An AIPPI primer
This brief description introduces the workings of AIPPI internationally, and how members of the Australian Group can become involved in the Association’s work.
All of the information presented here is available in greater detail from AIPPI’s website: www.aippi.org.
AIPPI’s Aims and Purposes
AIPPI is an association of about 8,500 members, drawn from lawyers, academics, patent and trademark attorneys, corporate practitioners and IP owners.
The principal ‘output’ is the Resolutions, which, because of the representative nature of the membership, and the ‘working methods’, is intended to be a truly worldwide answer to an intellectual property issue of current concern. Over 700 Resolutions have been passed by AIPPI to date. These Resolutions are provided to significant Governmental Organisations, such as WIPO, WTO and National Patent and Trade Mark Offices. In this way AIPPI seeks to influence national or treaty policies on intellectual property.
The executive officers are the members of the “Bureau”. The President and Vice President are, by statute, nominated by the National Group that will hold the next and next but one Congress, respectively. The Treasurer General, Secretary General team (5 people) and Reporter General team (5 people) are elected positions.
Meetings
There are two forms of international meeting:
Congresses – to which the entire membership is invited. A Congress takes place every two years. Congresses involve Working Questions and Workshops. The Workshops deal with topics of general or emerging interest, that typically are not yet considered significant enough to being Working Questions.
Executive Committee Meetings and Forum – The EXCO programme generally is open only to Delegates (a quota system operates, based on a National Group’s membership) and members of Special and Advisory Committees. The parallel Forum programme is open to anyone interested in attending, including non-members. These meetings take place in the years between Congresses.
The Scientific Work
There are three forms of committee that support the Bureau:
1. Working Committees – these do the early work leading to Resolutions that may be adopted by the Association.
2. Special Committees – these study questions of emerging or particular urgency, and provide reports, recommendations or even proposed resolutions to the Bureau. Special Committee Questions can evolve into Working Questions, and conversely, previous Working Questions – where a watching brief is required – may be reassigned as Special Questions.
3. Advisory Committees – these advise a Bureau on matters relating to the administration of the Association.
The Bureau appoints members of these committees in consultation with the National Groups.
Working Committees
During the year of an Executive Committee/Forum meeting, there are three Working Questions. During the year of a Congress, there are four Working Questions. A Working Committee is formed with a Chairman, co-Chairman, Secretary and a number of Members.
The National Groups respond to a questionnaire issued by the Reporter General’s team. The Reporters – together with the Chairman of the Working Committee – synthesise the National Groups’ reports into a summary document. The Working Committee members then prepare a draft Resolution to be the subject of debate. This discussion takes place during the early part of AIPPI’s international meetings, and involves the Working Committee members, as well as the Delegates appointed by the respective National Groups. From an Australian view point, the Delegates are usually chosen from among the authors of the Australian Group’s Report to the questionnaire.
After the Committee–level deliberations, the draft resolution is debated in a plenary session where the draft resolution is (usually) amended after often vigorous debate. A final vote is taken by the Executive Committee on the resultant version of the Resolution. The Resolution is either adopted (possibly even in a yet further amended form) or rejected. If rejected, the Working Questions may be remitted to the Working Committee.
Special Committees
There are a number of Special Committees in place. A protocol governs the work of Special Committees, and their output typically is by way of reports provided to the Bureau and the Executive Committee.
Australians are members of a number of Special Committees. Sarah Matheson is a member of Q94 (GATT/WTO). Dr Andrew Blattman is a member of Q114 (Biotechnology). Professor Sam Ricketson is a member of Q153 (The Hague Conference of Private International Law). Michael Pattison is co-Chairman of Q160 (ICANN). Andrew Massie is a member of Q166 (Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore). David Tadgell, is a member of Q170 (Substantive Patent Law Treaty). Matthew Swinn is the Secretary of Q177 (Substantive Trade Mark Law Harmonization). Ben Katekar is a member of Q185 (Enforcement of IP Rights).
Bureau Advisory Committees
There are presently three such Committees in existence:
Q151 – Translations.
Q171 – Membership (chaired by J. Michael Dowling of the Australian Group).
Q172 – Statutes.
These Advisory Committees typically have a Chair, co-Chair and a number of Members. They report regularly to the Bureau on their activities.
Programme Committee
The Programme Committee is independent of the Bureau, but co-operates closely with the Reporters team. The Programme Committee is chaired by Professor Joseph Straus. The Programme Committee’s mandate is to propose Working Questions, Questions for Special Committees, and topics for Workshops and the Forum. Its recommendations are made to the Bureau, although the adoption of proposed Questions, with the Bureau’s endorsement, falls to the Executive Committee.
Become Involved!
The immediate possibilities to become involved with the work of AIPPI is to assist with the National Group’s activities; that is:
- serve on the Committee
- author reports on Working Questions
- attend the Association’s Congresses
Robert Miller
August 2004