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Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications

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Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications E SCT/37/9 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH DATE: OCTOBER 30, 2017 Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications Thirty-Seventh Session Geneva, March 27 to 30, 2017 REPORT adopted by the Standing Committee* INTRODUCTION 1. The Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (hereinafter referred to as “the Standing Committee”, “the Committee” or “the SCT”) held its thirty-seventh session, in Geneva, from March 27 to 30, 2017. 2. The following Member States of WIPO and/or the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property were represented at the meeting: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Bhutan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Djibouti, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Ghana, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, United Arab * This Report was adopted at the thirty-eitghth session of the SCT. SCT/37/9 page 2 Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Zambia, Zimbabwe (100). The European Union was represented in its capacity as a special member of the SCT. Palestine was represented in its capacity as Observer. 3. The following intergovernmental organizations took part in the meeting in an observer capacity: African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), African Union (AU), Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property (BOIP), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), South Centre (SC), West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), World Health Organization (WHO), World Trade Organization (WTO) (8). 4. Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations took part in the meeting in an observer capacity: Association française des practiciens du droit des marques et modèles (APRAM), Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI), China Trademark Association (CTA), European Law Student’s Association (ELSA International), Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI), International Trademark Association (INTA), International Wine Law Association (AIDV), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA), Japan Trademark Association (JTA), MARQUES - Association of European Trade Mark Owners, Organization for an International Geographical Indications Network (oriGIn), Third World Network Berhad (TWN) (15). 5. The list of participants is contained in Annex II of this document. 6. The Secretariat noted the interventions made and recorded them. AGENDA ITEM 1: OPENING OF THE SESSION 7. Mr. Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), opened the thirty-seventh session of the SCT and welcomed the participants. 8. Mr. David Muls (WIPO) acted as Secretary to the SCT. AGENDA ITEM 2: ELECTION OF A CHAIR AND TWO VICE-CHAIRS 9. Mr. Adil El Maliki (Morocco) was re-elected Chair. Mr. Alfredo Carlos Rendón Algara (Mexico) was re-elected Vice-Chair, and Mr. Simion Levițchi (Republic of Moldova) was elected Vice-Chair. AGENDA ITEM 3: ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 10. The SCT adopted the draft Agenda (document SCT/37/1 Prov. Rev.2). AGENDA ITEM 4: ACCREDITATION OF A NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGO) 11. The SCT considered document SCT/37/7. 12. The SCT approved the accreditation of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). SCT/37/9 page 3 AGENDA ITEM 5: ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE THIRTY-SIXTH SESSION 13. The SCT adopted the draft Report of the thirty-sixth session (document SCT/36/6 Prov.). General Statements 14. The Delegation of Senegal, speaking on behalf of the African Group, noted the holding of the information session on geographical indications that was scheduled to take place on March 28, 2017, and hoped that the session would enrich the resources available to SCT members. The Group regretted that the conclusion of the negotiations concerning the articles of the Design Law Treaty (DLT) during the 2016 WIPO Assemblies was merely to postpone the discussions until the upcoming 2017 WIPO General Assembly. The Group reaffirmed its position towards reaching an inclusive instrument that would take into account the concerns so legitimately expressed by members. 15. The Delegation of Colombia, speaking on behalf of the Group of States of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), restated the interest of its members in the constructive work of the Committee and thanked the Secretariat for the preparation of the Information Session on geographical indications. The Delegation recalled that the last WIPO Assemblies did not reach agreement on the convening of a diplomatic conference on the DLT and resent the matter to the 2017 Assemblies. GRULAC expected that an agreement would be reached and said that effective technical assistance and national capacity building continued to be of vital importance for the region, which included several developing countries. The Delegation noted that the protection of country names was extremely important to GRULAC, as these names could be successfully used in country branding schemes that would add value to products and services through the use of marks, especially in developing countries. Nevertheless, consistent protection for country names at the international level was lacking, as it was made clear in the Study prepared by the Secretariat for the twenty-ninth session of the SCT, with the purpose of determining the best possible practices for the protection of country names against registration as trademarks or elements of marks. The Group was committed to continuing the discussions on country names and expressed interest in the proposal presented by the Delegation of Jamaica in document SCT/32/2. GRULAC also looked forward to discussions on geographical indications with the view to continuing the analysis of various proposals under this agenda item. 16. The Delegation of Indonesia, speaking on behalf of the Asia and Pacific Group, looked forward to a successful information session on geographical indications. The session would be beneficial by further enhancing the common understanding about this discipline. It was expected that the session would allow delegations to learn from a diverse array of speakers, with different backgrounds, about the features, experiences and practices of geographical indication protection systems as well as their protection on the Internet, and the protection of geographical indications and country names in the Domain Name System (DNS). The Asia and Pacific Group attached great significance to intellectual property as an important catalyst to socio-economic and technological development, as well as an equitable and just international intellectual property regime, not only to promote innovation but also sensitive to the diverse developmental needs of Member States. The work of the Committee should not lose sight of this important concept and should work towards maintaining the equilibrium between the interests of the rightholders and the larger public welfare. The work of the SCT was to focus on finding a common landing zone among the Member States on the text of a possible DLT. Like any other international instrument, the implementation of the DLT should be accompanied with enhanced capacity of Member States to carry out the obligations arising out of the new Treaty. The proposed Treaty should address the important issue of capacity building in the intellectual property regimes of developing countries and Least Developing Countries (LDCs). Although SCT/37/9 page 4 some members had expressed flexibility as to the placement of such a provision –either in the Treaty or in a resolution– most members of the Asia and Pacific Group favored placing the provision on technical assistance as an article in the main body of the proposed Treaty. The Delegation hoped that a consensus decision could be reached on the matter, which would satisfy all Member States. The Delegation noted that some members of the Group had expressed different positions on the issue of disclosure of source. Most members supported the principle that disclosure had an impact on the appearance of an industrial design. As sovereign Member States of WIPO, countries should have the flexibility to include, as part of the design eligibility criteria, components that are deemed part of the formalities for protection of industrial designs in their jurisdiction. The Group took note of the decision by the 2016 WIPO General Assembly that Member States would continue considering, during the 2017 General Assembly, the convening of a diplomatic conference for the adoption of a DLT. Such a Treaty was aimed at developing
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