Bonum Certa Men Certa

Cablegate: In 2010, Patent Harmonisation “Not Welcomed by Developing Countries”

Cablegate



Summary: How US diplomats view negotiations whose goal is to legitimise monopolies in countries that have no interest in these

According to the following year-old cable, specifically in €¶5, "Member States negotiated informally a compromise work program that ensured balanced and focused work for the SCP [Standing Committee on the Law of Patents]. The proposed work program included: 1. further study on technology transfer concerning the relationship of patent technology transfer and innovation; 2. work on limitations and exceptions that included the external expert study and Brazil's work program proposal; 3. patent administration issues that included work on patent quality management and further work on dissemination of patent information that looked at digitization issues and access to complete patent information; 4. further work on client-attorney privilege to solicit Member State input on national experiences; 5. future conference on public health and food security issues; and 6. reaffirming that the non-exhaustive list of issues for possible discussion by the SCP remain open for further elaboration at the next meeting, but agreeing that Member States would refrain from adding on to the list at this session, so as to ensure that work on the existing studies could be more focused. These items were truly a compromise text, particularly for Group B, as our primary objective to discuss patent harmonization issues was not part of this list and many of the items had more of a developing country interest/slant. On day one of our conversation concerning future work, we reached agreement among Group B countries, GRULAC, Eastern European countries, Singapore, Korea, the regional coordinator of Africa, Angola."



They are trying to convince developing countries to give up and accept a system which harms them greatly. With our emphasis on the relevant parts, €¶7 carries on by noting that "While Group B and the U.S. were disappointed that the agreement reached the day before did not satisfy all of the Africa Group and the Asia Group, we were willing to negotiate further from our compromise text. However, it became clear that the Africa Group and some Asian Group countries were not willing to move from their position. Group B in particular was willing to add on to the non exhaustive list with the inclusion of "work sharing" and the "strategic use of IP in business" as proposed by the Group of Eastern European Countries. Despite developing countries' insistence that the non exhaustive list remain open, Indonesia and India opposed the Group B suggestion of "work sharing", arguing that it was duplicative of work at the PCT working group and that it was patent harmonization-related and therefore not welcomed by developing countries. Further, even though Group B reminded these countries that their proposed suggestions on the list were duplicative of work occurring in the Committee on Development and IP (CDIP), Egypt's response was that development agenda work in CDIP was a cross-cutting issue throughout the Organization, and therefore duplication was needed."

Here is the cable in full:








VZCZCXYZ0005 RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGV #0136/01 0491710 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 181701Z FEB 10 FM USMISSION GENEVA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0238 INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA RUEHGV/USMISSION USTR GENEVA

UNCLAS GENEVA 000136

SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB/IPC, IO/HS, OES COMMERCE FOR USPTO

E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], KIPR [Intellectual Property Rights], WIPO [World Intellectual Property Organization] SUBJECT: Fourteenth Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents

€¶1. The World Intellectual Property Organization's Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (WIPO SCP) continued to discuss preliminary studies requested by the SCP in June 2008 and March 2009, and commenced a discussion on Brazil's proposal concerning exceptions and limitations to patent rights. However, an impasse resulted at the SCP on the future work of the committee. As a result, the agenda from this session will be used for the next meeting in October 2010. During two days worth of negotiations on the future work topic, it became clear that Member States fail to see eye to eye on the international patent system itself, as some view the system to be a threat to development and oppose any global efforts - whether normative or cooperative technical assistance work -- in improving the patent system. END SUMMARY.

€¶2. The WIPO SCP met from January 25-29, 2010. Delegations from 103 countries, 10 international organizations and 28 non-governmental organizations participated in the Committee which was chaired by Mr. Maximiliano Santa Cruz from Chile. The United States delegation was represented by USPTO External Affairs Administrator Arti Rai, Charles Eloshway of USPTO, Janet Speck, Deputy Director, State Department and Deborah Lashley-Johnson, IP Attach???? at the U.S. Mission to the UN.

€¶3. Discussions were based on preliminary studies written by the International Bureau at WIPO concerning the relationship of standards and patents, client-attorney privilege, dissemination of patent information, transfer of technology, and opposition systems. Many delegations stated that these documents constituted a good basis for discussions, and requested further clarifications on various issues contained in the documents. However, certain statements made by developing countries and NGO were worrisome, such as: equating work on the client-attorney disclosure problem to patent law harmonization work; viewing the topic of dissemination of patent information to include the disclosure of proprietary information and trade secrets; and stating that a study should include how the patent system hinders technology transfer.

€¶4. The topic of limitations and exceptions was also discussed, although the external experts' study was not available for this meeting. A proposal in respect of exceptions and limitations to patent rights was submitted by the Delegation of Brazil, which received support by many developing countries. The proposal has three phases: discussion on national experiences on patent right exceptions and limitations; focus work on exceptions and limitations that help to address developmental concerns; and the development of an exceptions and limitations manual. Other delegations, such as the U.S., Switzerland and other industrialized countries expressed concern that they had not received the document in advance of the meeting, and therefore had insufficient time to consider the proposal, and expressed a wish to consider the proposal at the following session in October 2010 when the external expert study would also be presented. Nonetheless, the U.S. noted that it was interested in studying the issue more and saw strong intellectual property rights and enforcement to be consistent with proper, basic limitations and exceptions.

€¶5. Gridlock, however, occurred once the committee moved onto the topic of future work. Several regional coordinators and interested Member States negotiated informally a compromise work program that ensured balanced and focused work for the SCP. The proposed work program included: 1. further study on technology transfer concerning the relationship of patent technology transfer and innovation; 2. work on limitations and exceptions that included the external expert study and Brazil's work program proposal; 3. patent administration issues that included work on patent quality management and further work on dissemination of patent information that looked at digitization issues and access to complete patent information; 4. further work on client-attorney privilege to solicit Member State input on national experiences; 5. future conference on public health and food security issues; and 6. reaffirming that the non-exhaustive list of issues for possible discussion by the SCP remain open for further elaboration at the next meeting, but agreeing that Member States would refrain from adding on to the list at this session, so as to ensure that work on the existing studies could be more focused. These items were truly a compromise text, particularly for Group B, as our primary objective to discuss patent harmonization issues was not part of this list and many of the items had more of a developing country interest/slant. On day one of our conversation concerning future work, we reached agreement among Group B countries, GRULAC, Eastern European countries, Singapore, Korea, the regional coordinator of Africa, Angola.

€¶6. However, on day two, Angola, members of the Africa Group, such as Egypt and South Africa, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,

Yemen, Iran and Indonesia, opposed the compromise text. Their amendments suggested future studies on the negative impacts patents have on technology transfer and standards, and a new study on patents and public health. There was also a proposal on the establishment of a technology transfer commission to focus on the problems of technology transfer. Their proposal further lacked balance in their deletion of the only two issues offered by Group B in the initial compromise proposal concerning patent quality management and further work on client-attorney privilege. The counter-proposal also included another large conference on patents and public policy issues as a follow up to the one held in July 2009. Lastly, they pushed to expand the non-exhaustive list to include topics such as the impact of the patent system on developing countries and LDCs, and the relationship of patents and food security.

€¶7. While Group B and the U.S. were disappointed that the agreement reached the day before did not satisfy all of the Africa Group and the Asia Group, we were willing to negotiate further from our compromise text. However, it became clear that the Africa Group and some Asian Group countries were not willing to move from their position. Group B in particular was willing to add on to the non exhaustive list with the inclusion of "work sharing" and the "strategic use of IP in business" as proposed by the Group of Eastern European Countries. Despite developing countries' insistence that the non exhaustive list remain open, Indonesia and India opposed the Group B suggestion of "work sharing", arguing that it was duplicative of work at the PCT working group and that it was patent harmonization-related and therefore not welcomed by developing countries. Further, even though Group B reminded these countries that their proposed suggestions on the list were duplicative of work occurring in the Committee on Development and IP (CDIP), Egypt's response was that development agenda work in CDIP was a cross-cutting issue throughout the Organization, and therefore duplication was needed.

€¶8. COMMENT: Group B member states expressed deep concern about the events that transpired at this meeting. Several countries refused to negotiate from their maximalist positions, which has been a concern in other committees at WIPO. The inflexibility of developing country positions will make reaching a compromise on any SCP work program impossible, particularly when this committee has had a history of disbanding for three years due to similar political impasses. Further, it is clear that the development agenda is the only work these delegations are interested in at the expense of issues related to patent law that are important to Group B and their constituents. Targeted demarches to the few countries that are blocking progress and preventing the SCP to function are being considered. In addition, Group B will increase its coordination to advance its agenda on the various issues before the SCP, such as in the areas of technology transfer, limitation and exceptions, client-attorney privilege, opposition systems, and dissemination of patent information. END COMMENT. GRIFFITHS







Next, we are going to look at some EU positions on the subject.

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM's Debt Ballooned by 8.5 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months!
Hallmark of a company in a state of disarray, trying to spend its way out of trouble
Big Trouble in GNOME
even GNOME people admit the CoC went wrong
New Article Explains How the GPL Came About and WordPress Having Copyleft Obligations
Having been involved in the WordPress development community since almost the beginning, I know why it chose the GPL and how it restricts abuse by Automattic
Dr Richard Stallman (RMS) Gives Talk in Oxford University in 4 Hours
If you live nearby, go there (it's free as in gratis)
 
Serial Sloppers Are Killing the Web (They Probably Don't Care, Either)
Slop is a disease on the Web
Streaming Apps Are “Investor Fraud” That Kills the Planet
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Things Get Increasingly Nasty at Microsoft Ahead of the Fake Results and May's Mass Layoffs Wave
They try to get people to 'resign' so that they won't count as layoffs and the company's 'wellbeing' will seem better
Slopping the Trough: Disney Plus Loses Billions and the Decline of Physical Media in America
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 24, 2025
Links 24/04/2025: GAFAM Problems and No Peace (or Ceasefire) in Sight
Links for the day
Slopfarms on the Web Almost Always Generate Anti-Linux FUD When They Produce "Linux" Output
Welcome to the dying Web
Richard Stallman's Oxford Talk Has Just Ended, Here Are Some Photos
he might hop over to another European country
Gemini Links 24/04/2025: Birthday and Good Work of Academia in Esotericism
Links for the day
Links 24/04/2025: EU fines Apple and Facebook, Another Microsoft GitHub Security Blunder
Links for the day
IBM Gained Almost 6 Billion Dollars in "Goodwill" Value in Just 3 Months, According to IBM
Congrats to the management!
In Belarus, Yandex is Now Measured as 50 Times More 'Popular' (by Usage) Than Microsoft
Yandex continues to gain, whereas Bing cannot even register at 1%. Last month it was registered or measured at a measly 0.65%.
IBM Cannot Lie to Shareholders Anymore
"I would not be surprised if we see a layoff every quarter this year."
Using a Law Firm's Licence to Exercise Politics Through Frivolous SLAPPs and Nastygrams (to Silence People, Remove Pages, Demand Fake or Forced 'Apologies')
Things must be getting really bad when lawyers act for raving antisemites
We're Working to Make Full-Site Search Available
This site has over 1,000 'wiki' pages, many thousands of documents, several thousands of videos, and about 50,000 blog posts or articles. We need to make them easier to find/navigate.
Links 24/04/2025: IBM Loses Many Contracts, Intel to Lay Off Over 20% (Not Counting Those Who Leave 'Voluntarily')
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Can Explain to Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society Why LLM Slop is Not Artificial Intelligence and Why It Hurts Society
another 'crop' of LLM slop that damages GNU/Linux and facts
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary Software Using Microsoft Operatives
Because nothing says "Open Source" like GPL violations facilitated by Microsoft
Another Site Bites the Dust: "Open Source For You" Becoming a Slopfarm (LLM Slop)
What a shame. Another dead site.
Links 23/04/2025: Crackdowns on Dissent, Palin Loses Libel Retrial Against New York Times
Links for the day
Links 23/04/2025: Hard Times and Digital Amnesia
Links for the day
The GNU/Linux Site Formerly Known as "linoxide.com" is Back... as an LLM Slopfarm!
Better for linoxide.com to go offline than to do this
Get Rid of Back Doors, Don't Obsess Over Bounties and Other Corporate PR Stunts (or Needless Reboot Rituals)
Security as a term has mostly lost its meaning due to repeated misuse for many years
Richard Stallman to Speak in Oxford University Exactly a Day From Now
outsourced to GAFAM
Links 23/04/2025: "Hiding Corruption" and "The Cost of Defunding Harvard"
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Studies' Again? Leon Musolff is Writing Papers With Microsoft.
Even if one can see/find a link to "the study" (in the Bezos-controlled publication), most people won't look any further and just take everything at face value.
Towards GNU World Domination
The FSF led by Geoffrey S. Knauth with his friend Richard Stallman in the FSF's Board [...] Let's encourage people to adopt GNU/Linux. There has never been a better time.
statCounter Helps Visualise Just How Deep in Trouble Microsoft is (Especially in Africa)
Microsoft sabotaged efforts to connect Africans and equip them with GNU/Linux laptops
The Register is Using Linux-Hostile Clickbait in Articles of Linux Proponents
Don't be a "whore" to advertisers, team El Reg
Microsoft Windows in Cyprus Lacking a Future
Most people access the Web there from mobile
Matrix Has a Severe Problem With Illegal Images
If Matrix cannot get the CP problem under control, many projects and people will dump Matrix
Never Try to Justify Strangulation of Women (Not in the US and Not in the UK)
Joint post by Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz and Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Links 23/04/2025: Tesla Profits Plunge 71%, Intel Ready to Lay Off 20% of Staff, Microsoft and IBM Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Most Profound Issue is That People Moved to 'Mobile' and "App Stores" (Microsoft's Presence There is Negligible)
Expect a wild ride for Microsoft this year
Google News is Amplifying FUD and Lies About Linux (and OpenSSH/SSH) by Promoting Slopfarms With Machine-Generated FUD and Slop Images
Google should know better
Gemini Links 23/04/2025: Librarians, Anubis, and Refactoring a Gemini Capsule
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 22, 2025