Negotiating A ‘Development Agenda’ For The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a UN agency that deals with issues of intellectual property rights, has been undergoing an interesting change in recent years. In 2004, many developing countries initiated a process of reform to make WIPO development-oriented, which they consider to be important for a UN agency. The initiative, which is known as the ‘Development Agenda’, has since snowballed into a movement to review the role of intellectual property rights in the process of development.

According to developing countries, NGOs and experts, WIPO has been too much oriented towards promoting IP at the expense of the wider development concerns and public interest. Whether the Development Agenda movement succeeds in reorienting WIPO remains to be seen especially since this initiative has been resisted by developed countries, that want to cling on to the status quo.

On the ‘Development Agenda’ initiative, this book is an eyewitnesses account of the twists and turns of the Development Agenda movement. It is indispensable for those who want to understand the origins, rationale and history of the Development Agenda at WIPO.

Publisher: Third World Network

Paperback

2009

ISBN: 9789832729716