WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION

GENEVA

WIPO GENERAL ASSEMBLY

REPRESENTATION OF
THE CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEAN REGION IN WIPO

A letter, dated March 3, 1997, and its enclosure making proposals, received by the Director General from the Russian Federation, are annexed to this document.

The General Assembly is invited to consider and make decisions concerning the proposal from the Russian Federation.

March 3, 1997

Dear Dr.Bogsch,

I would like to request to add an item to the agenda of the meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly scheduled for March 20-21, 1997 under the title:

"Proposal of the Russian Federation concerning the representation of the Central and East European region in the WIPO".

The purpose of this agenda item would be to consider our proposal to restore the balance of representation of geographical regions in the Organization. The proposal is attached herewith. Please, Mr.Director-General, take the necessary measures to circulate this letter and the proposal to the participants of the WIPO Governing Bodies March meeting.

Please, accept, Mr.Director-General, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Sincerely Yours,

S. KRYLOV

Ambassador,
Permanent Representative

A principle of a just and equitable representation of all geographical regions is a fundamental principle recognized by the International Community. It governs the activities of International Organizations, including WIPO. The idea behind such a principle is to guarantee the work of an international organization in the interests of all participating countries and groups of countries.

The aim of WIPO is to promote the protection of intellectual property rights in all countries. This protection is of an international character. A today's world is becoming more and more interrelated and cooperation among states has become more important than ever before, in particular in fields like science and technology, economics, trade, environment, etc. Now a state alone cannot respond effectively to modern challenges. The protection of intellectual property rights predetermines the cooperation in the above mentioned fields. In this connection the just and good balance of the regional representation in WIPO is of the utmost importance.

Unfortunately, the Central and East European region, including the CIS countries, is not adequately represented in the WIPO. With the fall of the exSoviet Union and division of various countries in Central and Eastern Europe this region has ceased to be represented in WIPO at the level of Deputy Director General. At the same time new countries of this region face more difficulties in both branches of the protection of intellectual property rights. Certain countries, in particular Russia, even do not have state institutions dealing with copyright and neighboring rights, and existing structures are not efficient enough to cope with new challenges. Russian has become a language that is more used than before by new countries, and more efforts are needed on the part of the WIPO to provide adequate services.

This unhappy situation is abnormal, specially taking into consideration the contributions made by countries of the Central and East European region, including the CIS countries, in the development of the world culture, art, music, literature, science and technology. This region-the largest in the world-is not covered by any regional bureau of WIPO.

For these reasons, the Russian Federation considers it legitimate to restore the just and equitable balance of the representation of the Central and East European region, including the CIS countries, in WIPO.

We believe it would be appropriate to take up measures as follows:

(1) to restore a post, that existed before, of Deputy Director General of WIPO for this region;

(2) to establish the regional bureau for Central and Eastern Europe, including the CIS countries within the framework of the International Bureau of WIPO, to promote the protection of both branches of intellectual property rights.