Implementation of the Technical Assistance Principles of the WIPO Development Agenda

The challenges of improving the development orientation of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) capacity building and technical assistance (TA) have been a major subject of discussion since the proposal to establish a WIPO Development Agenda was put forward in 2004. While the scope of the Development Agenda is broad, as reflected in 45 recommendations adopted by WIPO member states in 2007, this article focuses specifically on recommendations that address TA. Importantly debates on TA are closely linked to overarching tensions within and between many developing and developed countries, and among WIPO's stakeholders, about what are-and should be-the organization's mandate and priorities, and, more fundamentally, the role of intellectual property in development. This article sets out the history, scope, financing and scale of WIPO's TA and the core elements of the critique of this assistance. It presents a sampling of the WIPO secretariat's efforts thus far to respond to WIPO Development Agenda recommendations in the area of TA and reviews the lessons learned for WIPO member states regarding what developmentoriented TA means. Drawing on these lessons, the article concludes with proposals for concrete measures and options that WIPO members and the secretariat could pursue.