At WIPO, a world battle is at stake
This week, the 83 Ambassadors of the World Intellectual Property Organization's Coordination Committee will nominate a candidate who will be called to lead the Organization from October 1. Six candidates (a Singaporean, a Chinese, a Kazakh, two South Americans and a Ghanaian) are still in the running).
The stakes are enormous and give rise to a battle of an incredible ferocity between the West, led by the United States, who took up the cause of the Singaporean candidate, Daren Tang, who theoretically is supposed to represent the developing countries to their dislike given that Singapore is no longer considered as a developing country. Meanwhile, China, represented by Binying Wang, who has worked for decades at WIPO and has held a senior position for many years. Recently, articles by John Bolton, former head of the Donald Trump Security Council, and Peter Navarro, his trade advisor, declared war on the Chinese candidate in very aggressive terms. The Chinese foreign ministry responded sharply by denouncing the American sabotage manoeuvres.
In its latest report on intellectual property indicators, WIPO confirms the spectacular dynamism of China. With 1.5 million patents filed in 2018, almost half of the world total, it is three times better than the United States. The same goes for industrial property applications, brands, designs and plant varieties. Better still, it has posted double-digit growth in all of these areas while its competitors have stagnated or regressed. Switzerland on the other hand ranks 9th in the world. We can see better now why the United States wants to block China’s path. As for the majority developing countries, they are left on the side lines as spectators.