May 11, 2010 – WIPO, 34, chemin des Colombettes, Geneva, Room B
The Symposium is aimed at launching 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 Project corresponds to Recommendations 7, 23 and 32 of the Development Agenda. In that vein, the topic chosen for this Symposium is a very broad one, so that it can operate as a sort of introduction to the whole Project.
For the morning session, the Secretariat of WIPO has invited speakers from three other multilateral organizations that are substantively involved in the debate on the interface between intellectual property and antitrust: the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). For the afternoon session, the Secretariat of WIPO has invited competition authorities with experience in the enforcement of antitrust law in connection with intellectual property: the United States Department of Justice, the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition, Brazil Administrative Council of Economic Defense and India Competition Commission.
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.
The event 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 Symposium will be followed by three other similar meetings in Geneva, which gradually will become more thematically focused. In October of 2010, the WIPO Secretariat will organize a Symposium on recent developments in the enforcement of antitrust law in the context of abuses of intellectual property rights. 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.