WIPO Development

Agenda
The WIPO Development Agenda aims to ensure that development
considerations form an integral part of WIPO’s work. As such,
it is a cross-cutting issue which touches upon all sectors of the
Organization.

When formally establishing the Development Agenda in

October 2007, the WIPO General Assembly adopted a set of 45
recommendations to enhance the development dimension of the
Organization’s activities. The recommendations are divided into the
following six clusters:

• Cluster A. Technical Assistance

and Capacity Building

• Cluster B. Norm-setting, flexibilities,

public policy and public domain

• Cluster C. Technology Transfer, Information

and Communication Technologies
(ICT) and Access to Knowledge

• Cluster D. Assessment, Evaluation

and Impact Studies

• Cluster E. Institutional Matters including

Mandate and Governance

• Cluster F. Other Issues

Cluster A. Technical Assistance
and Capacity Building

1. WIPO technical assistance shall be, inter alia, development-

oriented, demand-driven and transparent, taking into
account the priorities and the special needs of developing
countries, especially LDCs, as well as the different levels
of development of Member States and activities should
include time frames for completion. In this regard, design,
delivery mechanisms and evaluation processes of technical
assistance programs should be country specific.

2. Provide additional assistance to WIPO through donor

funding, and establish Trust-in-Funds or other voluntary
funds within WIPO specifically for LDCs, while continuing
to accord high priority to finance activities in Africa through
budgetary and extra-budgetary resources, to promote,
inter alia, the legal, commercial, cultural, and economic
exploitation of intellectual property in these countries.

3. Increase human and financial allocation for technical

assistance programs in WIPO for promoting a, inter
alia, development-oriented intellectual property
culture, with an emphasis on introducing intellectual
property at different academic levels and on generating
greater public awareness on intellectual property.

4. Place particular emphasis on the needs of small and

medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and institutions dealing
with scientific research and cultural industries and assist
Member States, at their request, in setting-up appropriate
national strategies in the field of intellectual property.

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WIPO Development Agenda

5. WIPO shall display general information on all technical

assistance activities on its website, and shall provide, on
request from Member States, details of specific activities,
with the consent of the Member State(s) and other recipients
concerned, for which the activity was implemented..

6. WIPO’s technical assistance staff and consultants shall

continue to be neutral and accountable, by paying particular
attention to the existing Code of Ethics, and by avoiding
potential conflicts of interest. WIPO shall draw up and
make widely known to the Member States a roster of
consultants for technical assistance available with WIPO.

7. Promote measures that will help countries deal

with intellectual property-related anti-competitive
practices, by providing technical cooperation to
developing countries, especially LDCs, at their
request, in order to better understand the interface
between IPRs and competition policies.

8. Request WIPO to develop agreements with research

institutions and with private enterprises with a view to
facilitating the national offices of developing countries,
especially LDCs, as well as their regional and sub-regional
intellectual property organizations to access specialized
databases for the purposes of patent searches.

9. Request WIPO to create, in coordination with Member

States, a database to match specific intellectual property-
related development needs with available resources,
thereby expanding the scope of its technical assistance
programs, aimed at bridging the digital divide.

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 WIPO Development Agenda

10. To assist Member States to develop and improve national

intellectual property institutional capacity through further
development of infrastructure and other facilities with a
view to making national intellectual property institutions
more efficient and promote fair balance between intellectual
property protection and the public interest. This technical
assistance should also be extended to sub-regional and
regional organizations dealing with intellectual property.

11. To assist Member States to strengthen national capacity

for protection of domestic creations, innovations and
inventions and to support development of national
scientific and technological infrastructure, where
appropriate, in accordance with WIPO’s mandate.

12. To further mainstream development considerations into

WIPO’s substantive and technical assistance activities
and debates, in accordance with its mandate.

13. WIPO’s legislative assistance shall be, inter alia,

development-oriented and demand-driven, taking
into account the priorities and the special needs of
developing countries, especially LDCs, as well as the
different levels of development of Member States and
activities should include time frames for completion.

14. Within the framework of the agreement between WIPO and

the WTO, WIPO shall make available advice to developing
countries and LDCs, on the implementation and operation
of the rights and obligations and the understanding and
use of flexibilities contained in the TRIPS Agreement.

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Cluster B. Norm-Setting,
Flexibilities, Public Policy
and Public Domain

15. Norm-setting activities shall:

• be inclusive and member-driven;

• take into account different levels of development;
• take into consideration a balance between costs and benefits;
• be a participatory process, which takes into consideration
the interests and priorities of all WIPO Member States and
the viewpoints of other stakeholders, including accredited
inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) and NGOs; and
• be in line with the principle of neutrality of the WIPO Secretariat.

16. Consider the preservation of the public domain within WIPO’s

normative processes and deepen the analysis of the implications
and benefits of a rich and accessible public domain.

17. In its activities, including norm-setting, WIPO should take

into account the flexibilities in international intellectual
property agreements, especially those which are of
interest to developing countries and LDCs.

18. To urge the IGC to accelerate the process on the protection

of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore,
without prejudice to any outcome, including the possible
development of an international instrument or instruments.

19. To initiate discussions on how, within WIPO’s mandate, to

further facilitate access to knowledge and technology for
developing countries and LDCs to foster creativity and innovation
and to strengthen such existing activities within WIPO.

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 WIPO Development Agenda

20. To promote norm-setting activities related to IP that support a

robust public domain in WIPO’s Member States, including the
possibility of preparing guidelines which could assist interested
Member States in identifying subject matters that have fallen
into the public domain within their respective jurisdictions.

21. WIPO shall conduct informal, open and balanced consultations,

as appropriate, prior to any new norm-setting activities, through
a member-driven process, promoting the participation of experts
from Member States, particularly developing countries and LDCs.

22. WIPO’s norm-setting activities should be supportive of the

development goals agreed within the United Nations system,
including those contained in the Millennium Declaration.

The WIPO Secretariat, without prejudice to the outcome of

Member States considerations, should address in its working
documents for norm-setting activities, as appropriate and as
directed by Member States, issues such as: (a) safeguarding
national implementation of intellectual property rules (b) links
between intellectual property and competition (c) intellectual
property -related transfer of technology (d) potential flexibilities,
exceptions and limitations for Member States and (e) the possibility
of additional special provisions for developing countries and LDCs.

23. To consider how to better promote pro-competitive

intellectual property licensing practices, particularly with
a view to fostering creativity, innovation and the transfer
and dissemination of technology to interested countries,
in particular developing countries and LDCs.

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Cluster C. Technology Transfer,
Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) and
Access to Knowledge
24. To request WIPO, within its mandate, to expand the scope
of its activities aimed at bridging the digital divide, in
accordance with the outcomes of the World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS) also taking into account
the significance of the Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF).

25. To explore intellectual property -related policies and initiatives

necessary to promote the transfer and dissemination of technology,
to the benefit of developing countries and to take appropriate
measures to enable developing countries to fully understand
and benefit from different provisions, pertaining to flexibilities
provided for in international agreements, as appropriate.

26. To encourage Member States, especially developed countries,

to urge their research and scientific institutions to enhance
cooperation and exchange with research and development
institutions in developing countries, especially LDCs.

27. Facilitating intellectual property -related aspects of ICT for growth

and development: Provide for, in an appropriate WIPO body,
discussions focused on the importance of intellectual property
-related aspects of ICT, and its role in economic and cultural
development, with specific attention focused on assisting Member
States to identify practical intellectual property -related strategies
to use ICT for economic, social and cultural development.

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 WIPO Development Agenda

28. To explore supportive intellectual property -related policies

and measures Member States, especially developed
countries, could adopt for promoting transfer and
dissemination of technology to developing countries.

29. To include discussions on intellectual property -related technology

transfer issues within the mandate of an appropriate WIPO body.

30. WIPO should cooperate with other IGOs to provide to

developing countries, including LDCs, upon request, advice
on how to gain access to and make use of intellectual
property-related information on technology, particularly
in areas of special interest to the requesting parties.

31. To undertake initiatives agreed by Member States,

which contribute to transfer of technology to developing
countries, such as requesting WIPO to facilitate better
access to publicly available patent information.

32. To have within WIPO opportunity for exchange of

national and regional experiences and information on
the links between IPRs and competition policies.

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Cluster D. Assessment,
Evaluation and
Impact Studies

33. To request WIPO to develop an effective yearly review

and evaluation mechanism for the assessment of all its
development-oriented activities, including those related to
technical assistance, establishing for that purpose specific
indicators and benchmarks, where appropriate.

34. With a view to assisting Member States in creating

substantial national programs, to request WIPO to
conduct a study on constraints to intellectual property
protection in the informal economy, including the tangible
costs and benefits of intellectual property protection in
particular in relation to generation of employment.

35. To request WIPO to undertake, upon request of Member States,

new studies to assess the economic, social and cultural impact
of the use of intellectual property systems in these States.

36. To exchange experiences on open collaborative projects such as the

Human Genome Project as well as on intellectual property models.

37. Upon request and as directed by Member States, WIPO

may conduct studies on the protection of intellectual
property, to identify the possible links and impacts
between intellectual property and development.

38. To strengthen WIPO’s capacity to perform objective assessments

of the impact of the organization’s activities on development.

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Cluster E. Institutional
Matters including Mandate
and Governance

39. To request WIPO, within its core competence and mission, to assist
developing countries, especially African countries, in cooperation
with relevant international organizations, by conducting studies
on brain drain and make recommendations accordingly.

40. To request WIPO to intensify its cooperation on IP related

issues with United Nations agencies, according to Member
States’ orientation, in particular UNCTAD, UNEP, WHO, UNIDO,
UNESCO and other relevant international organizations,
especially the WTO in order to strengthen the coordination for
maximum efficiency in undertaking development programs.

41. To conduct a review of current WIPO technical assistance

activities in the area of cooperation and development.

42. To enhance measures that ensure wide participation of civil society

at large in WIPO activities in accordance with its criteria regarding
NGO acceptance and accreditation, keeping the issue under review.

43. To consider how to improve WIPO’s role in finding partners

to fund and execute projects for intellectual property -related
assistance in a transparent and member-driven process
and without prejudice to ongoing WIPO activities.

44. In accordance with WIPO’s member-driven nature as a United

Nations Specialized Agency, formal and informal meetings or
consultations relating to norm-setting activities in WIPO, organized
by the Secretariat, upon request of the Member States, should

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 be held primarily in Geneva, in a manner open and transparent to
all Members. Where such meetings are to take place outside of
Geneva, Member States shall be informed through official channels,
well in advance, and consulted on the draft agenda and program.

Cluster F. Other Issues

45. To approach intellectual property enforcement in the context of
broader societal interests and especially development-oriented
concerns, with a view that “the protection and enforcement of
intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of
technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination
of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users
of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social
and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations”,
in accordance with Article 7 of the TRIPS Agreement.

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