October 25, 2010 – WIPO, 34, chemin des Colombettes, Geneva, Room B
In the context of the implementation of the WIPO Project on Intellectual Property and Competition Policy, which was approved by the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) at its third session (in November 2009), the WIPO Secretariat will organize a Symposium in which participants will have the opportunity to scrutinize current developments in the enforcement of antitrust law as far as IP protected intangible assets are affected. This objective is expressed in the proposed Symposium’s title, which is “Enforcing Antitrust Law with reference to Intellectual Property Assets: New Developments and Perspectives.” Bearing this in mind, the WIPO Secretariat has invited four national antitrust authorities and four private companies that have acquired practical experience in antitrust enforcement initiatives with an impact on the protection and effective use of IP. As the draft program indicates, the Federal Trade Commission (of the United States), the European Commission, the Brazilian CADE (Administrative Council of Economic Defense) and the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Bureau, will speak in the morning session. In the afternoon, four large companies (two from the United States, Microsoft and Qualcomm, and two from Europe, Boehringer and Philips) will have the opportunity to express their views and concerns about recent trends in the antitrust analysis of the use of IP assets.
It is expected that, at the end of each session, speakers and participants will engage in a lively and constructive debate, with the aim of better understanding the complex interface between intellectual property and antitrust law.
The Symposium is primarily aimed at Geneva-based diplomats and community. It is open to the general public and free of charge. Anyone interested in attending the Symposium is requested to complete the on-line registration form.
This meeting is the second in a series of four Symposia, which, as announced previously, will gradually be more thematically focused. In the course of 2011, WIPO will hold two additional Symposia aimed at discussing the findings of two of the studies that constitute one of the eight Project components.