RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/35/Add.3
17September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3654)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES
Addendum
World Intellectual Property Organization
Atitsmeeting of22to26July1996, theCouncil forTRIPS agreed torequest certain
intergovernmental organizations toupdate theinformation ontheirtechnical andfinancial cooperation
activities relevant totheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement (IP/C/M/7, paragraph 40).
Thefollowing communication, dated 29August 1996, hasbeenreceived inresponse fromthe
Director General oftheWorld Intellectual Property Organization.
_______________
Inreply toyourletter of5August 1996, inwhich youinvited WIPO toupdate theinformation
provided in1995 onWIPO 'stechnical andfinancial cooperation programs intheareaofintellectual
property thatarerelevant totheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement, Ihavethepleasure tosend
youherewith thereport onWIPO 'sactivities from1January to30June1996 inEnglish, French and
Spanish.
Idraw your attention, inparticular, toparagraphs 743to761ofthereport, which deal
specifically withourcooperation withtheWTO.
_______________
TheAnnex reproduces paragraphs 743to761ofthereport onWIPO 'sactivities from1January
to30June1996. Thecomplete report isavailable intheWTO Secretariat forconsultation byinterested
delegations.IP/C/W/35/Add.3
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ANNEX
Cooperation withtheWorld Trade Organization
743. On1January 1996, theAgreement between WIPO andtheWTO entered intoforce. Thesaid
Agreement established arrangements forcooperation between WIPO andtheWTO inrespect ofthe
following three areas:
(i) notification byWTO Members ofthetexts oftheirintellectual property lawsand
regulations intheiroriginal language andwhere thatlanguage isnotEnglish, French
orSpanish, alsoinatranslation inoneofthese three languages; assistance byWIPO
inpreparing suchtranslations; collection ofthesaidtextsandtranslations byWIPO;
furnishing ofcopies ofthetexts ortranslations; access toWIPO 'scomputerized
database ofthesaidtextsandtranslations;
(ii) receipt byWIPO ofcommunications ofState emblems byWTO Members and
notification ofthesame totheother Members;
(iii) legal-technical assistance byWIPO todeveloping country WTO Members; cooperation
between WIPO andtheWTO inthelegal-technical assistance andtechnical cooperation
activities.
744. Itisrecalled thatinOctober 1995, theWIPO General Assembly agreed thattheInternational
Bureau should make arrangements soastobeabletorespond torequests from developing countries
toWIPO forlegalandtechnical assistance relating totheTRIPS Agreement andshould report tothe
sessions oftheGoverning Bodies in1996 onthetypeandrecipients ofthese activities, including a
study conducted byWIPO onfinancial andother implications oftheimplementation oftheTRIPS
Agreement fordeveloping countries. TheGeneral Assembly alsoagreed thattheInternational Bureau
should expand thecoverage oftheTRIPS Agreement inexisting WIPO development cooperation
activities.
745. Pursuant totheabove-mentioned decisions oftheWIPO General Assembly andtotheWIPO-
WTO Agreement, theInternational Bureau carried out,inthefirstsixmonths ofthecurrent biennium,
anextensive programme ofdevelopment cooperation activities relating totheTRIPS Agreement and
tocooperation withWTO. Theactivities were organized inresponse totherequests andwishes of
thedeveloping countries concerned andtookaccount ofthetime-frame available tothem formeeting
theirobligations under theTRIPS Agreement. Many oftheactivities were entirely focused onthe
TRIPS Agreement, initstotality orsingling outforexamination oneormore aspects ofthatAgreement.
Other activities dealtwithcertain elements oftheTRIPS Agreement butalsocovered traditional areas
ofWIPO 'sdevelopment cooperation programme notdirectly related toobligations under theAgreement,
suchasthepromotion ofinventive activities andtheuseofpatent documentation. Thework thatwas
carried outisdescribed indetail inChapter IIofthisdocument, indicating foreachactivity whether
itdealtentirely orpartly withtheobligations under theTRIPS Agreement.
746. Overall, atotalof110developing countries andoneterritory benefited from those WIPO
development cooperation activities which either dealt entirely withtheTRIPS Agreement orhada
component relating tothatAgreement; theywere: AFGHANISTAN, ALGERIA, ANGOLA,
ARGENTINA, BAHRAIN, BANGLADESH, BARBADOS, BENIN, BHUTAN, BOLIVIA,
BOTSWANA, BRAZIL, BRUNEI DARUSSALAM, BURKINA FASO, BURUNDI, CAMBODIA,
CAMEROON, CAPE VERDE, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, CHILE, CHINA, COLOMBIA,
COSTA RICA, CÔTED'IVOIRE, CUBA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE 'SREPUBLIC OFKOREA,IP/C/W/35/Add.3
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DJIBOUTI, DOMINICA, ECUADOR, EGYPT, ELSALVADOR, ETHIOPIA, FIJI, GABON,
GAMBIA,GHANA,GRENADA,GUATEMALA,GUINEA,GUINEA-BISSAU,GUYANA,HAITI,
HONDURAS,INDIA,INDONESIA,IRAN(ISLAMICREPUBLICOF),IRAQ,JAMAICA,JORDAN,
KENYA, KUWAIT, LAOS, LEBANON, LESOTHO, LIBYA, MADAGASCAR, MALAWI,
MALAYSIA, MALDIVES, MALI, MAURITANIA, MAURITIUS, MEXICO, MICRONESIA
(FEDERATEDSTATESOF),MONGOLIA,MOROCCO,MOZAMBIQUE,MYANMAR,NAMIBIA,
NICARAGUA, NIGER, NIGERIA, OMAN, PAKISTAN, PANAMA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA,
PARAGUAY,PERU,PHILIPPINES,QATAR,REPUBLICOFKOREA,RWANDA,SAINTLUCIA,
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, SAUDI ARABIA,
SENEGAL,SIERRALEONE,SINGAPORE,SOUTHAFRICA,SRILANKA,SUDAN,SURINAME,
SWAZILAND, SYRIA, THAILAND, TOGO, TONGA, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, TUNISIA,
UGANDA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, UNITED REPUBLIC OFTANZANIA, URUGUAY,
VANUATU, VENEZUELA, VIET NAM, YEMEN, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE, HONG KONG. Of
thosecountries,24receivedadvicefromtheInternationalBureauregardingthedraftingofnewlegislation
ortherevision ofexisting legislation, allofwhich tookaccount oftherelevant provisions oftheTRIPS
Agreement. Inaddition, 39seminars orcourses hadprogrammes which wereeither wholly devoted
to,ordealtwithcertain features of,theTRIPS Agreement. Atotalofapproximately 3,100 developing
country nationals learned about theTRIPS Agreement fromthose seminars andcourses, ofwhich 275
hadtheirtravel andliving expenses financed byWIPO.
747. Highlighted below aresixfeatures ofthedevelopment cooperation activities relating tothe
TRIPS Agreement andtocooperation withWTO which areparticularly noteworthy.
748. First,WIPO organized four"mega symposiums" ontheTRIPS Agreement; theywere the
RegionalSymposiumsontheImplicationsoftheTRIPSAgreementwhichtookplaceinallthedeveloping
regions, thatis,inApril, inAbidjan forFrench-speaking African countries; inPretoria, inthesame
month, forEnglish-speaking African countries; inMay, inJakarta, forAsian andPacific countries
and,laterthatmonth, inCaracas forLatin American andCaribbean countries. Those four"mega
meetings" wereorganized intheformofpanel discussions. InDecember 1995, WIPO hadorganized
asimilar symposium inCairo, forArabcountries. Toallthefivesymposiums wereinvited developing
Members ofWTO. Theformat ofpanel discussions inthefivesymposiums, where thediscussions
wereledeither bytheDirector General, aDeputy Director General oranAssistant Director General
ofWIPO, proved asuccess, anditisplanned thatsimilar regional mega symposiums, focusing on
selected aspects oftheTRIPS Agreement, suchasenforcement, would beorganized laterin1996 or
early 1997.
749. Second ,inMay, WIPO published amemorandum (WO/INF/127 Rev.2) entitled "Implications
oftheTRIPS Agreement onTreaties Administered byWIPO". Thisstudy takes onebyoneeachof
the73Articles oftheTRIPS Agreement and,where theArticle seems tohave"implications" onany
WIPO-administered treaty, dwells longer ontheArticle andpoints out,unless obvious, anypossible
change intheobligations ofaStatewhich isparty totheTreaty inquestion andwhich isalsoaMember
ofWTO andtherefore isorwillbebound bytheTRIPS Agreement. Naturally, thisdoesnotnecessarily
imply thatchanges innational legislation would, inallcases, berequired, since, inmany cases, such
legislation isalready inharmony withtheTRIPS Agreement. Itistobenoted thatthisstudy does
notconstitute anofficial interpretation oftheWIPO-administered treaties, theTRIPS Agreement or
anyother official textinthefieldofintellectual property. Thestudy isavailable inEnglish, French
andSpanish andhasbeenwidely distributed toallthedeveloping country member States ofWIPO
and/or WTO aswellastotheother States.
750. Third,theInternational Bureau commissioned, inthefirstquarter oftheyear, fourstudies
onthefinancial andother implications oftheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement fordeveloping
countries. Thestudies arebeing carried outbyUNCTAD, theInstitute forEconomic Research inIP/C/W/35/Add.3
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Munich(upontherecommendationoftheCommissionoftheEuropeanCommunities),aprivateAmerican
international business counsellor (upon therecommendation oftheUnited States Patent andTrademark
Office), andtheMinistry ofIndustry andTrade ofHungary. Those studies areexpected tobereceived
bytheInternational Bureau inJulyorAugust 1996.
751. Fourth ,staffmembers oftheWTO Secretariat were, andwillcontinue tobe,invited toseminars
andother meetings organized byWIPO anddealing, ormainly dealing, withtheTRIPS Agreement.
Their travel andliving expenses were, andwillcontinue tobe,borne byWIPO iftheevents were,
orwillbe,outside Geneva. Thus, forexample, WTO officials participated asspeakers ineachofthe
five"mega symposiums" referred toabove, aswellasinthreeother WIPO seminars andcourses during
theperiod under review.
752. Fifth,inconjunction withthe1996 session ofthePermanent Committee onDevelopment
Cooperation Related toIndustrial Property (PC/IP), which tookplace inJuneinGeneva, aspecial
seminar devoted toenforcement questions under theTRIPS Agreement washeldfordelegates tothe
PC/IP andtomembers ofthePermanent Missions based inGeneva.
753. Sixth,inthesame period, theInternational Bureau issued aspecial printed brochure which
contains, inasingle volume, thetextoftheWIPO-WTO Agreement andthetextsdirectly orindirectly
referred tointhatAgreement, including theTRIPS Agreement. Itisintended asaconvenient tool
forunderstanding theinterrelations among those texts. Thebrochure (WIPO Publication No.223)
isavailable inEnglish, French andSpanish.
754. During theperiod under review, WIPO gavetotheWTO Secretariat, onthelatter'srequest,
copies ofalmost 200intellectual property laws, regulations and/or translations, where aWTO Member
hadstated thetextstobeavailable inthecollection ofWIPO inthecontext ofanotification under
Article63.2oftheTRIPSAgreement.ThesaidlawsandregulationswereinEnglish,FrenchorSpanish,
aswellasinfourother languages when theoriginal wasinalanguage other thanEnglish, French or
Spanish.
755. During thesame period, WIPO received from theWTO Secretariat thetextofover500
intellectual property lawsandregulations and/or translations which hadbeennotified totheWTO
Secretariat under Article 63.2oftheTRIPS Agreement byWTO Members, andintegrated these into
itscollection. Thesaidtextswere inEnglish, French andSpanish aswellasin10other languages
when theoriginal wasinalanguage other thanEnglish, French orSpanish.
756. During thesaidperiod, WIPO designed andestablished abibliographic database ofintellectual
property lawsandregulations andstarted toenter therein, asapriority, information related totexts
notified byWTO Members under Article 63.2oftheTRIPS Agreement, andexchanged between WIPO
andtheWTO under theAgreement. Thesaidbibliographic database willeventually cover allintellectual
property lawsandregulations available inthecollection ofWIPO, whether WTO-notified ornot.
757. Also, work started forthecreation ofaWIPO full-text database ofintellectual property laws
andregulations, which, inaccordance withtheAgreement, shallbeaccessible toWTO Members and
nationals ofWTO Members onthesame terms astheyapply tothemember States ofWIPO, andto
nationals ofthemember States ofWIPO.
758. Numerous translations ofintellectual property legaltextscontinued tobecarried outbyWIPO,
mainly forthepurpose ofpublication inpaper (legislative inserts ofthemonthly review Industrial
Property andCopyright/La Propriété industrielle etleDroit d'auteur )andelectronic (theCD-ROM
IPLEX) formats.IP/C/W/35/Add.3
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759. Asregards Stateemblems, inJanuary 1996, WIPO communicated totheWTO Members not
party totheParis Convention, thearmorial bearings, flagsandother State emblems ofthecountries
party totheParis Convention, andtheofficial signs andhallmarks indicating control andwarranty
adopted bythem, aswellasthearmorial bearings, flagsandother emblems, abbreviations andnames
ofinternational intergovernmental organizations thathadsofarbeencommunicated tothecountries
party totheParis Convention inaccordance withArticle 6terofthatConvention. Intheremainder
ofthereporting period, similar communications (four) weremade byWIPO tothose States notparty
totheParis Convention which hadbecome WTO Members, aftertheabove (January) communication
hadbeenmade.
760. Throughout thisreporting period, there were almost daily working contacts between the
International Bureau andtheWTO Secretariat concerning thecooperative activities ofthetwo
Organizations.
761. Astotherepresentation ofWIPO inWTO-organized meetings, thefollowing should benoted:
(i) inFebruary, April andJune, WIPO wasrepresented atthemeetings oftheGeneral
Council oftheWTO, heldinGeneva;
(ii) inFebruary andMay, WIPO wasrepresented atthemeetings oftheCouncil forTRIPS
oftheWTO, heldinGeneva;
(iii) inMarch, 25government officials from 16Latin American countries enrolled inthe
Trade-Policy Course oftheWTO, visited WIPO andwerebriefed byWIPO officials
onWIPO 'sactivities andintellectual property ingeneral;
(iv) inJune, 24government officials enrolled intheTrade-Policy Course forEastern and
Central European andCentral Asian Countries oftheWTO visited WIPO andwere
briefed onWIPO 'sactivities andintellectual property ingeneral.