223. Allow me to share some information on WIPO's COVID19 activities to address the pandemicrelated issues. In October 2021, Member States approved a package of COVID19 support measures as part of WIPO's Program of Work and Budget 2022/23. The implementation of the package involves a 'whole of WIPO' approach across all WIPO Sectors and is coordinated by a dedicated WIPO COVID19 Focal Point. The Focal Point is responsible for ensuring timely and effective responses to requests from Member States. WIPO is currently conducting briefing sessions with Permanent Missions and IP Offices to inform Member States about the package and how to access support, and to ensure the package meets needs and priorities.
224. Let me mention some specific areas on which our COVID-19 related activities are focused. These include:
225. Legislative and policy advice relating to patents, trade secrets and other relevant forms of IP, including advice on the use of available patent-related flexibilities.
226. New services delivered by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center including new mediation services and WIPO Dispute Resolution Boards to facilitate the resolution of commercial disputes between private parties, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector.
227. WIPO Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) and other technology transfer structures will be strengthened, especially in developing countries, to support the identification of innovations and inventions in the area of pharmaceuticals, and the more specialized areas of therapeutics, bio-analytics, and bioinformatics.
228. A patent landscape report on COVID19 related vaccines and therapeutics has been prepared and will be launched on 10 March in the presence of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the WTO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, Daren Tang, Director General of WIPO. The report provides information on early patenting activity during the pandemic, the use of the patent system and its response to the pandemic, and other related information. Further patent landscape reports on other relevant topics will be published in 2023.
229. Tailored capacity-building initiatives will be delivered via the WIPO Academy, including training on IP and public health, innovation and medical technology, and IP for entrepreneurs. The WIPO Academy will work with partners at the national and regional levels, in particular with national IP offices and national IP Training Institutions to deliver relevant skills-based training programmes. An integral part of the COVID-19 response package is WIPO's trilateral cooperation with the WHO and WTO.
230. In their meeting of 15 June 2021, the Directors General of WHO, WIPO and WTO agreed to enhance and focus support in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, they agreed to implement a joint platform for tripartite technical assistance and to organize a series of trilateral capacity-building workshops on Innovation in, and Access to, COVID-19 Technologies.
231. The WHO-WIPO-WTO Technical Assistance Platform aims to help Members of the three organizations, and WTO accession candidates, to address their capacity-building needs to respond to the pandemic. The platform shall facilitate access to timely and tailored technical assistance upon request. It will be a gateway to the full range of expertise of the three organizations, and will be launched in the second quarter of 2022.
232. Also, under the trilateral cooperation framework, two workshops focusing on pandemic-related issues have been held. Programmes, presentations and background materials of the two workshops are available from the respective meeting webpages. A third workshop is envisaged for the second half of 2022. We remain available to provide Members with any additional information on WIPO's COVID-19 packages of services.
