US embassy cable - 05GENEVA2670

UNCLAS GENEVA 002670 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EB, IO/T AND OES/IHA 
COMMERCE FOR USPTO 
PASS TO HHS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR, TBIO, WIPO, Avian flu 
SUBJECT: NOT A GOOD IDEA - WIPO PROPOSAL ON AVIAN INFLUENZA 
AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS 
 
1.  This is an action message.  See paragraph 6. 
 
2.  Ambassador Moley met November 1, at her request, with 
Rita Hayes, Deputy Director General WIPO, to discuss a 
proposed WIPO-hosted meeting of a high-level advisory group 
for intellectual property and avian flu.  Econ Counselor and 
Health Attach also joined the meeting. 
 
3.  Noting a recent meeting in Washington between WIPO Deputy 
Director Francis Gurry and Commerce/USPTO officials, Hayes 
opened the meeting by giving the Ambassador a copy of a memo 
from  Gurry to the WIPO Director General outlining the 
purposes of the meeting (text emailed to the Department 
separately).  Hayes said DG Idris had approved the proposal 
in principle but was interested in the U.S. reaction before 
implementing it. 
 
4.  Noting that intellectual property issues were "under 
scrutiny," Hayes said WIPO wanted to be out in front of the 
ongoing debate about IP and avian/pandemic influenza. She 
described the proposed meeting as outreach to member states 
and other stakeholders.  Hayes expressed some concern about 
whether the mix of countries to be invited was correct 
(Brazil, China, EU/EC, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russian 
Federation, South Africa, USA) and whether or not to include 
the World Health Organization. 
 
5.  Ambassador Moley responded that he would need guidance on 
the WIPO proposal. Reacting informally, he wondered whether 
such a meeting could avoid providing a platform or target for 
anti-IP activists. Limiting participation to only a few 
members states would invite criticism of those excluded, 
whereas an "open forum" could degenerate into the debates on 
the role of IP that have dominated recent WIPO meetings. 
Timing of such a meeting would also be problematic - the 
crisis has been fast moving and much could have happened by 
the proposed date of December. However, it would be difficult 
to organize such a meeting more quickly. While awaiting a 
U.S. reply, the Ambassador suggested that it would be useful 
for Director General Idris to seek a briefing from Roche on 
its plans for dealing with the crisis in order to disseminate 
accurate, first-hand information to interested parties. 
Hayes agreed this was a sensible approach and mentioned that 
WIPO officials would discuss this matter with the World Trade 
Organization in the next days. 
 
6.  Mission requests guidance on responding to Hayes's 
request for U.S. views on the WIPO proposal, noting that it 
has strong reservations about its utility of and about WIPO's 
ability to avoid an undesirable outcome. 
Moley