RESTRICTED
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE PC/IPL/7/Add.2
FOR THE 25November 1994
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
(94-2538)
SUB-COMMITTEE ONINSTITUTIONAL,
PROCEDURAL AND LEGAL MATTERS
INFORMAL CONTACT GROUP ONTRIPS
Report bytheChairman asapproved bytheSub-Committee
on18November
Addendum
This addendum reproduces asasingle document theSecretariat note of6September 1994,
prepared fortheInformal Contact Group onTRIPS, entitled "Arrangements forCooperation withWIPO:
Checklist ofPossible Areas ofCooperation", together with theAddendum tothat note of
15September 1994.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 2
ARRANGEMENTS FOR COOPERATION WITH WIPO:
CHECKLIST OFPOSSIBLE AREAS OFCOOPERATION
Note Prepared bytheSecretariat
1. Atitsmeeting of19July1994, theContact Group onTRIPS requested theSecretariat toprepare
achecklist ofpossible areas ofcooperation between WIPO andtheWTO, specifying anyrelevant WTO
provisions. Inparticular, theSecretariat wasrequested toprovide information ontheexisting WIPO
register ofnational legislation, including such matters asthenature oftheobligation tonotify inWIPO,
thecoverage oftheWIPO notification system inrelation totheTRIPS Agreement, thetiming and
distribution ofnotifications under it,andthelanguages inwhich notifications aremade andcirculated.
TheSecretariat wasalsorequested toprovide achecklist ofother possible areas ofcooperation between
WIPO andtheWTO, including inrespect ofother notification provisions oftheTRIPS Agreement.
2. Achecklist ofpossible areas ofcooperation between WIPO andtheWTO iscontained inPartI
ofthisnote. PartIIoutlines theissues relating tothenotification provisions oftheTRIPS Agreement.
Information onthequestion ofpossible cooperation with WIPO ontheestablishment ofa"common
register" containing laws andregulations isreproduced inPartIII.Information about WIPO practices
hasbeen obtained asaresult ofhelpful contacts with theInternational Bureau ofWIPO.
3. Theprovisions oftheTRIPS Agreement which refer tothegeneral issue oftherelationship
with WIPO aretobefound inthePreamble andinArticle 68.Thelastindent ofthePreamble reads
asfollows:
"Desiring toestablish amutually supportive relationship between theWTO andthe
World Intellectual Property Organization (referred tointhisAgreement as"WIPO") aswell
asother relevant international organizations."
Article 68states that: "Inconsultation with WIPO, theCouncil [forTRIPS] shall seek toestablish,
within oneyear ofitsfirst meeting, appropriate arrangements forcooperation with bodies ofthat
organization."
4. Inadocument fordiscussion attheWIPO Governing Bodies (26September -4October 1994)
theDirectorGeneralofWIPOproposedthattheWIPOGeneralAssemblydeclarethatWIPO,too,desired
theestablishmentofamutuallysupportiverelationshipbetweenWIPOandtheWTO.Hefurtherindicated
thathelooked forward totheTRIPS Council 'sinitiative forconsultation with WIPO andthathewould,
induecourse, report onthese discussions totheGeneral Assembly ofWIPO andaskforthelatter 's
agreement tothearrangements thusdiscussed.1Therepresentative ofWIPO alsoaddressed theissue
ofcooperation between thetwoOrganizations attheMarrakesh Ministerial meeting. Acopy ofhis
statement isatAnnex 1ofthisnote.
I.POSSIBLE AREAS OFCOOPERATION
5. Clearly animportant precondition forcooperation between WIPO andtheWTO istheadequate
exchange ofinformation between them about their respective activities, actual andplanned. Onebasic
way inwhich thiscould besecured would bearrangements providing forreciprocal observer status
1Fortheoutcome ofthediscussion intheWIPO General Assembly, seedocument PC/IPL/7, Annex 2.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 3
forrepresentatives ofthetwoOrganizations ineach other 'smeetings. Ofcourse, thefactthatmost
Members oftheWTO willalsobemembers ofWIPO willitself helpensure thateachoftheOrganizations
actsintheknowledge ofon-going activities intheother. Itwould beforconsideration whether any
other systematic mechanism might need tobedeveloped, inaddition tothetwofactors mentioned above,
forensuring adequate information flows between thetwoOrganizations.
6. Inregard tomore specific matters, thequestion ofpossible cooperation withWIPO would appear
toarise inrelation tothree particular areas ofwork under theTRIPS Agreement. These concern
notification procedures, technical cooperation anddispute settlement. These specific issues arediscussed
below.
(i) Notification procedures
Theissues relating tonotifications asrequired bytheTRIPS Agreement arediscussed inParts II
andIIIofthisnote.
(ii) Technical cooperation
TheTRIPS Agreement does notrefer specifically totechnical cooperation tobeprovided by
intergovernmentalorganizations.2However,itisafactthatWIPOhasaverysignificanttechnical
cooperation operation. Two questions relating tocooperation with WIPO would seem toarise:
- Towhat extent should theassistance ofWIPO besought inproviding technical
cooperation toassist countries inimplementing their obligations under theTRIPS
Agreement?
- If,ashasbeen thepractice intheGATT inthepast, theWTO Secretariat would itself
haveamodestcapacitytoprovidetechnicalcooperation,whatformofcooperationmight
beenvisaged between thetwoSecretariats intheprovision oftechnical cooperation?
Itwould appear thatconsideration ofthese matters willdepend inpartontheoutcome oftwo
questions under discussion inother contexts -outcomes which willnotbeknown bythetime
oftheContact Group 'sSeptember meeting:
- According toaproposal bytheDirector General ofWIPO totheWIPO Governing
Bodies (26September -4October 1994) theInternational Bureau ofWIPO should be
atthedisposal ofanyState thatexpressly asksforadvice onquestions ofcompatibility
oftheirexistingorplannednationalintellectualpropertylegislationnotonlywithtreaties
administered byWIPO, butalsoother international norms andtrends, including the
recently concluded GATT Agreement onTRIPS. Theproposal also said thatthe
2TheonlyprovisionoftheTRIPSAgreementreferringtotechnicalcooperation,Article67,addressestechnicalcooperation
tobeprovided bydeveloped country Members. Article 67reads asfollows:
"Inorder tofacilitate theimplementation ofthisAgreement, developed country Members shallprovide, onrequest
andonmutually agreed terms andconditions, technical andfinancial cooperation infavour ofdeveloping andleast-
developed country Members. Such cooperation shallinclude assistance inthepreparation oflawsandregulations
ontheprotection andenforcement ofintellectual property rights aswellasontheprevention oftheirabuse, and
shall include support regarding theestablishment orreinforcement ofdomestic offices andagencies relevant to
these matters, including thetraining ofpersonnel."PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 4
International Bureau should prepare studies ontheimplications oftheTRIPS Agreement
forthetreaties administered byWIPO.3
- Thefuture budgetary decisions tobetaken ontheresources tobemade available to
theWTO Secretariat andthegeneral policy debate tobeheld onthequestion ofWTO
technical cooperation activities bythePreparatory Committee 'sSub-Committee on
Budget, Finance andAdministration thisautumn.
(iii) Dispute Settlement
Article 13.1 oftheWTO Understanding onRules andProcedures Governing theSettlement
ofDisputes saysthat"each Panel shall have theright toseek information andtechnical advice
from anyindividual orbody which itdeems appropriate". Article 13.2 states that"Panels may
seek information from anyrelevant source andmay consult experts toobtain their opinion on
certain aspects ofthematter". Panels setuptoconsider complaints under theTRIPS Agreement
may wish toseek information andtechnical advice from theInternational Bureau ofWIPO,
particularly where matters relating toprovisions ofConventions administered byWIPO and
incorporated byreference intheTRIPS Agreement areatissue.
7. Members oftheContact Group mayhave other suggestions about possible areas forcooperation
with WIPO thatshould beexplored. Toassist inconsideration ofthis, thelistofthefunctions ofthe
TRIPS Council asprescribed bytheWTO and TRIPS Agreements that was circulated in
document PC/IPL/W/1 isatAnnex 2ofthisnote.
8. Inregard tofuture areas ofwork thatwillbetaken upbytheTRIPS Council, itwould befor
consideration whether itisfeasible todraw upasoftoday anyadvance arrangements forcooperation
with WIPO orwhether thequestion ofcooperation should beconsidered onacase-by-case basis, on
thebasis ofthegeneral principles contained intheTRIPS Agreement andreferred toinparagraph 3.
9. ThePreamble totheTRIPS Agreement refers toamutually supportive relationship between
theWTO andWIPO. This suggests atwo-way street inregard tocooperation. Therefore, theContact
Group might wish toconsider notonlytheareas inwhich thecooperation ofWIPO intheimplementation
oftheTRIPS Agreement might bedesirable butalsowhat contribution theWTO could make tothe
activities ofWIPO.
II.NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES
10. This Part addresses inturn thenotification provisions oftheTRIPS Agreement listed in
document PC/IPL/7/Add.1. That document alsoreproduces thetexts oftherelevant provisions ofthe
Rome, Berne andParis Conventions referred tointhese provisions oftheTRIPS Agreement.
A. TRIPS Notification Obligations notReferring toProvisions ofOther IPConventions
1. Article 63.2: National laws andregulations pertaining totheavailability, scope,
acquisition, enforcement andprevention oftheabuse ofIPRs.
11. Information onandissues relating tothisnotification provision arecontained inPartIIIbelow.
3Fortheoutcome ofthediscussion intheWIPO General Assembly, seedocument PC/IPL/7, Annex 2.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 5
2. Article 4(d): Internationalagreementsrelatingtotheprotectionofintellectualproperty
which entered intoforce prior totheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, onthe
basis ofwhich aMember seeks tojustify anexception toMFN treatment.
3. Article 69: Contact points intheadministrations ofMembers established with a
view tocooperation intheelimination oftrade ininfringing goods.
12. Neither ofthese provisions relate tocooperation with WIPO. Themain issues thatmayappear
toarise concern thetiming ofthenotifications:
- Given thatonly agreements inforce prior totheentry intoforce oftheWTO would
qualify fornotification under Article 4(d), should Members berequested tonotify such
agreements within acertain period from entry intoforce oftheTRIPS Agreement,
forexample within twelve months? Arelated point iswhat could bethesituation in
regard toaTRIPS Member thatjoined such anagreement after entry intoforce ofthe
WTO Agreement?
- When should notifications bemade under Article 69?Ontheonehand, thisprovision
basically provides forjoint action -asdoes Article 68ontheCouncil forTRIPS -and
thusmight beunderstood tobeapplicable forallMembers from dayone. Ontheother
hand, thenotification obligation isclearly anindividual obligation oneach Member.
What then isitsrelation tothetransition periods ofPartVI?
B. Notification Obligations Explicitly Mentioned inTRIPS andReferring toProvisions
ofOther IPConventions
4. Article 1.3: AnyMember making exceptions ofthesortprovided forinArticles 5(3)
and6(2)oftheRome Convention tothenormal criteria fordetermining beneficiaries
entitled toTRIPS treatment isrequired tomake anotification asforeseen inthose
provisions totheTRIPS Council.
5. Article 3.1: AnyMember making exceptions totherequirement togive national
treatment ofthesortprovided forinArticle 6oftheBerne Convention orArticle 16(1)(b)
oftheRome Convention isrequired tomake anotification asforeseen inthose provisions
totheTRIPS Council.
13. These twonotification provisions raise similar issues. TRIPS Members whoarealsoMembers
oftheBerne orRome Convention willalready have hadanopportunity tomake notifications under
theunderlying provision inquestion of,respectively, theBerne orRome Convention. However,
- suchnotificationswouldnothaveanyautomaticlegalstatusundertheTRIPSAgreement,
which ispartofaseparate international treaty -theWTO Agreement;
- theTRIPS Agreement willhave adifferent membership from thatofboth theBerne
andRome Conventions. Anotification already made under theBerne orRome
Convention byamember ofthatConvention which isalsoaTRIPS Member cannot
affect thelegal relationship between thatMember andanother TRIPS Member nota
member oftheConvention inquestion. Moreover, TRIPS Members notmembers of
theRome orBerne Convention will nothave hadtheopportunity tomake such
notifications. Indeed, such Members may notbeaware ofthenotifications thathave
been made bythose States thataremembers oftheRome andBerne Conventions.
14. Itisforthese reasons thatArticles 1.3and3.1oftheTRIPS Agreement callforaseparate
notification totheTRIPS Council. Thequestion thenis:given thatmany ofthenotifications inquestionPC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 6
have already been made under theBerne andRome Conventions, what arrangements canbemade to
avoid unnecessary duplication ofwork andtoforestall anyunintended differences? One possibility
would betocompile, with theassistance ofWIPO andoftheUnited Nations Legal Office4,acomplete
listingofthenotificationsalreadymadeundertherelevantprovisionsoftheBerneandRomeConventions.
This could becirculated totheTRIPS Council, with oneoftwoprocedures envisaged:
- Each notification made under those Conventions byaTRIPS Member would betaken
asbeing alsoanotification totheTRIPS Council under therelevant provision ofthe
TRIPS Agreement, unless theMember concerned indicated tothecontrary within a
certain period, say60days.
- Alternatively, Members could begiven aperiod within which tosend inwriting
confirmation oftheir earlier notification ortonotify something different. Ifno
communication were received from aMember, nonotification would bevalid under
theTRIPS Agreement forthatMember.
15. Ineither case, Members oftheTRIPS Agreement who arenotmembers oftheBerne orRome
Convention would have tomake denovo notifications totheTRIPS Council ifthey wish tobenefit
from theexception possibilities inquestion under Articles 1.3and3.1oftheTRIPS Agreement.
16. Asforthetiming ofthenotifications, theprovisions inArticle 3.1relate tonational treatment
andthuscome intoeffect forallTRIPS Members oneyearafter entry intoforce oftheWTO. Article 1.3
alsohasarelationtonationaltreatmentsinceitdeterminestheforeignnationalseligibleforsuchtreatment
-thepersons, natural orlegal, linked with other Members towhom thebenefits oftheAgreement must
beaccorded. Itwillthusbenecessary forthese notification procedures tobeinplace intime forthe
notification tobeeffective from thebeginning of1996 (assuming theWTO Agreement enters intoforce
on1January 1995). Inthisregard, itshould benoted that,under theprovisions oftheRome Convention
inquestion, thenotifications canbemade either atthetime of"ratification, acceptance oraccession"
oratanytime thereafter, butinthelastcase only become effective sixmonths later. Asregards the
firstgroup ofpossibilities, fornotifications tobedeposited atthetime of"ratification, acceptance or
accession", itwould presumably beacceptable foragovernment tomake thenotifications along with
itsdeposit ofitsinstrument ofacceptance totheWTO Agreement, ifitsowished; thiswould then
beregarded asanotification "totheCouncil forTRIPS" forthepurposes ofArticles 1.3and3.1of
theTRIPS Agreement. Inregard tothelastpossibility under Articles 5(3), 6(2) and16(1)(b) ofthe
Rome Convention -thatnotifications canbemade atanytime after deposit oftheinstrument of
acceptance butonly become effective sixmonths later -anyprocedures along thelines ofthose discussed
inparagraphs 14and15would need tobeinplace early next year sothatthey canbeused before the
middle oftheyear andsothatthenotifications could then beeffective by1January 1996.
17. Inregard tosubsequent notifications, whether under theTRIPS Agreement orunder theBerne
andRome Conventions, thenormal exchange ofinformation anddocuments between WIPO andthe
United Nations, ontheonehand, andtheWTO, ontheother, willensure thatnotifications made in
onecontext become known totheSecretariats oftheother Organizations. When, asaresult, itbecomes
known totheWTO Secretariat thatanotification hasbeen made toWIPO ortheUnited Nations by
aTRIPS Member, theWTO Secretariat could check with theWTO Member concerned toestablish
whether thatMember wished alsotomake thenotification totheTRIPS Council.
6. Article 63.2: TheTRIPS Council isrequired toconsider, inconnection with the
consultations with WIPO ontheestablishment ofacommon register oflaws and
4TheSecretary-General oftheUnited Nations isthedepositary oftheRome Convention.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 7
regulations, anyaction required regarding notifications pursuant totheobligations
under theTRIPS Agreement stemming from theprovisions ofArticle 6teroftheParis
Convention. Article 6ter concerns protection against theuseorregistration as
trademarks without authorization ofstate emblems, official hallmarks andtheemblems
ofintergovernmental organizations.
18. Thediscussion inparagraph 13about theapplicability ofnotifications already made under
provisions oftheBerne andRome Conventions tothelegal rights andobligations under theTRIPS
Agreement thatflow from theincorporation intheTRIPS Agreement ofthenotification provisions
oftheBerne andRome Conventions inquestion would alsoappear toberelevant totheissue ofthe
incorporation intheTRIPS Agreement oftheprovisions ofArticle 6teroftheParis Convention.
However, anyunderstanding that, where provisions oftheParis andother existing international
conventionsareincorporatedintheTRIPSAgreement,referencestotheInternationalBureau,theDirector
General ofWIPO, theSecretary-General oftheUnited Nations etc.should beconstrued forTRIPS
purposes, onamutadis mutandis basis, asreferences totheWTO institutional machinery, would not
preclude aTRIPS Council decision torequest theInternational Bureau ofWIPO tohandle onitsbehalf
anyparticular notification function.
19. Indeed, there would appear tobemuch sense inexploring such anapproach inregard tothe
administration ofTRIPS obligations stemming from theincorporation byreference ofArticle 6terof
theParis Convention. Given thatallthesubstantive provisions oftheParis Convention, initslatest
version, have tobecomplied with byTRIPS Members, itcanbeexpected thatthelarge majority of
TRIPS Members willbemembers ofthatversion oftheParis Convention. Therefore, they willbe
making thenotifications inquestion anyway totheInternational Bureau. Moreover, itwould seem
thatthere would bemuch merit inasingle, comprehensive system fortheadministration ofnotifications
relating totheprovisions ofArticle 6teroftheParis Convention, notonly toavoid wasteful duplication
butalsofortheconvenience ofgovernments andbusiness. Ofcourse, inanysuch single administration
ofthese provisions, itwould have tobemade clear whether thenotifications arebeing made pursuant
toobligations under theParis Convention, under theTRIPS Agreement, orunder both, since some
difference inmembership andtherefore ofthescope ofobligations may well remain.
20. Adescription oftheprocedure currently employed bytheInternational Bureau forthe
implementation ofArticle 6teroftheParis Convention, which hasbeen kindly supplied bythe
International Bureau oftheWIPO, canbefound atAnnex 3.
21. Ifitwere thought desirable toexplore with WIPO thepossibility oftheInternational Bureau
undertaking,inconjunctionwithitsexistingadministrationofthenotificationprovisionsunderArticle6ter
oftheParis Convention, theadministration ofTRIPS obligations flowing from theincorporation by
reference ofthesame provisions, thefollowing elements might beconsidered asabasis forpossible
consultations with WIPO:
- Theexisting stock ofnotifications thathave been communicated among members of
theParis Convention, through theintermediary oftheInternational Bureau, could be
understood asalsoconstituting communications under theTRIPS Agreement byTRIPS
Members which arealsomembers oftheParis Convention.
- Itwould also beunderstood thatthisexisting stock would beapplicable tothose
Members oftheTRIPS Agreement which arenotmembers oftheParis Convention
ortowhich certain provisions ofArticle 6teroftheParis Convention (1967) donot
apply since they arenotmembers ofthe1967 version oftheParis Convention. To
theextent that, forreasons indicated intheprevious sentence, such TRIPS Members
have notalready hadtheopportunity tomake objections under theprovisions ofPC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 8
Article6ter(4)oftheParisConvention,atwelve-monthperiodforsuchobjectionswould
begranted.
- ATRIPS Member which hadnothadtheopportunity tomake notifications under the
Paris Convention would beabletomake communications ofthesortprovided forin
Article 6ter,through theInternational Bureau, toother TRIPS Members. These other
TRIPS Members would have thepossibility tomake objections, again through the
International Bureau, tosuch communications, asprovided forinArticle 6ter(4).
- Additional communications made byTRIPS Members ormodifications bythem of
existing communications would beadministered bytheInternational Bureau, wherever
possible, asbeing notifications both under TRIPS andunder theParis Convention.
Inaddition, theInternational Bureau would administer anynotifications which areonly
applicable under TRIPS.
Anyarrangements worked outwith WIPO would have totakeaccount ofthediffering transition periods
provided under theTRIPS Agreement fortheapplication oftheprovisions ofArticle 6teroftheParis
Convention.
C. Other Notification Provisions ofIPConventions Incorporated byReference intothe
TRIPS Agreement, butnotExplicitly Referred toinTRIPS
22. Ageneralissuethatmightbediscussediswhat,ifany,differenceintreatmentofthesenotification
provisions might bewarranted bythefactthatthey have notbeen explicitly referred tointheTRIPS
Agreement. Asregards more specific matters, theContact Group might findthatitsconsideration of
thenotificationprovisionsreferredtoearlierinthisnotemightprovideusefulguidanceforanyprocedures
thatmight beconsidered desirable togive effect tothese notification provisions. Itmight therefore
beadvisable nottoburden thediscussion atthisstage byalsogoing indetail intothese notification
provisions.
III. NOTIFICATION OFNATIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS
23. TheTRIPS obligation tonotify national laws andregulations iscontained inArticle 63.2 of
theTRIPS Agreement, therelevant partofwhich reads asfollows:
"Members shall notify thelaws andregulations referred toinparagraph 1totheCouncil for
TRIPS inorder toassist thatCouncil initsreview oftheoperation ofthisAgreement. The
Council shall attempt tominimize theburden onMembers incarrying outthisobligation and
may decide towaive theobligation tonotify such laws andregulations directly totheCouncil
ifconsultations with WIPO ontheestablishment ofacommon register containing these laws
andregulations aresuccessful."
Thelaws andregulations referred toinparagraph 1ofArticle 63arethose "made effective byaMember
pertaining tothesubject matter ofthisAgreement (theavailability, scope, acquisition, enforcement and
prevention oftheabuse ofintellectual property rights)".
A. TheWIPO System
24. TheWIPO system forproviding transparency inrespect ofnational laws andregulations is
based ontheobligations inArticle 15(2) oftheParis Convention andArticle 24(2) oftheBernePC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 9
Convention tocommunicate totheInternational Bureau allnew laws andofficial texts. TheWIPO
system hastwoelements:
- Two extensive collections ofnational laws andregulations (one onindustrial property
andoneoncopyrightandneighbouringrights)whichareheldintheInternationalBureau.
Material from thecollection isavailable forconsultation byanyinterested person,
whether from governments orthegeneral public.
- Aproportion ofthismaterial, consisting inparticular ofthemain intellectual property
laws ofthemember countries ofWIPO, ispublished bytheInternational Bureau in
theWIPO journals (Industrial Property andCopyright )andsince April 1994 alsoin
CD-ROM format.
Inwhat follows, thefirstelement isreferred toasthe"WIPO collections "andthelatter element the
"WIPO published laws".
25. Itmight benoted that, even though theword "register" wasemployed inArticle 63.2 inthe
apparent belief thatitwasaword used intheWIPO inconnection with their collections ofnational
laws andregulations, theword isnotinfactused inWIPO inthisconnection. Thepoint hasbeen made
inourcontacts with theInternational Bureau thattheuseoftheword "register" could betaken as
suggestive ofaprocess ofauthentication orapproval. Ifthisconnotation isnotintended, itmight be
preferable toavoid theuseoftheword "register".
26. Thebasic information about theWIPO system ispresented intwosynoptic tables. Table 1
provides information onthetwoaspects oftheWIPO system -theWIPO collections andtheWIPO
published laws -inrelation totherequirements ofArticle 63.2 oftheTRIPS Agreement. Itdeals with
thelegal basis andsource ofnotifications andtheir coverage. Table 2provides information onthe
procedural ormechanical aspects oftheWIPO system, inrelation tosuch matters aslanguages of
notification, scope ofdistribution, languages ofdistribution, responsibility fortranslation, form inwhich
notifications aredistributed, timing ofnotifications andtiming ofdistribution. InthisTable, information
isalsoincluded onhowsuch matters have generally been handled intheGATT framework inthepast.
Thisinformation hasbeen included both because thenotification provision ofArticle 63.2wasnodoubt
inspired bycomparable provisions which appear inmost agreements under theGATT system andalso
because Article XVI:1 oftheAgreement Establishing theWTO provides that"Except asotherwise
provided under thisAgreement ortheMultilateral Trade Agreements, theWTO shall beguided bythe
decisions, procedures andcustomary practices followed bythecontracting parties toGATT 1947 and
thebodies established intheframework ofGATT 1947."
27. Inregard toTable 1,anumber ofdifferences between theTRIPS requirements andtheWIPO
system may benoted.
- Onedifference concerns towhom thenotifications aremade. IntheWIPO, texts are
required tobecommunicated bygovernments totheInternational Bureau. Under the
TRIPS Agreement, theobligation istonotify lawsandregulations totheTRIPS Council,
i.e.totheMembers oftheTRIPS Agreement.
- Some areas oflawcovered bytheTRIPS notification obligation arenotpresently fully
covered bytheWIPO system.
Itshould alsoberecalled thatthemembership ofWIPO andofWIPO Conventions willnotbethesame
asthatoftheWTO. Inparticular, governments eligible tobeWTO Members which arenotStatesPC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page10TABLE 1
WIPO System Article 63.2 ofTRIPS
Published Laws Collection
Source Notifications bymember States. Notifications bymember States andother
material obtained from reliable sources.Notifications byMembers.
Legal basis for
notificationsArticle 15(2) oftheParis Convention andArticle 24(2) oftheBerne Convention require
members ofthose Conventions tocommunicate totheInternational Bureau "allnewlaws
andofficial texts" concerning theprotection ofindustrial property andcopyright
respectively. TheRome Convention does notcontain such anobligation. However,
Article 8ofthePhonograms Convention requires members tocommunicate tothe
International Bureau allnewlaws andofficial texts ontheprotection ofphonograms.Article 63.2 oftheTRIPS Agreement
requires Members tonotify totheTRIPS
Council laws andregulations pertaining to
thesubject matter oftheTRIPS Agreement
(subject tooutcome ofconsultations with
WIPO ontheestablishment ofacommon
register).
Coverage
1.Thetype oflegal
instrumentThemore important laws. Regulations are
rarely published.Laws andregulations (notjudicial decisions
andadministrative rulings).Article 63.2 oftheTRIPS Agreement
requires thenotification of"laws and
regulations".
2.Country coverage Theobligations under Paris, Berne andthePhonograms Convention apply tothemembers
ofthose Conventions. However, theperiodic requests bytheInternational Bureau to
notify legislation issenttoallWIPO member countries.TheTRIPS notification obligation will
apply toallWTO member countries.
Focuses more onthelaws ofthemore
active countries inIPterms.Includes legislation onawide range of
countries, including some notmembers of
WIPO oroftherelevant conventions.
3.Areas oflaw Allmain areas ofintellectual property. Butlittle ontheprotection ofundisclosed
information andthose aspects ofenforcement andtheprevention oftheabuse ofIPRs not
tobefound innational laws specifically onintellectual property.TheTRIPS obligation istonotify laws and
regulations pertaining totheavailability,
scope, acquisition, enforcement and
prevention oftheabuse oftheseven
categories ofintellectual property covered
bytheTRIPS Agreement.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page11TABLE 2
WIPO System General GATT Practice
Published Laws Collection
Language(s) of
notificationNotifications areusually inthenational
language ofthecountry concerned, but
frequently translations, usually inEnglish,
arealsoprovided.Asforpublished laws. Oneormore oftheofficial GATT
languages. Under some agreements,
members arealsoasked tomake available
acopy ofthelegislation intheoriginal
language.
Language(s) of
distribution/
Responsibility for
translationEnglish andFrench texts arepublished
simultaneously. WIPO 'stranslation
services undertake anytranslation necessary
intoEnglish andFrench.Thelanguages oforiginal notification or
other source, together withtheEnglish and
French texts where published inWIPO. No
translation additional tothatinrespect of
thepublished material isundertaken.TheGATT language inwhich the
legislation isnotified. Original language
text, ifnotified, isavailable inSecretariat
forconsultation byinterested delegations.
Under some agreements (e.g. dumping and
subsidies) translations intotheother GATT
languages arenormally made bytheGATT
Secretariat. Under some other agreements,
translation intoanother GATT language by
theGATT translation services isprovided
foronrequest.
Distribution/access That partofnational legislation which is
published isdone soaspull-out
supplements tothejournals oftheWIPO -
Industrial Property andCopyright -which
aredistributed tomember governments and
subscribers from thepublic. These
supplements aredesigned tobefiled
separately ascollections oflaws and
treaties. Thecomplete collection isalso
available forsale. AsofApril 1994, the
published material canalsobeobtained on
CD-ROM from theWIPO intheIP-LEX
system. Thecollection onCD-ROM is
updated quarterly.Thematerial intheWIPO collection, other
thanthatwhich ispublished, isnot
distributed. Itisavailable forconsultation
bygovernments andmembers ofthepublic
intheoffices oftheInternational Bureau.
Intheareaofindustrial property, acountry-
by-country index ofavailable material is
available forconsultation.Notifications aredistributed asdocuments
oftherelevant committee andmade
available inthenumber ofhard copies
requested bythemembers andobservers
concerned (certain particularly voluminous
documents maybemade available inmore
limited quantities only). After derestriction
(usually within ayearorso),access tothe
documents ismade available tothegeneral
public. GATT documents arealsoputin
machine-readable form andavailable to
delegations andthepublic (after
derestriction) ondiskette.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page12TABLE 2(cont'd)
WIPO System General GATT Practice
Published Laws Collection
Form inwhich
notifications are
distributed orotherwise
made availableLegislation wherever possible ispublished
inconsolidated form. Theconsolidation, if
notavailable from thecountry concerned,
isundertaken bystaffoftheInternational
Bureau, butchecked with theauthorities of
thecountry inquestion before publication.Apart from theconsolidation undertaken of
legislation tobepublished, laws and
regulations areheldintheform notified or
available from other sources.Thenotifications aregenerally distributed
intheform supplied bygovernments.
Timing ofnotifications TheBerne andParis Conventions require thatnewlaws andofficial texts becommunicated
totheInternational Bureau promptly. Inaddition, theInternational Bureau circulates to
member States every twoyears arequest tosubmit anynewlegislation.Notifications aregenerally required assoon
aspossible after theentry intoforce ofthe
relevant provisions forthecountry in
question andafter anysubsequent changes
tonational legislation.
Timing ofdistribution Adelay ofsixmonths tooneyearbefore
publication would notbeunusual.
Publication ofamendments usually awaits
theaccumulation ofsufficient changes to
theunderlying lawtowarrant the
publication ofanewconsolidated text.Nodistribution. Additional material is
incorporated inthecollection without delay.Promptly after receipt -usually onetotwo
months.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 13
donothavethepossibility ofjoining WIPO ormostofitsConventions. However, theWIPO collection
andevenitspublished lawsarenot,inpractice, limited tothelegislation ofWIPO members.
28. Table 2compares theprocedural aspects oftheWIPO system withthecustomary GATT practice
inregard tonotification obligations ofthesortfound inArticle 63.2oftheTRIPS Agreement. In
summary, under GATT practice theemphasis hasbeenputontherapid distribution ofasufficient
number ofhardcopies ofthetextsnotified tothemembers ofthecompetent committee inorder to
provide abasisforthatcommittee 'sconsideration ofthelegislation inquestion ataforthcoming meeting.
Therôleofnotification obligations inproviding thebasis forapermanent database forconsultation
bydelegations and,afterderestriction, bymembers ofthegeneral public hasbeenlargely incidental.
Under theWIPO system, thislatter rôlehasbeenthepredominant one. Indeed, thetextsinquestion
arenotdistributed tothemembers oftherelevant WIPO bodies assuch; some ofthetextsarepublished,
afteraninevitable delay, andarereceived therefore bymember States inthesamewayasprivate persons
whosubscribe tothepublications inquestion. Theclosest GATT parallel totheWIPO collections
isprobably thetariff information heldintheSecretariat, where anattempt ismade toobtain from
contracting parties acomprehensive collection ofnational customs tariffs andtoprovide aninformation
service, onrequest, tothepublic atlarge aswellastogovernments.
29. Itmight alsobeofinterest tonotethatUPOV hasanotification system andcollection of
implementing legislation ofmember countries. Under the1978 and1991 UPOV Conventions there
isaprocedure bywhich eachapplicant country isrequired tosubmit, priortodepositing itsinstrument
ofadherence, acopyofitsimplementing legislation andseekfrom theCouncil oftheConvention in
question advice onitsconformity withtheprovisions ofthatConvention. Under the1991 Actthere
isalsoarequirement thatanychanges inlegislation benotified. Notified legislation isdistributed in
theUPOV Gazette andNewsletter tomembers andtoother recipients. Thecomplete legislation of
UPOV members isalsopublished asacollection inaform susceptible toperiodic updating.
B. Issues forDiscussion
30. Inorder toconsider thescope fortheestablishment ofacommon system forthenotification
ofnational legislation between WTO andtheWIPO, itwillbenecessary fortheWTO Members to
beclearabout thebasic purpose orpurposes thattheywishthenotification system toserve andhow
suchasystem might bestoperate fromtheTRIPS perspective. Ingeneral terms, there aretwobasic
purposes thatanobligation tonotify national legislation canserve:
- theprovision ofadatabase forongoing reference purposes; and
- facilitating themonitoring oftheoperation ofanagreement.
These twofunctions canofcourse becomplementary, andnotmutually exclusive. Asmentioned earlier,
theemphasis intheWIPO system would appear tobeonthefirstofthesetwofunctions. Traditionally
intheGATT theemphasis hasbeenonthelatter. Thisfunction would alsoseem tobeenvisaged in
theTRIPS Agreement since thenotification obligation figures inPartVoftheAgreement entitled
"Dispute Prevention andSettlement" andtheprovision states thatthepurpose ofthenotifications is
toassist theCouncil forTRIPS initsreview oftheoperation oftheAgreement.
31. Thecentral question tobeconsidered iswhether acommon notification andcollection system
fornational legislation should beestablished orwhether complementary systems, cooperating wherever
possible, should beenvisaged. Theanswer tothiswillinpartdepend onwhether thebasic purposes
ofthetwosystems canbeefficiently metbyacommon system. Animportant issueinthisconnection
iswhether thenature oftheobligation inArticle 63.2issuchthatitwill,inanyevent, benecessary
foreachWTO Member toidentify inwritten notifications totheTRIPS Council itsspecific lawsandPC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 14
regulations that"pertain tothesubject matter" oftheTRIPS Agreement andhence implement its
obligations under it.Ifso,thefactthatlegislation issubmitted toorcontained inacollection, whether
runbyWIPO alone orcommon toWIPO andtheWTO, would notreplace theneedforsome form
ofTRIPS-specific notification. Another general issueisthat,intheevent thatacommon system were
tobeestablished, thequestion ofcostsharing between thetwoOrganizations would have tobe
considered.
32. Thesub-sections ofthisnotewhich follow raiseanumber ofpractical issues, bothinregard
towhatWTO Members would seektoachieve under Article 63.2andinregard topossible cooperation
withWIPO insodoing. Thesub-sections address thequestions ofarrangements forthesubmission
ofnotifications, fortheirdistribution andfortheirtranslation.
(i) Thesubmission ofnotifications
33. Towhatextent canitbeagreed thatasingle notification made byagovernment would betreated
asmeeting itsobligations under WIPO andunder theTRIPS Agreement? Ifitisconsidered thatit
will,inanyevent, benecessary foreachgovernment toidentify itsTRIPS implementing legislation,
thefollowing questions arise:
- Where agovernment hasalready communicated thelegislation inquestion toWIPO
anditfigures intheWIPO collections (inanappropriate language -seebelow), would
itbeacceptable forthegovernment inquestion simply toprovide theWTO Secretariat
withalistofthelegislation inquestion andastatement totheeffect thatthefulltexts
canbefound intheWIPO collections?
- AsregardsnewlegislationrequiredtogiveeffecttotheTRIPSAgreementorsubsequent
amendments, itwillbenecessary forthetextstobenotified infullasbeing anotification
tomeettherequirements ofArticle 63.2. Inthissituation, could anarrangement be
established under which asingle notification would beaccepted asmeeting the
requirements oftheTRIPS Agreement andthose oftheWIPO system? Ifso,any
notification received bytheWTO Secretariat could automatically beforwarded tothe
International Bureau ofWIPO forinclusion intheWIPO collections andpossible
publication and,reciprocally, anynotification totheInternational Bureau which made
itclearthatthelegislation inquestion waspartoftheTRIPS implementing legislation
could beautomatically forwarded bytheInternational Bureau totheWTO Secretariat,
where itwould betreated asanotification under Article 63.2oftheTRIPS Agreement.
34. Afurther point which might beconsidered inrelation tothenature ofnotifications thatshould
bemade iswhattypeofnotification would beappropriate, from theperspective bothoftheburden
onthenotifying country andoftheutility totheTRIPS Council, inregard tothose aspects oftheTRIPS
Agreement forwhich implementing legislation would notbefound inspecific intellectual property
lawsorother narrowly-focused laws, suchasoncustoms enforcement, butwould befound inmore
general legislation, which could bequite voluminous. Examples ofthiswould betheprocedural
obligations relating toenforcement, which might relate tomany partsofthecodeofcivilprocedures,
andtheprovisions ontheprevention ofabuse ofIPRs where much ofacountry 'scompetition laws
might haverelevance. Onetechnique thathasbeenemployed intheGATT inthepast(intheCommittees
onCustoms Valuation andGovernment Procurement), asacomplement tothebasic notification
obligation, hasbeentoaskeachmember country toprovide responses toachecklist ofissues onthe
main elements ofitslegislation forcirculation totheCommittee.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 15
(ii) Distribution ofnotifications
35. Abasic question iswhether theWTO Members would wishthatalllegislation notified under
Article 63.2bedistributed toMembers. Thishasbeenthenormal practice inGATT Agreements which
havesimilar notification provisions. However, under theTokyo Round Agreement onGovernment
Procurement, theCommittee inquestion agreed that,whereas thecomplete textsofnational laws,
regulations andprocedures should besubmitted totheSecretariat andbeavailable tomembers for
inspection,onlythebasicdocumentsrelatingtotheimplementationoftheAgreementwouldbecirculated
totheCommittee (GPR/M/1, paragraph 16).Inthelightofthelikely volume oftextsrelevant tothe
implementation oftheTRIPS Agreement, itwould beforWTO Members toconsider whether asimilar
practice should beadopted. Itcould besupplemented witharequirement that,inrespect oflawsand
regulations notcharacterized asbasic textsandnotcirculated, alisting ofsuchlawsandregulations,
together withabriefsummary oftheircontents andreference totheTRIPS Agreement, would bemade
available toTRIPS Members bythenotifying Member. Moreover, provision could bemade forany
texttobecirculated toallMembers ontherequest ofaMember oftheCouncil forTRIPS.
36. Asregards cooperation withWIPO, thequestion arises astowhat extent canarrangements
bemade toavoid theduplication ofpublication oflawsunder theWIPO system anddistribution of
thetextsofthesame lawstoTRIPS Members inpursuance ofArticle 63.2. Itwillberecalled that,
under theWIPO system, thetexts oflawsandregulations notified arenotdistributed tomember
governments, except totheextent thattheyarepublished intheWIPO journals (inEnglish andFrench)
andonCD-ROM, thatfewregulations andnotalllawsarepublished byWIPO, andthatthereisusually
adelay (uptooneyear)between thedateofenactment ofalegislative textanditspublication byWIPO.
37. Twospecific points might beconsidered inrelation totheavoidance ofduplication ofthe
circulation ofthose textswhich theWTO Members consider itnecessary tobecirculated:
- Where alaworregulation notified pursuant toArticle 63.2hasalready beenpublished
byWIPO, would thisobviate theneedforanyfurther distribution ofthetexttoTRIPS
Members? Ifso,theTRIPS Members could simply beinformed thatthelawhasbeen
notified under Article 63.2andwhere itstextcanbefound intheWIPO published
laws.
- Where alaworregulation notified pursuant toArticle 63.2isnotyet,butisplanned
tobe,published byWIPO, would thisobviate theneedforimmediate distribution to
TRIPS Members? Onepossibility insuchaninstance would benottodistribute the
textbuttogiveinformation onWIPO publication plans. Thetextwould thenonly
bedistributed inadvance ofWIPO publication ifaspecific request wasmade.
(iii) Thetranslation ofnotifications
38. Thenormal practice intheGATT hasbeentorequire thenotification bythemember concerned
ofitslawsandregulations inoneoftheGATT languages (sometimes together withsubmission ofthe
original version, tobeavailable forconsultation byinterested delegations). Insome agreements,
translation bytheGATT Secretariat intotheother GATT languages hasbeennormal whereas, insome
others, provision hasalsobeenmade fortranslation intoasecond GATT language tobeeffected by
theGATT Secretariat onlyontherequest ofamember ofthecommittee inquestion. Under theTokyo
Round Agreement onGovernment Procurement, itwasagreed thatonlythebasic documents relating
totheimplementation oftheAgreement, theonesthatwould becirculated totheCommittee, need
besubmitted inaGATT language. Thequestion thusarises astowhat decision should bereached
under theTRIPS Agreement inconnection withthelanguages of(i)notification and(ii)distribution
ofnotifications.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 16
39. IftheGATT practice ofrequiring thenotification oflegislation inaGATT language wereto
bemaintained, thefollowing synergies between theWTO andtheWIPO inregard toanytranslation
necessary would present themselves:
- Ifarrangements weremade along thelinesofthose discussed inparagraph 37inrespect
oftextsthathavebeenpublished orareplanned forpublication byWIPO, thequestion
oftranslation would already beregulated under theWIPO practice inthisregard (except
where arequest wasmade fortheadvance distribution totheCouncil forTRIPS of
atextplanned forpublication byWIPO).
- Ontheother hand, where alawisnewandhasbeennotified totheWTO ineither
English orFrench (ofthethree WTO languages), thefactthatthetranslation would
already havebeenundertaken bythenotifying country would beofassistance tothe
International Bureau intheprocess ofpreparation ofthelawinquestion forpublication.
Similarly, iftheWTO Secretariat hadmade atranslation ofsuchalawintoanother
WTO language, thiscould alsobetaken advantage ofbytheInternational Bureau.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 17
ANNEX 1
MULTILATERAL TRADE MTN.TNC/MIN(94)/ST/33
12April 1994NEGOTIATIONSGeneral Distribution
THE URUGUAY ROUND(UR-94-0148)
Trade Negotiations Committee Original: English
Meeting atMinisterial Level
Marrakesh (Morocco), 12-15 April 1994
WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION (WIPO)
Statement byMr.Daniel Gervais, Head, Copyright Projects Section
onbehalf oftheDirector General
Onbehalf oftheDirector General oftheWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),
Dr.Arpad Bogsch, itisagreat honour tospeak atthismeeting, thelastoftheUruguay Round Trade
Negotiations Committee.
Wehavenoted thatWIPO ismentioned fourtimes inthetextoftheFinal Acttobesigned
Friday, more precisely intheAgreement onTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights,
Including Trade inCounterfeit Goods, known as"TRIPS". Wearehappy about those references,
inparticular insofarastheyrelate tocooperation between WIPO andtheWorld Trade Organization.
WIPO willbegladtocooperate withtheWTO assoonastheneworganization willhavebeen
established, andbefore thatwithitsPreparatory Committee, justaswecooperated withtheGATT
Secretariat inthepast,notably byproviding fullinformation every timearequest wasmade.
Thismutually beneficial cooperation should avoid anyduplication, dueaccount being taken
ofthecomplementary nature ofbothorganizations. Onecould mention forexample thepublication
ofnational laws.
WIPO willalsobegladtoprovide advice ontheinterpretation ofobligations arising under
theinternational conventions thatweadminister, including theParis andBerne Conventions.
Asregards anyother matters inwhich bothorganizations mayhaveajointinterest, WIPO
isconstructively looking forward totheinitiatives tobetaken bythefuture TRIPS Council.PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 18
ANNEX 2
FUNCTIONS OFTHE TRIPS COUNCIL ASPRESCRIBED BY
THE WTO AND TRIPS AGREEMENTS
Excerpt from document PC/IPL/W/1
1. TheCouncil forTRIPS shalloversee thefunctioning oftheAgreement onTRIPS andshallcarry
outthefunctions assigned toitbytheAgreement onTRIPS andbytheGeneral Council (WTO
Agreement ,Art.IV:5).
2. TheCouncil forTRIPS shallestablish subsidiary bodies asrequired which shallestablish their
respectiverulesofproceduresubjecttotheapprovaloftheCouncil(WTOAgreement,Art.IV:6).
3. TheCouncil mayalsosubmit totheMinisterial Conference proposals toamend theprovisions
oftheAgreement onTRIPS (WTO Agreement ,Art.X:1).
General Functions
4. Inthecaseofaninterpretation oftheAgreement onTRIPS theMinisterial Conference andthe
General Council shallexercise theirauthority onthebasisofarecommendation bytheCouncil
forTRIPS (WTO Agreement ,Art.IX:2).
5. Arequest forawaiver concerning theAgreement onTRIPS shallbesubmitted initially tothe
Council forTRIPS forconsideration during atime-period which shall notexceed 90days.
Attheendofthetime-period theCouncil shallsubmit areport totheMinisterial Conference
(WTO Agreement ,Art.IX:3(b)).
6. TheCouncil forTRIPS shall monitor theoperation ofthisAgreement and,inparticular,
Members'compliancewiththeirobligationshereunder,andshallaffordMemberstheopportunity
ofconsulting onmatters relating tothetrade-related aspects ofintellectual property rights
(Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.68).
7. TheCouncil forTRIPS shall carry outsuchother responsibilities asassigned toitbythe
Members, anditshall, inparticular, provide anyassistance requested bythem inthecontext
ofdispute settlement procedures (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.68).
8. Incarrying outitsfunctions, theCouncil mayconsult withandseekinformation fromanysource
itdeems appropriate. Inconsultation withWIPO, theCouncil shallseektoestablish, within
oneyearofitsfirstmeeting, appropriate arrangements forcooperation withbodies ofthat
Organization (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.68).
Review andAmendment
9. TheCouncil mayalsoundertake reviews inthelightofanyrelevant newdevelopments which
might warrant modification oramendment ofthisAgreement (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.71:1).
10. TheCouncil shallreview theimplementation ofthisAgreement aftertheexpiration ofthe
transitional period referred toinparagraph 2ofArticle 65.TheCouncil shall, having regard
totheexperience gained initsimplementation, review ittwoyears afterthatdate,andatidentical
intervals thereafter (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.71:1).
11. Amendmentsmerelyservingthepurposeofadjustingtohigherlevelsofprotectionofintellectual
property rights achieved, andinforce, inother multilateral agreements andaccepted under
those agreements byallMembers oftheWTO maybereferred totheMinisterial Conference
foraction inaccordance withparagraph 6ofArticle XoftheWTO Agreement onthebasis
ofaconsensus proposal from theCouncil (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.71:2).
Notification
12. Members shallnotify thelawsandregulations referred toinparagraph 1totheCouncil for
TRIPS inorder toassist thatCouncil initsreview oftheoperation ofthisAgreement. The
Council shallattempt tominimize theburden onMembers incarrying outthisobligation and
maydecide towaive theobligation tonotify suchlawsandregulations directly totheCouncil
ifconsultations withWIPO ontheestablishment ofacommon register containing these laws
andregulations aresuccessful. TheCouncil shallalsoconsider inthisconnection anyactionPC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 19
required regarding notifications pursuant totheobligations under thisAgreement stemming
from theprovisions ofArticle 6teroftheParis Convention (1967) (Agreement onTRIPS ,
Art.63:2).
13. AnyMember availing itself ofthepossibilities provided inparagraph 3ofArticle 5or
paragraph 2ofArticle 6oftheRome Convention shallmake anotification asforeseen inthose
provisions totheCouncil forTRIPS (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.1:3).
14. AnyMember availing itselfofthepossibilities provided inArticle 6oftheBerne Convention
(1971) orparagraph 1(b)ofArticle 16oftheRome Convention shallmake anotification as
foreseen inthose provisions totheCouncil forTRIPS (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.3:1).
15. Exempted fromthisobligation areanyadvantage, favour, privilege orimmunity accorded by
aMember: ...(d)deriving frominternational agreements related totheprotection ofintellectual
property which entered intoforcepriortotheentryintoforceoftheWTO Agreement, provided
thatsuchagreements arenotified totheCouncil forTRIPS anddonotconstitute anarbitrary
orunjustifiable discrimination against nationals ofother Members (Agreement onTRIPS ,
Art.4:(d)).
Transitional Arrangements
16. Inview ofthespecial needs andrequirements ofleast-developed country Members, their
economic, financial andadministrative constraints, andtheirneedforflexibility tocreate a
viable technological base, suchMembers shallnotberequired toapply theprovisions ofthis
Agreement, other thanArticles 3,4and5,foraperiod oftenyears fromthedateofapplication
asdefined under paragraph 1ofArticle 65.TheCouncil forTRIPS shall, upondulymotivated
request byaleast-developed country Member, accord extensions ofthisperiod (Agreement
onTRIPS ,Art.66:1).
Geographical Indications
17. TheCouncil forTRIPS shallkeepunder review theapplication oftheprovisions ofthisSection
[Geographical Indications]; thefirstsuchreview shalltakeplace within twoyears oftheentry
intoforce oftheWTO Agreement. Anymatter affecting thecompliance withtheobligations
under these provisions maybedrawn totheattention oftheCouncil ,which, attherequest
ofaMember, shallconsult withanyMember orMembers inrespect ofsuchmatter inrespect
ofwhich ithasnotbeenpossible tofindasatisfactory solution through bilateral orplurilateral
consultations between theMembers concerned. TheCouncil shalltakesuchaction asmay
beagreed tofacilitate theoperation andfurther theobjectives ofthisSection (Agreement on
TRIPS ,Art.24:2).
Further work onSpecific Points
18. Inorder tofacilitate theprotection ofgeographical indications forwines, negotiations shall
beundertaken intheCouncil forTRIPS concerning theestablishment ofamultilateral system
ofnotification andregistration ofgeographical indications forwines eligible forprotection
inthose Members participating inthesystem (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.23:4).
19. Members mayalsoexclude from patentability: ...(b)plants andanimals other thanmicro-
organisms, andessentially biological processes fortheproduction ofplants oranimals other
thannon-biological andmicrobiological processes. However, Members shallprovide forthe
protection ofplant varieties either bypatents orbyaneffective suigeneris system orbyany
combination thereof. Theprovisions ofthissubparagraph shallbereviewed fouryears after
thedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.27:3).
20. During thetimeperiod referred toinparagraph 2,theCouncil forTRIPS shallexamine the
scope andmodalities forcomplaints ofthetypeprovided forunder subparagraphs 1(b)and
1(c)ofArticle XXIII ofGATT 1994 made pursuant tothisAgreement, andsubmit its
recommendations totheMinisterial Conference forapproval. Anydecision oftheMinisterial
Conference toapprove suchrecommendations ortoextend theperiod inparagraph 2shallbe
made onlybyconsensus, andapproved recommendations shallbeeffective forallMembers
without further formal acceptance process (Agreement onTRIPS ,Art.64:3).PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 20
ANNEX 3
PROCEDURE FOLLOWED FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
ARTICLE 6TEROFTHE PARIS CONVENTION
FOR THE PROTECTION OFINDUSTRIAL PROPERTY
Information Supplied bytheInternational Bureau ofWIPO
I. States Party totheParis Convention
States desiring, under Article 6ter(3)(a) oftheParisConvention fortheProtection ofIndustrial
Property of20March 1883, revised atStockholm on14July1967, tocommunicate totheother States
party totheConvention thelistofarmorial bearings, flagsandother Stateemblems, andofficial signs
andhallmarks indicating control andwarranty, thattheywishtohaveprotected under Article 6ter(1)(a)
oftheConvention, must takethefollowing steps:
(1) sendtotheInternational Bureau ofWIPO, intheform ofasimple letter signed by
thecompetent national authority, arequest forcommunication under Article 6ter(3)(a)
oftheParis Convention ofthearmorial bearings, flagsandother Stateemblems, and
official signs andhallmarks indicating control andwarranty, thattheywishtohave
protected under Article 6ter(1)(a);
(2) attach totherequest 600reproductions, preferably onDIN A4sizesheets
(297mmx210mm), oftherelevant armorial bearings, flagsandotherStateemblems,
andofficial signs andhallmarks indicating control andwarranty;
(3) provide inEnglish andFrench anyinformation accompanying thereproductions.
Uponreceiptoftherequireddocuments,theInternationalBureaupreparesandsendsadiplomatic
NotetotheMinistries forForeign Affairs ofthecountries party totheParisConvention forthepurpose
ofcommunicating thereproductions ofthesigns forwhich protection issought. AcopyofthatNote
issent,together withthereproductions, totheIndustrial Property Offices ofthose countries.
Under Article 6ter(4),anycountry partytotheParisConvention may,within aperiod oftwelve
months from thereceipt ofthenotification, transmit itsobjections, ifany,through theintermediary
oftheInternational Bureau, tothecountry concerned.
II. International Intergovernmental Organizations
International intergovernmental organizations desiring, under Article 6ter(3)(b) oftheParis
Convention fortheProtection ofIndustrial Property of20March 1883, revised atStockholm on
14July1967, tocommunicate totheStates party totheConvention thelistofarmorial bearings, flags,
other emblems, abbreviations andnames thattheywishtohaveprotected under Article 6ter(1)(b) of
theConvention, must takethefollowing steps:
(1) sendtotheInternational Bureau ofWIPO, intheform ofasimple letter signed by
theHeadoftheorganization concerned oranofficer ofthatorganization dulyauthorized
byhim,arequest forcommunication under Article 6ter(3)(b) oftheParisConvention
ofthearmorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations andnames thatthesaid
organization wishes tohaveprotected under Article 6ter(1)(b);PC/IPL/7/Add.2
Page 21
(2) attach totherequest 600reproductions, preferably onDIN A4sizesheets
(297mmx210mm), ofthearmorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations
andnames forwhich protection isrequested;
(3) provide inEnglish andFrench anyinformation accompanying thereproductions;
(4) attach acopyinEnglish orFrench oftheStatutes oftheorganization submitting the
request andalistofthemember States ofthatorganization, except inthecaseofan
organization belonging totheUnited Nations system oranorganization thathasalready
communicated suchinformation toWIPO.
Uponreceiptoftherequireddocuments,theInternationalBureaucheckswhethertheorganization
concerned isentitled torequest protection under Article 6ter.Ifso,theInternational Bureau prepares
andsends adiplomatic Note totheMinistries forForeign Affairs ofthecountries party totheParis
Convention forthepurpose ofcommunicating thereproductions ofthesigns forwhich protection is
sought. AcopyofthatNoteissent,together withthereproductions, totheIndustrial Property Offices
ofthose countries.
Under Article 6ter(4),anycountry partytotheParisConvention may,within aperiod oftwelve
months from thereceipt ofthenotification, transmit itsobjections, ifany,through theintermediary
oftheInternational Bureau, totheorganization concerned.