At a recent G7 meeting, hosted by UK IPO CEO Tim Moss, CBE., of the UK Intellectual Property Office, a joint statement was released:
“We, the intellectual property offices operating in the Group of Seven (G7) countries, participated in the Intellectual Property Heads of Office Conversation organised by the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UK IPO) virtually on 19th November 2021, to discuss areas intersecting with intellectual property (IP) and commit to increased cooperation in these areas at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Good IP regimes provide confidence and certainty for innovators, creators, and investors. We are committed to fostering a balanced international IP environment that incentivises innovation and creativity for the benefit of society in a mutually supportive manner, including with respect to the post-pandemic global economic recovery. We have therefore taken the opportunity to share our vision on global IP matters and decided the following”.
Commenting upon this joint statement and vision for the future ACID’s CEO Dids Macdonald, OBE., said “When member countries of the G7 got together, we were encouraged about the sentiments and ambitions of the joint statement, which we support. What is important is that the G7 “walk the talk” in terms of the actions. Currently, globally, we hope all the G7 IP leaders realise that designs do not have parity with other rights in term and protection on the global stage. Given that the UK is one of the leading design economies in the world and post-Brexit, UK IP rights have been eroded, it is critical that design (rights) creators receive support and recognition of the significant infringement issues they face with robust enforcement that has teeth. Currently for lone, micro and SME design creators, taking legal action is the luxury of the few.”
The statement further reads:
IP and public health: We recognise that an effective global IP system is essential to developing, as well as enabling access for all to safe, effective, quality, affordable vaccines, diagnostics, medicines, and other health technologies. We recognise that multiple factors need to be considered to ensure equitable access for all to Covid-19 products, including vaccines. Within the scope of IP, these include promoting measures to support and encourage voluntary technology transfer on mutually agreed terms. We also support efforts to accelerate manufacturing capacities of Covid-19 tools on all continents, encouraging new partnerships based on voluntary licensing and technology transfer on mutually agreed terms. We recognise the importance of multilateral cooperation and initiatives in this space. We are also committed to constructive engagement at the WTO on the intersection of IP and public health.
IP and future technologies: We acknowledge the flexibility within the international IP framework that helps to support and encourage future technologies, and the need to ensure that the framework is agile and responsive to emerging challenges and opportunities. We support the development of common approaches towards technological change and will collaborate with experts from business, technology, and research to build our understanding. We note the links between the development of IP policies and artificial intelligence (AI), particularly the importance of engaging with and developing our understanding of the AI sector, including technology start-ups and research organisations. We will work together to explore how the IP framework can best support AI innovation.
Best practice in IP enforcement: We recognise that the G7 countries are well positioned to provide global leadership on IP enforcement. As such, we will lead by example in coordinating efforts to tackle IP infringement in a way that recognises the importance of an adequate and effective IP enforcement environment, working collaboratively with partners, both domestically and internationally. We will work to improve the global IP enforcement framework, ensuring cost-effective mechanisms for intellectual property rights (IPR) holders to enforce their rights. We will also work collaboratively with partners to inform consumers about available mechanisms for the identification and reporting of infringing goods and content; the benefits of buying genuine goods and content; and the wider harms of buying goods or content that infringe IPR. We will also strive to address IP challenges in e-commerce to ensure that consumers are well protected from the risks associated with the sale of infringing content or counterfeit products online.
G7 cooperation at WIPO: Our countries believe it is important for WIPO to be a forward-looking and fit-for purpose organisation meeting the needs of the IP community. We support and encourage WIPO to promote the role of IP in supporting innovation and creativity globally whilst also supporting initiatives that promote the role of IP in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We aim to align our collective international IP leadership and shape the global debate at WIPO, deepen the global understanding of the benefits of IP, and develop policy approaches that support growth as part of a balanced global IP system. We will encourage WIPO to further enhance a co-operative posture in multilateral discussions to help the world build back better. Together, we encourage WIPO to develop and appropriately resource concrete and impactful initiatives in frontier technologies and conduct studies on the future of IP.
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