The Group B+ was established to promote and facilitate progress on key issues under consideration at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and in particular to move forward on substantive patent law harmonisation.
It is chaired by Mr Pascal Faure, Director-General of the French Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle, (INPI), and its members are:
WIPO and Singapore attend the meetings as observers.
The Group B+ usually holds its in person annual plenary session on the fringes of the WIPO General Assemblies in Geneva.
In 2014, a B+ Sub-Group was set up to assist the Chair, now consisting of representatives from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the UK, the USA and the EPO.
The Sub-Group has focused on a package of outstanding issues, namely:
While views differ as to the elements that constitute best practice, substantial progress has been made on the definition of various principles and objectives governing the issues under consideration.
The group attaches great importance to transparency and will continue to engage with national and regional stakeholders and representatives from the user community.
A selection of documents published by the Group B+ is provided below.
[In 2018, there was no Group B+ plenary meeting.]