User Rights Symposium
2025-06-16 - 2025-06-17

Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO (66th Series)
2025-07-08 - 2025-07-17

First meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
2025-07-09 09:00 - 2025-07-10 17:00 (Europe/Amsterdam) | Geneva, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
The Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement is tasked with establishing an instrument for Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing as an annex to the Pandemic Agreement.

Second meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
2025-09-15 09:00 - 2025-09-19 17:00 (Europe/Amsterdam) | Geneva, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland

Wend Wendland, "Beyond Adoption": 14th Peter A. Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property
2025-09-25 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | AU Washington College of Law, Washington, DC, United States
14th Peter A. Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property

Delivered by Professor Wend Wendland

Beyond Adoption: Why it Matters and What’s Next for the New WIPO Treaty on IP, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge

September 25, 2025 | 6:00pm ET | In-Person and Online | NT01 Registration Requested

About the Lecture:
In his lecture, Professor Wendland will address the significance and broader implications of the new Treaty for IP policymaking and knowledge governance, including the future of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions protection, in light of the limited number of ratifications to date and emerging resistance to the Treaty from some countries.
Professor Wend Wendland
Professor Wend Wendland is a distinguished intellectual property expert with over 35 years of experience spanning the public and private sectors. He served as Director of the Traditional Knowledge Division at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), reporting to the Global Challenges and Partnerships Sector leadership. In this role, he also held the position of Secretary of WIPO’s Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, playing a pivotal role in norm-setting and capacity-building at the intersection of IP, biodiversity, traditional knowledge and cultural expressions
Professor Wendland was instrumental in facilitating the adoption of the landmark WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge in May 2024, reflecting his dedication to equitable and inclusive governance in IP. Since January 2018, Wendland has held the position of Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where he teaches in the Department of Commercial Law, engaging with emerging debates at the nexus of IP, human rights and sustainable development.
Prior to joining WIPO in 2008, he practiced law as a partner at Webber Wentzel—one of South Africa’s leading law firms—from 1987 to 1997. Based in Geneva during his tenure at WIPO, Wendland continues to contribute to scholarly publications, negotiations, and policy discourse, drawing on his expertise in global governance, IP strategy, and rights-based approaches to traditional knowledge stewardship.
About the Series:
PIJIP’s Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property Law is named in recognition of the continuing contributions of Professor Peter A. Jaszi to the study of intellectual property at WCL, in the world at large, and in particular for his lasting contributions to the elevation of the public interest in intellectual property discourse.
The Peter A. Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property is supported by tax-deductible contributions to the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property.

https://www.american.edu/wcl/impact/initiatives-programs/pijip/events/14th-peter-a-jaszi-distinguished-lecture-on-intellectual-property.cfm

Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement: Informal meetings
2025-10-06 09:00 - 17:00 UTC | Geneva, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland

Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (37th session)
2025-11-03 - 2025-11-07 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Third meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
2025-11-03 09:00 - 2025-11-07 17:00 UTC | Geneva, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland

Committee on WIPO Standards (13th session)
2025-11-10 - 2025-11-14 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Committee on Development and Intellectual Property, CDIP (35th Session)
2025-11-17 - 2025-11-21 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Online Briefing on WIPO SCCR 47
2025-11-25 16:00 - 17:30 (Europe/Paris) | https://dev.knowledgegov.org/event/online-briefing-on-wipo-sccr-47/
Preview and analysis of issues on the agenda of the 47th Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights of the World Intellectual Property Organization
You are cordially invited to a briefing of research and analysis related to the agenda of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 47th Meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights sponsored by the Centre on Knowledge Governance and including members of the Access to Knowledge Coalition of research, education and cultural heritage organizations.
AGENDA
For each agenda item, experts will summarize the current state of play and new documents being considered followed by brief presentations of new products of research and analysis and comments by experts and stakeholders.

LIMITATIONS & EXCEPTIONS
TREATY ON THE PROTECTION OF BROADCAST ORGANIZATIONS
OTHER MATTERS, INCLUDING COPYRIGHT IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

Research and analysis products will be distributed to all registered participants and posted at https://knowledgegov.org/focus-area/wipo-negotiations/
Participating experts will include:

Sean Flynn, Director, Centre on Knowledge Governance (CKG)
Ben Cashdan, Communications Director, CKG
Luca Schirru, Research Director, CKG
Susan Strba, Counsel and Senior Research Fellow, CKG
Andres Isquierdo, Counsel, CKG
Jonathan Band, Director, Library Copyright Alliance
James Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International
Luis Villarroel, Executive Director, Innovarte
Nirmalya Syam, Senior Programme Officer of the Health, Intellectual Property and Biodiversity (HIPB) Programme of the South Centre

Other experts TBA

Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, SCCR (47th session)
2025-12-01 - 2025-12-05 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
2025-12-01 09:00 - 2025-12-05 17:00 UTC | Geneva, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland

Centre on Knowledge Governance Launch & Reception
2025-12-03 18:00 - 21:30 (Europe/Paris) | Geneva Graduate Institute, Chem. Eugène-Rigot 2, 1202 Genève, Switzerland, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
Why are we the Centre on “Knowledge Governance”? Is the present system of Intellectual Property working to meet people’s needs, or do we need new approaches to governing knowledge that go beyond the present limits of IP? Join our book launch, panel discussion to reflect on these questions with some of the finest minds, and celebrate the launch of the Centre with us! Doors open at 6pm for light refreshments.

6.30pm: Book Launch: “The Journey to the WIPO Treaty on Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (Policy, Process and People) ” by Wend Wendland
Wend Wendland
former Director of the Traditional Knowledge Division at WIPO and
former Secretary of the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) at WIPO

H.E. Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota
Permanent Representative of Brazil to the WTO

followed by

7.10pm: Panel Discussion: Can IP respond to people’s needs in the 21st Century?
Ruth L. Okediji
Jeremiah Smith, Jr., Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Co-Director, Berkman Klein Center and Faculty Director, Center for the Study of African Societies and Economies (CSASE)

Ellen ‘t Hoen
Director, Medicines Law & Policy

Sean Flynn
Director of the Geneva Centre on Knowledge Governance

Moderated by Ben Cashdan
South African TV Producer, Former economic advisor to President Nelson Mandela

followed by

8.00pm: Reception: Finger food and drinks
Join us to celebrate the Geneva Knowledge Centre’s launch with a Swiss apéro and a chance to learn about the Centre’s agenda and priorities for 2026.

Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine
2025-12-17 09:00 - 2025-12-19 17:00 (Asia/Kolkata) | New Delhi, India, India
The second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine is titled “Restoring balance: The science and practice of health and well-being.”

Public AI and Europe’s Digital Sovereignty
2026-01-13 12:30 - 14:30 (Europe/Paris) | European Parliament MEP Salon, Rue Wiertz 60, Brussels, B-1047, Belgium
How can Europe develop public AI systems that also ensure competition and sovereignty?
Join us on 13 January 2026, from 12:30 to 14:30, at the European Parliament MEP Salon in Brussels for an lunch event on Public AI and digital sovereignty. The event is co-hosted by MEP Michał Kobosko (Renew) and MEP Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens) with Bertelsmann Stiftung, Open Future, Mozilla Foundation, and Democratic Tech Alliance.
As Europe struggles with its dependency on American and Chinese AI models, our research offers an alternative vision: public AI is a vision of developing European, open source AI models that can spur innovation, support the public interest, and generate economic value. The event will discuss how public AI models and applications can be developed in the European Union, as a core component of the AI Continent Action Plan.
Public AI systems make AI capabilities openly accessible, serve the public interest, and operate under public control or ownership. These systems are essential for achieving European technological sovereignty, spurring European R&D, and generating market value as solutions that can be deployed by European businesses.
During the event, we will present examples of open source AI development and public AI solutions. We will present recommendations on how the European AI Continent Action Plan can support public AI in Europe, and discuss what more needs to be done.
We will also present our new policy brief—produced with Bertelsmann Stiftung—exploring pathways for developing public and sovereign AI solutions in Europe.
Speakers include:

MEP Michał Kobosko
MEP Sergey Lagodinsky
Grażyna Piesiewicz, Head of Unit for High Performance Computing and Applications, DG CONNECT
Nicolas Flores-Herr, Team Lead Foundation Models & Gen AI Systems, Fraunhofer Institute
Ivan Yamshchikov, Chief Product Officer, Pleias
Antoine Isaac, Europeana
Maximilian Gahntz, AI Policy Lead, Mozilla
Sebastiano Toffaletti, Secretary General, Digital SME Alliance
Raegan MacDonald, Director of Policy Leadership, AspirationTech
Alek Tarkowski, Director of Strategy, Open Future
Felix Sieker, Digitalization and Public Welfare Project Manager, Bertelsmann Stiftung

African Group Retreat
2026-01-21 08:00 - 2026-01-22 17:00 UTC
Meeting of African Group delegates, hosted by the Centre on Knowledge Governance with the South Centre
To contact the Centre on Knowledge Governance to enquire about this listing or our working in general, please visit: https://knowledgegov.org/contact-us/

World Health Organization Executive Board: 158th Session
2026-02-02 09:00 - 2026-02-07 17:00 UTC | Geneva, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
The Executive Board advises the World Health Assembly in May.

Working Group on the Development of the Lisbon System (Appellations of Origin) (7th session)
2026-02-03 - 2026-02-05 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
2026-02-09 09:00 - 2026-02-14 17:00 UTC | Geneva, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland

Extraordinary Session of the Coordination Committee to nominate candidate for appointment to the post of Director General of WIPO
2026-02-12 - 2026-02-13 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Working Group (19th session)
2026-02-16 - 2026-02-20 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

* Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Working Group (18th session)
2026-02-16 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Committee for Technical Cooperation (33rd session)
2026-02-16 - 2026-02-20 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

IPC Union - Committee of Experts (57th session)
2026-02-24 - 2026-02-26 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Just AI in Africa
2026-02-26 08:00 - 2026-02-28 17:00 UTC | University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
The rapid growth of AI technology around the world holds the potential to improve research and innovation, but also the risk of aggravating inequality in access to information and economic opportunities. A key problem is that most of the small number of critical “foundation” and “frontier” models upon which AI applications are built are created and controlled by an even smaller number of multinational commercial technology firms. These models are rarely transparent, often culturally and linguistically biased, and have immense market power. One response to the promise and challenges, especially in the Global South and the so-called “middle powers,” is the promotion of “Public AI” — referring to government led and/or publiAt the Centre on Knowledge Governance, in consultation with other key players, we are developing a somewhat broader conception of “Just AI” that blends the desires for public accountability in Public AI with human rights concerns, including the moral and material interests of creators, the stewardship of traditional knowledge by communities and the developmental priorities of the Global South. The purpose of this series of roundtable discussions followed by a drafting retreat in the Cradle of Humankind is to produce a “zero draft” statement of experts on principles of Just AI for Africa.

lntergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, IGC (52nd session)
2026-03-04 - 2026-03-13 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
2026-03-23 09:00 - 2026-03-28 17:00 UTC | Geneva, Geneva, 1202, Switzerland

Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (49th session)
2026-03-30 - 2026-04-02 | WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

Webinar on the Limitations and Exceptions Agenda at WIPO
2026-04-09 16:00 - 18:30 (Europe/Zurich) | https://dev.knowledgegov.org/event/webinar-preview-of-sccr-48/
The Centre on Knowledge Governance (CKG) is hosting a webinar to analyse all the documents before WIPO that could serve as a starting point for text-based work in accordance with the Work Program on Exceptions and Limitations (SCCR/43/8 Rev) adopted by the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) in 2023. See below for a list of the 3 documents to be analysed. This is an ONLINE event.

The US Documents: The United States’ proposed “Objectives and Principles for Exceptions and Limitations for Libraries and Archives” (SCCR/47/10) and “Objectives and Principles for Exceptions and Limitations for Educational, Teaching, and Research Institutions” (SCCR/47/9);
The African Group Proposal: The African Group’s October 7, 2025, ”Proposal on Limitations and Exceptions” (SCCR/47/5); and
The Chair’s Text: the Chair and Vice-Chair’s November 10, 2025, “Text Proposed in the Framework of Work Towards an Appropriate International Legal Instrument or Instruments on Limitations and Exceptions” (SCCR/47/8).

The core questions of the webinar will be:

How do the drafts display agreement on the subjects of a potential instrument?
What are the advantages of any of the document’s provisions and how might they be improved?
How might any of the provisions add to the history and operation of existing international copyright?

CKG will present recent research on copyright limitations and exceptions, followed by a roundtable of experts sharing views on select provisions.
Panelists will include:

Sean Flynn, CKG (Moderator), summary of recent research outputs by CKG
Jonathan Band, Counsel, CKG, comparison of the documents before the committee.
James Love, Knowledge Ecology International, the evolution of teaching and research exceptions in the Berne Convention;
Faith Majekolagbe, University of Alberta Faculty of Law, comments on the African Group Proposal
Christophe Geiger, Luiss University, Rome, preambular objectives and remuneration
Margaret Chon, Seattle University School of Law, visiting researcher, Centre on Knowledge Governance (TBC), research exceptions for access to science.
Luis Villaroel, Innovarte, Chile, proposals to guide application of the three-step test.
Teresa Nobre, Communia, comparing the African Group Proposal with EU Law.

References:

CKG, recent publications relevant to SCCR 48, https://knowledgegov.org/focus-area/wipo-negotiations/
The Berne Convention revisions for limitations and exceptions to copyright, 2012:1 KEI Research Note (August 2012. Revised June 18, 2017). https://www.keionline.org/copyright/berne-convention-exceptions-revisions
Faith O. Majekolagbe, Balancing the Global Copyright System in the Public Interest: An Analysis of the African Group’s Proposed Instrument on Limitations and Exceptions, Working Paper, 1 December 2025, https://www.southcentre.int/working-paper-1-december-2025/
Christophe Geiger, Implementing an International Instrument for Interpreting Copyright Limitations and Exceptions, International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law 40(6) (January 2009) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43234236_Implementing_an_International_Instrument_for_Interpreting_Copyright_Limitations_and_Exceptions
Intellectual Property And The Public Interest: The Wto Trips Agreement And The Copyright Three-Step Test, Communication From South Africa, https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/IP/C/W663.pdf&Open=True
