India clarifies it does not support WIPO?s Casablanca outcome

Geneva, 7 Apr (Martin Khor) -- The Indian government has clarified to the World Intellectual Property Organisation that it does not support the recommendations arising from a meeting organized by the WIPO Director General in Casablanca on 16 February. Instead, it associates itself with a critical statement on the meeting by the Group of Friends of Development.

The Casablanca meeting, which was in the form of informal consultations, had been earlier criticized by 14 developing countries in the Group of Friends of Development in a statement in March.

The Casablanca meeting had ended with a statement with recommendations on how WIPO should proceed with its work on patents, particularly on the controversial negotiations taking place in WIPO on a substantive patent law treaty (SPLT).

The Casablanca statement said that WIPO should deal with six issues in an accelerated way. WIPO