RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/120/Rev.1
7 January 1999
(99-0017)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  Spanish
COMMUNICATION FROM CUBA
Revision
The Permanent Mission of Cuba has informed the Secretariat that the title of the Act to which
it referred in the communication containing the text of the question posed by Cuba to the
United States, during the meeting of the TRIPS Council on 1-2 December 1998, was incomplete.
This document reproduces the text of the communication from the Permanent Mission of
Cuba with the correct title of the Act concerned, and replaces document IP/C/W/120 of
22 December 1998.
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The authorities of my country have learned that on 21 October of this year, the United States
introduced amendments to the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency SupplementalAppropriations Act.
Specifically, Section 211, paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d), contains provisions concerning
trademarks and trade names that are related to the obligations entered into by Members under the
TRIPS Agreement.
That Agreement applied to developed WTO Members, including the United States, as from
1 January 1996.  Those Members have the obligation to comply with its provisions, and therefore
must ensure that any changes in their laws, regulations and practice do not result in a lesser degree of
consistency with the provisions that are already in force for them.
I have received instructions to inform the Council that our Permanent Mission will address to
the Permanent Mission of the United States a written request, in accordance with Article 63:3 of the
Agreement, asking to be informed in sufficient detail of the above-mentioned Section 211 of the
Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplementa l Appropriations Act so as to provide the
authorities of my country with adequate knowledge of the scope, interpretation and application of its
provisions.  A further objective is that the information to be supplied should make it possible to forman accurate opinion as to the apparent incompatibility of these provisions with the obligations
imposed on Members under the Agreement, and in particular as to the issues of acquisition,
maintenance and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
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