Issues in Scholarly Communication is a newsletter produced by Paula Kaufman, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries, for the Illinois community. Entries from 2001-2005 newsletter are available.
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The top officials of the World Intellectual Property Organization member states this week gather for their annual meeting facing an unusual number of critical issues for the U.N. body, several of which involve the credibility of the organization itself. The issues before the WIPO General Assemblies, which range from global patent harmonization sought by its most influential members to scrutiny of WIPO’s financial practices to the proposed wholesale reform of the organization to more strongly reflect developing country concerns, also appear to be more closely tied to each other than usual, observers say. The assemblies run from 26 September to 5 October at WIPO headquarters in Geneva. An issue of top concern for developing countries and one that sets this year apart from the past is a proposal for a WIPO Development Agenda that would affect many of its activities. The proposal reflects dissatisfaction among many members with WIPO’s perceived orientation toward its biggest clients – and contributors: the developed countries. The development agenda proposal was first introduced at the General Assemblies in October 2004 by Argentina and Brazil, who were joined by 12 other so-called Friends of Development. It has been expanded during the year and includes a variety of changes to WIPO’s structure and operation including greater transparency in policy-making and budget-setting, an office to evaluate the development impact of WIPO activities, and changing its bylaws to better resemble other U.N. bodies. Intellectual Property Watch 9/26/05 http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=91&res=1024_ff&print=0
Posted by P. Kaufman at September 27, 2005 3:38 PM
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