Speculation about GATT, WTO, WIPO, and patents.

How exactly do GATT, WPO, and WIPO tie together? What will happen if S.507 and HR 400 pass into law and the Patent office is sold off and moved into some strange never-never land as a private entity? Who will decide international patent disputes?

The truth is that no one knows for sure. Advocates of this legislation say it will create a more level playing field than the U.S. courts. They propose, in the interests of cost and efficiency, that the PTO should be the main authority, though they do allow the President of the U.S. to appoint a technology Czar every five years to rule the newly private entity. That alone is sufficient reason for most to oppose the legislation, but there may be more.

Opponents note with suspicion the "legalized gifts and donations" repeatedly written into S. 507 and HR 400 and their predecessors, the abuse of KODAK by the WTO, and the secrecy surrounding WPO and WIPO. They note the the purpose of the original letters of agreement with Japan was to allow cheap access to U.S. technology, and that Japan was also the impetus for setting up WTO to move litigation on unfair trade practices out of U.S. courts and into closed international committees.

Patterns are emerging. While many have criticized the various trade deals, even to the point where the Clinton administration has been stripped of its "fast track" authority, no critic has yet pierced the secrecy surrounding WTO, or even WIPO. It hard to say for sure exactly how the existing HARMonized world IP law will work if this legislation passes. Few in Congress even understand that S. 507 is about cheap foreign technology access, not "submarines."

It does seem likely that there ARE linkages between foreign "donations," WIPO, WTO, Bruce Lehman, the Commerce Department, and the bills now in Congress. Few bother to speculate about this, since validation is difficult and the legislation is lethal to all but the largest U.S. firms even without WTO and WIPO "help." It's also clear that speculation may be amplified and distorted to make opponents sound like the "lunatic fringe" that Bruce Lehman claims is the only group opposing his noble efforts to convert the patent office into his private fiefdom for the good of all mankind.

Here is what one friend said who is an expert in the field of International IP law:

"The WTO is a creation related to NAFTA and the various rounds of trade negotiations. WIPO is a UN org which is the World Intellectual Property Organization, and I've had problems with them since my international licensing days in the 70s. They were big "advocates" of IP for selected entities and were for not allowing improvement grantbacks to the licensors, even on a non exclusive basis. This is why many small nations were at a disadvantage because large entities were not inclined to set up equitable cross-sharing of improvements. This was only one of the subtle items which for many years inhibited "North-South" trade.
WIPO has been a problem because one could not determine if they did not have a secret agenda. At one time we thought it was completely infiltrated by communist idealogs. Now I'm not sure who their drummer is. WTO is related through TRIPS which is recently tied to WIPO but I'm not sure of the actual relationships.
Bottom line WIPO was not created out of GATT, like WTO. For credibility purposes we must be accurate as any misstatement is magnified by our opposition."

Another expert commented that WIPO has long had an agenda of weakening the U.S. patent system:

"WIPO is nearly 30 years old. It is one of 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations and was established by a Convention signed at Stockholm in 1967 and became a reality in 1970. As of 1997, WIPO has 161 member states.
I wish the "Patent Wars" (had) started in 1994. . . (name deleted) and I wouldn't be so tired. It's been nearly 11 years (1987) since the concept of First to File was initially raised at a WIPO meeting. Our negotiators at the time thought it would be a good idea for the US to switch to First to File in the attempt to harmonize patent laws globally. (name deleted) was the one who uncovered the Advisory Commission which was created by the PTO in '88, I believe, to "study" what was needed to "fix" the US patent system."

It is a Catch 22 situation. No one can PROVE all the aspects of the sell-out of our Patent System and U.S. sovereignty in areas of intellectual property law until the deal is done and the PTO is sold-off. And then, of course, it is far too late to put Humpty Dumpty back together, and too bad for the U.S. of A and it's citizens.

The solution: Why not do what our Nobel laureates, smart people with no particular reason to be biased, so urgently suggest? They say that EXTENSIVE, OPEN, PUBLIC DEBATE IS NEEDED ON THIS MAJOR ECONOMIC POLICY LEGISLATION. That should include S. 507 and the curious network of foreign donations, agreements, and organizations hostile to U.S. interests which seem to orbit around it. Full disclosure is needed. Bruce Lehman, for example, could be questioned under oath about his foreign fund raising and links to WIPO.

John D. Trudel, February 20, 1998

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