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ENFORCEMENT OF IP RIGHTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

ENFORCEMENT OF IP RIGHTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES. Wolfgang Starein Director Enforcement and Special Projects Division World Intellectual Property Organization International Seminar on Product Safety and Counterfeiting U N E C E. Role of WIPO in the Field of Enforcement of IP Rights.

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ENFORCEMENT OF IP RIGHTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

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  1. ENFORCEMENT OF IP RIGHTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Wolfgang Starein Director Enforcement and Special Projects Division World Intellectual Property Organization International Seminar on Product Safety and Counterfeiting U N E C E

  2. Role of WIPO in the Field of Enforcement of IP Rights • The Enforcement and Special Projects Division; • The Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE); • WIPO’s activities in the area of enforcement including the combat of counterfeiting and piracy; • Main objective to assist Member States in strengthening their IP enforcement systems and infrastructure and support an informed policy debate at the international level; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  3. Enforcement and Special Project Division Key strategies • Raising the awareness of Governments of the important role of effective IP protection and enforcement for economic and social development; • Fostering strategic partnerships and joint activities with other IGOs and NGOs to bundle resources and expertise; • Strengthen cooperation and coordination between public and private sector and among different government institutions to make IP enforcement action more coherent and effective; • Render advice on, and assistance in , the implementation of efficient national, sub-regional and regional IP enforcement; • Provide information and training to improve knowledge and experience of law enforcement officials in handling enforcement matters; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  4. The Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) • One single Committee in charge of global enforcement issues since 2002 • The mandate of the ACE: • Coordination with certain organizations and the private sector to combat counterfeiting and piracy; • Technical assistance; • Public education and coordination of national and regional training; • Exchange of information; • Excludes norm setting; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  5. ACE sessions (I) • First session agreed on a thematic approach with presentation by experts and noted the establishment of an electronic forum on IP enforcement issues and strategies, June 2003; • Second session addressed the role of judiciary, quasi-judiciary authorities and prosecution in the enforcement of IP rights as well as related issues such as specialization of the judiciary and litigation costs, June 2004; (Supreme Court Judges and senior Government officials presented papers) Geneva, November 5, 2007

  6. ACE Sessions (II) • Third session discussed the theme of education and awareness building, including training, concerning all factors related to enforcement, May 2006; (presentations on activities and experiences of selected countries from all regions) • Fourth session considered an exchange of views on cooperation and coordination at the international, regional and national levels in the field of enforcement and focus on relevant issues of criminal enforcement of IP rights, November 1 and 2, 2007; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  7. Cooperation and coordination in the field of enforcement of IP rights Within the mandate of the ACE: • A prominent role in coordinating international efforts to combat counterfeiting and piracy: • Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy; • OECD - Measuring the economic impact of counterfeiting and piracy; • Interpol and WCO – the Interpol IPR Crime Action Group and the WCO IPR Strategic Group; • WHO, IMPACT project on counterfeit medicines; • G8 IPR Experts Group’s meetings; • Several consultation meetings and briefings with senior members of the judiciary and high-level government officials; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  8. Economic impact and health and safety risks • OECD study (June 2007) indicates that international trade in counterfeit and pirated products could have been up to USD 200 billion in 2005; • Health and safety risks occur in the: automotive, electrical components, food and drink, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and tobacco products industries (OECD study, 2007); • Recent analysis (November 2006) elaborated by WHO with the inputs by OECD and the Pharmaceutical Security Institute show: • Many developing countries of Africa, parts of Asia and parts of Latin America have areas where more that 30% of the medicines on sale can be counterfeit; • Medicines purchased over the Internet from sites that conceal their actual physical address are counterfeit in over 50% of cases; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  9. Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracyhttp://www.ccapcongress.net • Objectives: high-level public/private partnership to more effectively combat counterfeiting and piracy; raise the issue on the global political and business agenda; generate conditions which will lead to greater investment in anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy measures; • Three IGOs, WIPO, the World Customs Organizations (WCO) and Interpol, are co-organizers; • Private sector partners are: ICC, INTA and ISMA; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  10. Global Congress events • First Global Congress hosted by WCO in Brussels, May 2004; • Regional forums were organized in: Rome, October 2004, Shanghai, November 2004, Rio de Janeiro, June 2005; • Second Global Congress hosted by Interpol in Lyon, November 2005; • Regional Congress was organized in Bucharest, July 2006; • Third Global Congress hosted by WIPO in Geneva, January 2007; • Fourth Global Congress scheduled for February 3 to 5, 2008 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  11. Third Global Congresshttp://www.wipo.int/enforcement/en/global_congress • Theme: “Shared Challenges-Common Goals”; • Structure of the program: focus areas (Enhancing cooperation and coordination; Promoting better legislation and enforcement; Building capacity; Raising awareness and panel discussions (Health and Safety risks and Moving forward); • Over 1,000 participants from 105 countries representing the public and the privatesector; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  12. Third Global Congress (II) • Third Global analyzed the progress made and the remaining challenges in the four priority areas developed at the Second Global Congress and in the field of health and safety risks; • Collected and examined suggestions how to more effectively combat counterfeiting and piracy; • Delegates and Congress Steering Group highlighted a number of items for further discussion and possible action; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  13. Legal assistance Upon request by Member States: • Comments on draft laws and advice in areas of substantive intellectual property law and intellectual property law enforcement (Part III of the TRIPS Agreement, other Treaties administered by WIPO); • Discussions with Member States on how to implement enforcement strategies and effective enforcement mechanisms embracing suggestions on legislative and /or possible procedural amendments in order to render the IP rights enforcement more effective at national level; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  14. Training at national and regional levelhttp://www.wipo.int/enforcement/en/activities • Training programs-designed to meet the interests of judges, magistrates, customs and police officials, experts from IP Offices, IP attorneys, representatives from the business community and consumers groups were organized in all regions in cooperation with national authorities, other IGOs and NGOs as well as with other sectors of WIPO; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  15. Case books and studies • Case books-providing practical tools for handling IP disputes especially for judges and lawyers from common law countries prepared by Justice Harms and made available in December 2005, now in process of updating, and from civil law countries prepared by Judge Marais and Attorney Lachacinski; • Studies-a comparative study on criminal enforcement of IP rights that served as background document for the fourth session of the ACE; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  16. Exchange of information • For the purpose of providing a source of information on the current global developments in the field of enforcement, the ESPD makes available, on a quarterly basis , enforcement newsletters at: (http://www.wipo.int/enforcement/en/news.html); • Following the request of a number of Member States to facilitate access to information on IP enforcement issues at national and regional level available on their websites, the link Portal to Member States online information was set up in March on the ESPD’s website at: http://www.wipo.int/enforcement/en/member_states.html) Geneva, November 5, 2007

  17. Opportunities Create favorable conditions for local industries and foreign direct investments as well as improve consumers protection against health and safety risks through: • Introduction and effective implementation of enforcement provisions that will increase the respect of IP rights; • More enforcement resources, better trained and skilled staff; • Improved and increased cooperation and communication among government agencies, global, regional and national organizations, where appropriate in partnership with the private sector; Geneva, November 5, 2007

  18. Thank you! wolfgang.starein@wipo.int Geneva, November 5, 2007

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