Maintaining relevance in a changing world: An interview with WIPO Director General Francis Gurry

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p. 2 2012 | 5

Maintaining relevance in a

CHANGING WORLD:

an interview with WIPO Director General Francis Gurry

Ahead of WIPO’s an nual meeting of mem ber states from

October 1 to 9, 2 012, Director G eneral Fran cis Gurr y

shared his v iews with WIP O Magazine about som e of

the key challe nges and opp ortunit ies that are likely to

inuence the future evolution of the international intel-

lectual pr opert y (IP) system.

What are the k ey priorities for the Organizat ion

moving forward?

The Organization’s priorities lie in four main a reas – maintaining

relevance, ensuring the via bility of WIPO’s global IP service s,

providing effective supp ort to improve the participati on of

developing countries in th e IP system and serving as a ma jor

provider and coordinator of globa l IP infrastructure.

The overarching objective in a ra pidly changing world, charac-

terized by major shifts in the u se of technology, is to maintain

the relevan ce of WIPO as the global forum for IP issue s. We

have to maintain our role in economic rule-making. The recent

conclusion of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances

(the “Beijing Treaty”) was an import ant breakthrough, but we

have to ensure that the multilateral system that WIPO oversee s

continues to deliver on the other is sues that are reaching ma-

turity. This is particular ly important now when so much is hap-

pening in the eld of IP within so ma ny different policy-making

spheres at national, bilateral, regi onal and multilateral levels.

We also need to ensure the viab ility and primac y of WIPO’s

global IP services by expanding their geographical coverage

and the range of servi ces offered. The Patent Coope ration

Treaty (PCT), with 146 contracting parties, is a truly global

system. The next three years wil l see a marked expansion of

the Madrid System for the Internation al Registration of Marks.

Similarly, over the next ve years, membe rship of the Hague

System for the International Regis tration of Industrial Designs

is expected to grow.

Signicant progress is b eing made to ensure continuous im-

provement in our servi ces. The e-PCT platform, for exam ple,

which provides secure ele ctronic access to les relating to

international applicatio ns led under the PCT, is proving very

popular. The Madrid information technol ogy (IT) renovation

project is also well under way, and a raft of usef ul tools and

services are coming online.

A major task is to provide effec tive support to improve t he

partic ipation of deve loping coun tries in th e IP system.

As countries seek to add value to their n ational resources and

intellectual assets, IP beco mes increasingly releva nt and our

member states’ needs evermore so phisticated. The Organiza-

tion, therefore, needs to ensure it delive rs the required levels

of service and ass istance.

Finally, we need to serve as a major pr ovider and coordin a-

tor of global IP i nfrastructu re to improve the efciency with

which the IP system operates, as well as its b road accessibility

and use, and where appropr iate to advance dened public

policy goals. Signica nt progress has been made in m any

areas (see pages 6 and 7).

What is the si gnificance of the Beiji ng Treaty on

Audiovisu al Performances?

The Beijing Treaty is a good thing for actors, for IP, for WIPO,

for China and for multilateralis m. It is a win all round. Although

member states have conclude d three other treaties since 1996,

these address areas of proc edural law. The Beijing Treaty is

the rst substantive IP law treaty i n 16 years.

It is a further step in the devel opment of the international le-

gal framework for copyrig ht and more broadly to re-kindling

condence in the treaty-mak ing process. The Beiji ng Treaty

brings the rights of audiovisual p erformers and actors i nto

line with those available to authors u nder the WIPO Copyright

Treaty (WCT) (1996) and to musicians, recording artists an d

recording organizations u nder the WIPO Performan ces and

Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) (1996).

The remaining issue to address in completing the 1996 platform

is updating the rights of broadcasti ng organizations. In the July

session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related

Rights (SCCR), member states signaled their willingness to

move forward on this issue, which is ve ry promising. I hope

that we can achieve the same alignm ent of interests (between

business, civil soci ety and governments) on this que stion, as

we did in concluding the Beij ing Treaty. Civil society and the

private sector make an enormous co ntribution to the treaty-

making process. At the end of the d ay, member states will

only move forward on an issue w hen they detect a level of

comfort on the par t of the people they represent. If one of the

major interest groups is not on board, ach ieving international

agreement can be ver y difcult.