"[...] Trade sources report that Lamy also said that Members would have to agree on a public health amendment to the WTO Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) by Hong Kong. [...]"
"[...] New Delhi: India is pressing for changes in the WTO TRIPs regime in order to protect traditional knowledge and prevent bio-piracy.
Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forest Prodipto Ghosh said in a presentation at the National Seminar on TRIPs-CBD and subsidy issues here yesterday that coordinated changes in the trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Convention on Biological diversity (CBD) were the key requirements of a multilateral access and benefit sharing regime.
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Anthony de Sa, explained that the issue was important for developing countries as piracy of biological material and misappropriation of traditional knowledge was taking place. Hence, India, along with some other mega-biodiverse developing countries, is demanding a legally binding regime which would enjoin all WTO members to amend their IPR laws.
This was to include the following three principles: Disclosure of country or origin of source of biological material or traditional knowledge, Prior Informed Consent (PIC), and Equitable Benefit Sharing, de Sa said. [...]"
"[...] - The issue of patenting life forms has remained extremely contentious since the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) came into being along with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. The countries of the North and the South are clearly divided over the debate whether life forms should be made patentable. Whereas most of the countries of the North advocate the patenting of life forms, most countries of the South are against it. The major question that arises in this context is Can monopoly right be exercised over something given by nature? The answer is No. It should therefore be clear why patenting life forms should be prohibited. Patent gives monopoly right to the 'so called' creator.
The developing and the least developed countries are arguing for the reconciliation of two multilateral agreements ? Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that was formally proposed at the end of the Earth Summit in 1992 and TRIPS. CBD is supposed to be the first multilateral agreement that has recognized the sovereign rights of states over their genetic resources. It has also included the provisions of prior informed consent and benefit sharing. It has recognized the contributions that different communities across the globe have made in conserving genetic resources utilizing their traditional knowledge and practices. [...]"
Well, it looks as if in Hong Kong the debate on IPR issues might really get quite turbulent.
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Dipl.-Phys. Axel H Horns is Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney),
European Patent Attorney as well as European Trade Mark Attorney. In particular, he is Member of:
Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Hong Kong, China, from December 13th to 18th, 2005. 
