E UNITED NATIONS Economic and Social Distr, GENERAL Council E/C.12/2001/15 14 December 2001 Original: ENGLISH Intellectual Property COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Twenty-seventh session Geneva, 12-30 November 2001 Agenda item 3 entities, copyright print protections in the digital domain, and private intellectual property claims with respect to cultural heritage and traditional knowledge. The second is the emergence of universal rules on intellectual property protection in the global trading system. 2. SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES ARISING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Follow-up to the day of general discussion on article 15.1 (c), Monday, 26 November 2001 Human rights and intellectual property Statement by the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights has decided to adopt this statement as its preliminary contribution to the rapidly evolving debate on intellectual property, which remains high on the international agenda. The statement aims only to identify some of the key human rights principles deriving from the Covenant that are required to be taken into account in the development, interpretation and implementation of contemporary intellectual property regimes. These basic principles will be further refined, elaborated and applied in the Committee’s forthcoming general comment on intellectual property and human rights. x Introduction i. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes the broad significance of the creation, ownership and control of intellectual property in a knowledge-based economy and the means that it can afford for promoting or inhibiting the enjoyment of human rights, in particular the rights under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The allocation of rights over intellectual property has significant economic, social and cultural consequences that can affect the enjoyment of human rights. The contemporary importance of intellectual property for human rights reflects two developments. The first is the expansion of the areas covered by intellectual property regimes to include, for example, patenting of biological 54 — CHRP ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS HANDBOOK The Committee has resolved to prepare and adopt, as soon as possible, a general comment on intellectual property and human rights. The Committee, however, The principles set out in the present statement apply equally to national legislation and international rules and policies concerning intellectual property protection. In particular, the Committee draws attention to the various intellectual property treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as well as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which set out minimum standards for the protection and enforcement 1 On 27 November 2000, the Committee held a day of general discussion on article 15.1 (c) of the Covenant, the right of everyone to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author, which formed a basis for the Committee’s drafting of a general comment.