPU and many non-governmental organizations,

The UK's delegation included Elizabeth Jones, Senior IP Enforcement Policy Advisor of the Intellectual Property Office who was elected Vice-Chair of the Committee and chaired one of the sessions,, and District Judge Charlotte Hart of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, Small Claims Track who spoke about additional damages under s.97 (2) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Court 1988. Many of the papers can be downloaded from the ACE website and I would commend them all to my readers.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or the work of ACE or WIPO, in general, should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact page.

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