The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will convene the 18th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) from 21 May 2012 to 25 May 2012 (during the same week as the 65th session of the World Health Assembly). The agenda of the SCP is reproduced below.
In particular, agenda item 9 is on patents and health, agenda item 7 is on exceptions and limitations to patent rights, agenda item 8 is on quality of patents including opposition systems and other administrative revocation and invalidation mechanisms and agenda item 11 is on transfer of technology. Document SCP/18/INF/3 (Patents and Health: Comments received from Members and Observers of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents) includes observations from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, the Russian Fedaration, the Eurasian Patent Office, Knowledge Ecology International, the Latin American Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (ALIFAR), the Medicines Patent Pool and Third World Network. The patents and health item should witness a spirited discussion on the way forward at the patent committee in light of the African Group/Development Agenda Group proposal and the US counter proposal.
The African Group/DAG proposal calls for a three phrase work program consisting of 1) Studies, 2) Information Exchange and 3) Technical Assistance. Some elements of the proposed work program include the commissioning of an independent expert study that would provide detailed information on state practice on compulsory and government use licenses including the “provision of empirical data on the royalty rates set in each case”. In addition, the African Group/DAG proposal called for WIPO to organize a “technical workshop on state practice involving the compulsory licensing of medical technologies, including the application of TRIPS Articles 30, 31 and 44”.
For KEI’s comments on the US proposal to the WIPO patent committee, please see: /node/1378
SCP/18/1 PROV. 2
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
DATE: MAY 9, 2012Standing Committee on the Law of Patents
Eighteenth Session
Geneva, May 21 to 25, 2012REVISED DRAFT AGENDA
prepared by the Secretariat1. Opening of the session
2. Election of a Chair and two Vice-Chairs
3. Adoption of the agenda
See the present document.
4. Adoption of the draft report of the seventeenth session
See document SCP/17/13 Prov.2.
5. Accreditation of observers
See document SCP/18/10.
6. Report on the international patent system
See documents SCP/12/3 Rev.2, SCP/12/3 Rev.2 Add. and SCP/18/2.
7. Exceptions and limitations to patent rights
See documents SCP/14/7 and SCP/18/3.
8. Quality of patents, including opposition systems
(i) Quality of patents
See documents SCP/17/7, 8, 10, SCP/18/INF/2, SCP/18/INF/2 Add.
and SCP/18/9.
(ii) Opposition systems and other administrative revocation and
invalidation mechanisms
See document SCP/18/4.
SCP/18/1 Prov.2
9. Patents and health
See documents SCP/16/7, SCP/16/7 Corr., SCP/17/11, SCP/18/5,
SCP/18/INF/3 and SCP/18/INF/3 Add.
10. Confidentiality of communications between clients and their patent advisors
See document SCP/18/6.
11. Transfer of technology
See documents SCP/18/7 and 8.
12. Future work
13. Summary by the Chair
14. Closing of the session