RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/16
20November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3564)
Council forTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights
ANNUAL REPORT TOTHE GENERAL COUNCIL
Draft
I General
1. Thisreport issubmitted pursuant tothedecision taken bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting
on15November 1995, which requires thesectoral councils toreport inNovember eachyeartothe
General Council ontheactivities intheCouncil. Theperiod covered inthisReport isJanuary-October
1995.
2. TheCouncil forTRIPS heldthree formal meetings, on9March, 24May, 21September [and
20-21 November] 1995. Theminutes ofthese meetings aretobefound indocuments IP/C/M/1-[4].
3. MeetingsoftheCouncilwereopentoallWTOMembers.Inaddition,thenon-votingparticipants
andgovernment observers toWTO bodies wereinvited asagreed bytheGeneral Council atitsmeeting
of31January 1995. Pursuant totheinterim procedure onobserver status forintergovernmental
organizations evolved under theauspices oftheGeneral Council, theIMF, theUNCTAD, theUnited
Nations andtheWorld Bank wereinvited toallthree meetings, theFAO, theOECD, andtheWCO
tothesecond andthird meetings, andUPOV tothethird meeting. WIPO wasinvited toallthree
meetings, inaccordance with therecommendation oftheContact Group under thePreparatory
Committee, asconfirmed bytheGeneral Council.
4. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil adopted itsRules ofProcedure withtheexception ofRule33,
which itadopted atitsmeeting inSeptember (documents IP/C/W/2, IP/C/M/2, paragraphs 5and6
andIP/C/M/3, paragraphs 2and3).These decisions weresubmitted totheGeneral Council forapproval
(document IP/C/1).
II Notification procedures
(a) Article 63.2
5. Article 63.2oftheTRIPS Agreement requires Members tonotify thelawsandregulations
made effective bythatMember pertaining tothesubject matter oftheAgreement (theavailability,
scope, acquisition, enforcement andprevention oftheabuse ofintellectual property rights) totheCouncil
forTRIPS inorder toassist thatCouncil initsreview oftheoperation oftheAgreement. TheContact
Group under thePreparatory Committee hadagreed thatunder Article 63.2national lawsandregulations
should benotified asofthetimethatthecorresponding substantive obligation applies (document
PC/IPL/7, paragraph 3).TheCouncil hasdiscussed procedures forgiving effect totheobligation to
notify implementing legislation under Article 63.2withaview ofputting inplace thenecessary
procedures bythebeginning of1996 when abulkofobligations enter intoforce forsome Members.
[Tobecompleted.]IP/C/W/16
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6. TheCouncil hasalsodiscussed theschedule fortheconsideration ofnational implementing
legislation. BytheendofOctober, theCouncil hadreceived 12notifications under Article 63.2, of
which ninerelated toArticle 70.8oftheTRIPS Agreement discussed below. These notifications are
circulated intheIP/N/1 series ofdocuments.
(b) Articles 1.3and3.1
7. Articles 1.3and3.1oftheTRIPS Agreement relating tothedefinition ofbeneficiary persons
under theAgreement andtonational treatment allow certain exceptions tothenormal rules, provided
thatnotifications aremade totheCouncil forTRIPS. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil drew the
attention ofMembers tothedesirability ofconsidering whether theywished tomake notifications under
theprovisions ofArticles 1.3and3.1by1July1995, while recognizing thatitwould remain open
forMembers tomake notifications atalaterstageiftheysowished (document IP/C/M/2, paragraphs 11
and12).BytheendofOctober, theCouncil hadreceived 20notifications relating tothese Articles.
These notifications arecirculated intheIP/N/2 series ofdocuments.
(c) Article 69
8. Article 69oftheTRIPS Agreement requires Members toestablish andnotify contact points
forthepurposes ofcooperating witheachother withaviewtoeliminating international tradeingoods
infringing intellectual property rights. Atitsmeeting inSeptember, theCouncil decided onthe
procedures forthenotification ofcontact points under thisArticle, andthatnotifications should be
made by1January 1996 andanysubsequent changes totheinformation should benotified promptly
(document IP/C/M/3, paragraphs 27and28).
(d) Article 4(d)
9. Article 4(d)oftheTRIPS Agreement requires aMember seeking tojustify anexception to
them.f.n. ruleonthebasisofaninternational agreement relating totheprotection ofintellectual property
which hadentered intoforce prior totheentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement, tonotify suchan
agreement totheCouncil forTRIPS. TheCouncil hasdiscussed whether anyaction, andifso,what
kindofaction isrequired bytheCouncil togiveeffect tothisprovision. [Tobecompleted.]
III Implementation ofcertain provisions oftheTRIPS Agreement
(a) Article 70.8
10. Article 70.8oftheTRIPS Agreement provides that,where aMember doesnotmake available
asofthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement patent protection forpharmaceutical and
agricultural chemical products commensurate withitsobligations under Article 27oftheTRIPS
Agreement, thatMember shallprovide, asfromthedateofentry intoforce oftheWTO Agreement,
ameans bywhich applications forpatents forsuchinventions canbefiled. Asmentioned above in
paragraph 5,ithasbeenagreed thatnational lawsandregulations should benotified promptly asof
thetimethatthecorresponding substantive obligation applies andthatnational lawsandregulations
implementing theprovisions ofArticle 70.8should consequently benotified asofthedateofentry
intoforce oftheWTO Agreement. Atitsmeeting inMarch, theCouncil urged those Members to
whom Article 70.8applies tonotify therelevant legislation prior tothenextmeeting oftheTRIPS
Council. TheCouncil continued tomonitor theimplementation ofArticle 70.8atitslatermeetings.
BytheendofOctober, theCouncil hadreceived 9notifications relating toArticle 70.8(document
series IP/N/1).IP/C/W/16
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(b) Article 65.5
11. Article 65.5oftheTRIPS Agreement provides thataMember availing itself ofatransitional
period under paragraphs 1,2,3or4ofArticle 65shallensure thatanychanges initslaws, regulations
andpractice made during thatperiod donotresult inalesser degree ofconsistency withtheprovisions
oftheAgreement. TheCouncil hasdiscussed thequestion ofhowitshould carry outitsmonitoring
function,inthesenseofArticle68,inrespectofthestandstillobligationofArticle65.5,andinparticular
whatinformation might besought from Members tofacilitate suchmonitoring. [Tobecompleted.]
IV Technical cooperation
12. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil invited eachdeveloped country Member toprovide a
description ofitstechnical andfinancial cooperation programmes intheareaofintellectual property
relevanttotheimplementationoftheTRIPSAgreement.Second,itinvitedeachoftheintergovernmental
organizations andwhich were observers totheCouncil forTRIPS andUPOV todothesame. And
third, itrequested theWTO Secretariat toprovide information onitstechnical cooperation activities
andalsomake suggestions about what might bethefuture policy inthisarea. Inresponse tothese
requests, information wasprovided by12developed country Members (documents IP/C/W/12 and
Addenda 1to6),seven intergovernmental organizations (documents IP/C/W/10 andAddenda 1to
6)andtheWTO Secretariat (document IP/C/W/11). Atitsmeeting inSeptember, theCouncil had
anin-depth consideration oftheissueoftechnical cooperation, inparticular inthecontext ofArticle 67
oftheTRIPS Agreement, which provides thatdeveloped country Members shallprovide, inorder to
facilitate theimplementation oftheAgreement, onrequest andonmutually agreed terms andconditions,
technical andfinancial cooperation infavour ofdeveloping andleast-developed country Members.
[Tobecompleted.]
V Arrangements forcooperation withWIPO
13. Article 68oftheTRIPS Agreement provides thattheCouncil shall, inconsultation withWIPO,
seektoestablish, within oneyearofitsfirstmeeting, which tookplace on9March 1995, appropriate
arrangements forcooperation withbodies ofthatOrganization. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil
authorized itsChairman, withtheassistance oftheSecretariat, toenter intoinformal contacts with
WIPO andtoinform themofthestateofthinking intheCouncil, inparticular withregard tothetypes
ofcooperation itmight suggest. TheChairman oftheCouncil, accompanied byanofficial ofthe
Secretariat, mettheDirector General ofWIPO on22June.
14. Asagreed bytheCouncil atitsmeeting inSeptember, theChairman oftheCouncil sentaletter
dated 22September totheDirector General ofWIPO. Theletter emphasized oncemore theimportance
attached bytheCouncil tothedevelopment ofcooperative andmutually supportive relations withWIPO.
Second, thecommunication informed WIPO thattheelements indocument IP/C/W/6 relating to
cooperation withWIPO (relating tothenotification oflawsandregulations) constituted aproposal
fromtheCouncil toWIPO forcooperation inthisarea,without prejudice tothepossible needforthe
further refining oflanguage ordetails. Third, theideas putforward inparagraphs 18-21 ofdocument
PC/IPL/7/Add.2 (relating toprocedures forthenotification ofnational emblems) constituted aproposal
fromtheCouncil, subject oncemore tothisbeing without prejudice tothepossible needforthefurther
refining oflanguage ordetails. Fourth, thecommunication stressed thevalue attached bytheCouncil
tothedevelopment cooperation activities ofWIPO inassisting developing countries tomeet their
obligations under theTRIPS Agreement, andexpressed thehopeoftheCouncil thatWIPO would be
abletoenhance these activities inthefuture. Italsoexpressed thedesire oftheCouncil thatthe
International Bureau ofWIPO andtheWTO Secretariat would further develop cooperation intheir
technical cooperation activities relating totheTRIPS Agreement soastomaximize theusefulness of
these activities andtoensure theircomplementary nature. Furthermore, theletter stated thattheIP/C/W/16
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Chairman oftheCouncil, withtheassistance oftheSecretariat, stood ready tomeettherepresentatives
chosen byWIPO withaviewtodrawing upthetextofanagreement between thetwoOrganizations,
withthehopethatitcould besubmitted totheCouncil andtheappropriate body ofWIPO sothatit
could come intoforce preferably before theendofthisyear.
15. Therepresentatives oftheWTO andWIPO metforthefirsttimeon30October withaview
todrawing upthetextofanagreement between thetwoOrganizations. [Tobecompleted.]
VI Other matters
(a) Assistance oftheCouncil inthecontext ofdispute settlement
16. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil decided todrawtheattention ofMembers tothedesirability
ofensuring thatthenominations theymade ofpotential panellists tobeplaced onthecentral roster
include persons withexperience ofintellectual property matters viewed from atrade orcommercial
perspective (document IP/M/2, paragraphs 55and56).
(b) Draft model legislation oftheWorld Customs Organization
17. Atitsmeeting inMay, theCouncil discussed thequestion ofthedraftmodel legislation being
drawn upbytheWCO withaview toassisting countries ingiving effect totheir TRIPS border
enforcementobligations(documentIP/C/W/1).TheCouncil,first,welcomedtheinterestandtheactivity
oftheWCO inregard tothecustoms enforcement ofintellectual property rights andalsoitsconcern
totakeintoaccount theprovisions oftheTRIPS Agreement; second, expressed theimportance that
itattached toamutually supportive relationship between theWTO andtheWCO inthisregard; and,
third, tooknoteofthedraftmodel legislation being developed bytheWCO. TheChairman ofthe
Council noted thatitwasnotthejoboftheCouncil forTRIPS oftheWTO toapprove ordisapprove
suchatext,which didnotconstitute anofficial interpretation oftheTRIPS Agreement, thisbeing a
taskthatonlytheWTO could undertake (document IP/C/M/2, paragraphs 66and67).