Background information: Intellectual property (IP) has remained an important item on the trade agenda of negotiations at the multilateral, regional, and bilateral levels. These negotiations are having a strong impact on the design and implementation of public policies and development strategies of many national governments in key areas including public health, agriculture, culture, environment, research and development, and technology transfer. One challenge facing policymakers of developing countries today is how to adapt existing IPR mechanisms as to address better development needs and to promote local innovation. UNCTAD should be playing at the international level a prominent role in the IPR debate. The upcoming UNCTAD XI Conference in São Paulo will provide a strategic opportunity to further engage UNCTAD in addressing the development implications of IPRs by building on its broad mandate to undertake technical assistance and research not just on IP but across the spectrum of trade and development issues. From the Project&apo;s perspective, UNCTAD XI also offers a perfect occasion to reach out to our priority audience and disseminate some of the major outputs produced so far including a new set of case studies and the forthcoming Resource Book.

Purpose: The aim of the dialogue is: (a) To provide a platform for a strategic discussion between relevant stakeholders on possible solutions for moving forward the debate on IP and Public health issues and find options for implementing the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Health; (b)To discuss new trends at the multilateral, regional and bilateral level in the area of intellectual property and their implications for sustainable development, including technology transfer and innovation policies.

Expected outcome:

• Surfacing options for the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Doha negotiation agenda;
• Incorporating the Latin American perspectives into the global discussions on IPR and sustainable development;
• Mapping the process through which stakeholders will be empowered to initiate compulsory licensing processes in the national context.