"In the fall of 2007, the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization unanimously adopted forty-five recommendations regarding intellectual property (IP) and development." So begins the first chapter in a new book from CIGI's Studies in International Governance series. "The recommendations were the result of a proposal by Argentina and Brazil in 2004 to establish a 'Development Agenda' for WIPO." But as editor Jeremy de Beer, a University of Ottawa law professor, points out in his opening chapter, "the decision to adopt the recommendations means little if they are not followed by concrete implementation."
On July 10, 2009, de Beer launched this volume at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The collection of essays contained therein includes analyses by thinkers from emerging economies, Canada and elsewhere of concrete strategies for implementing the agenda. In the view of the contributors, the Development Agenda has the potential to revolutionize the international governance of intellectual property law and policy.
The conference participants further explored the issues covered in the book, mainly the role of WIPO and its member states in steering the direction of future reform and potential approaches to achieve this goal.
The book, written and edited for the non-specialist, was co-published by CIGI and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). It is available in print and online.