RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/34/Add.3/Suppl.4
22November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4978)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
Supplement
Germany
Thepresent document reproduces information onGermany 'stechnical andfinancial cooperation
activities relevant totheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement, which hasbeenreceived fromthe
Permanent Mission ofGermany bymeans ofacommunication dated 11November 1996.
_______________
Fortheinformation oftheCouncil forTRIPS, please findthefollowing listofcurrent and
future technical cooperation projects withdeveloping countries, falling within theaegis oftheFederal
Ministry ofJustice, and,interms oftheexchange ofinformation, withother states, especially theMOE
andNUS states:
GERMAN PATENT OFFICE
Current Projects:
- Training programme forcivilservants from developing countries
States concerned in1996:
Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mongolia, Nepal, Samoa, SriLanka, Trinidad, Tobago, Zambia
andZimbabwe.
Duration:
In1973, theprogramme wasinitiated foranindefinite period. Annual, three-week training
events areorganized.
Aim:
Modernization ofthepatent systems andPatent Offices inthedeveloping countries. Training
istoprovide experts fromthedeveloping countries withaknowledge ofthestructure andorganization
ofanexamining patent office andontheadministration oftheindividual types ofproperty rights.
Additionally, theparticipants aretobefamiliarized withtheprocedure forthegrant ofpatents and
withthework ofapatent examiner.IP/C/W/34/Add.3/Suppl.4
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Description oftheproject:
Asarule,theannual training seminars cover thefollowing areas: patent documentation and
classification, extension andcareofthesearch file,basics oftheprotection ofdesigns, trademarks
andemployees 'inventions, search anddrafting ofsearch reports.
- Drafting ofsearch reports fordeveloping countries
States concerned in1995:
Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Malawi, Malaysia, South Africa, VietNam
andZimbabwe.
Duration:
Indefinite.
Aim:
Informing thedeveloping countries ofthestateoftheart.
Description oftheproject:
Onrequest, theGerman Patent Office drafts 100search reports peryearfordeveloping countries
freeofcharge.
- States ofCentral andEastern Europe:
Cooperation inthecontext oftheEuropean Commission 'sPHARE-RIPP project.
States concerned in1996:
Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary andRomania.
Duration:
Theprogramme wasinitiated inJanuary 1993andisintended tocontinue untiltheendof1998.
Aim:
Modernization ofintellectual andindustrial property rights inthestates ofCentral andEastern
Europe.
Description oftheproject:
TheGerman Patent Office organizes training forexperts fromthestates ofCentral andEastern
Europe, in1996 from Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary andRomania.
- Slovenia:
Support oftraining incopyright lawandindustrial property rights.IP/C/W/34/Add.3/Suppl.4
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Duration:
Theproject wasinitiated inJune1994 andisintended toterminate inFebruary 1997.
Aim:
Practical training forSlovenian experts intheareaofpatent, trademark anddesign rights, as
wellascopyright.
Description oftheproject:
Themeasures consist ofexperts going toSlovenia andSlovenian experts attending training
courses attheGerman Patent Office. Also, copyright projects havebeencarried outsince 1995. In
theautumn of1996, amongst other things aseminar isbeing organized onproduct piracy inthearea
ofcopyright lawandontheroleandpractice oftheGerman Patent Office asasupervisory body in
accordance withtheCopyright Protection Act(Urheberrechtswahrnehmungsgesetz).
- Ukraine:
CooperationwiththeStatePatentOfficeofUkraineinthecontextoftheEuropeanCommission's
TACIS Project.
Duration:
Cooperation wasstarted in1994 andisplanned tocontinue untiltheendof1996.
Aim:
Practical training ofUkrainian experts intheareaoftrademark law.
Description oftheproject:
Cooperation covers bothGerman experts travelling toKievandtraining measures forUkrainian
experts attheGerman Patent Office.
- China:
Cooperation withtheChinese copyright authority.
Duration:
Theproject started in1995 andisintended tobeterminated intheautumn of1996.
Aim:
Support forChina inestablishing anddeveloping copyright collecting societies.
Description oftheproject:
Various information tripsforChinese delegations totheGerman Patent Office, some ofseveral
months 'duration, inthecontext ofwhich visits aremade toseveral copyright collecting societies.IP/C/W/34/Add.3/Suppl.4
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Aconcluding measure istobethejourney toChina planned intheautumn of1996 byadelegation
oftheGerman copyright collecting societies.
- Thailand
Project tofurther thesystem ofindustrial property rights.
Duration:
Implementation oftheproject wascommenced inNovember 1995. Theproject isintended
tolastforfouryears.
Aim:
Modernization ofThailegislation andoftheadministrative procedure intheareaofindustrial
legalprotection andofimproving public access topatent information.
Description oftheproject:
Themeasures consist ofexperts being senttoThailand andofresidential courses attheGerman
Patent Office. Since April 1996, asalong-term measure, aGerman expert hasbeenworking on
coordinating themeasures attheDepartment ofIntellectual Property inThailand.
- Exchange oftheresults ofsearch andexamination
States concerned:
China,Croatia,Hungary,Mongolia,RussianFederation,Slovenia,SlovakRepublicandThailand.
Duration:
Indefinite.
Aim:
Reciprocal provision ofinformation regarding theregistration ofindustrial property rights,
forwhich apriority oftheother country hasbeenclaimed.
Description oftheproject:
TheGerman Patent Office hasagreed withtheOffices inthecountries named thattheresults
ofsearch andexamination willbeexchanged onaregular basis.
- International exchange ofspecifications
States concerned:
Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia,
Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyz Republic, People 'sRepublic ofKorea, Republic ofKorea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova,
Mongolia, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,
Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan andUnited Arab Emirates.IP/C/W/34/Add.3/Suppl.4
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Duration:
Indefinite.
Aim:
Reciprocal provision ofinformation onpublications intheareaofcopyright lawandindustrial
property rights.
Description oftheproject:
TheGerman Patent Office exchanges patent specifications andotherpublications withthestates
named.
Intended Projects:
- Turkey
Support ofindustrial property rights.
Duration:
Theproject isintended tobegin inJanuary 1997 andtolastforfouryears.
Aim:
Modernization oftheadministrative procedure foralltypes ofprotection rights.
Description oftheproject:
Themeasures consist ofexperts being senttotheTurkish Patent Office attheTurkish Patent
Institute, andofresidential courses forTurkish experts attheGerman Patent Office.
GERMAN FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL LEGAL COOPERATION
Current Projects:
- Bulgaria:
Cooperation withtheBulgarian association ofpatent specialists andtheBulgarian privatization
agency.
Duration:
Cooperation wasinitiated in1993 foranindefinite period.
Aim:
Advising inprivatization ofintellectual andindustrial property andineconomic assessment
ofindustrial property rights inthecontext oftheprivatization ofenterprises.IP/C/W/34/Add.3/Suppl.4
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Description oftheproject:
TheGerman Foundation offers seminars inGermany andinBulgaria which, amongst other
things, dealwiththelegal framework forcopyright andindustrial property rights andthelatest
developments atEuropean andinternational levelintheareaofintellectual andindustrial property rights,
aswellasoftheprotection ofbiotechnological inventions.
- Russian Federation:
1. Cooperation withRussian patent institutions
Duration:
Cooperation wasstarted in1993 andisofalong-term nature.
Aim:
Support intheimplementation ofthenewRussian lawonpatents, trademarks andutility models.
Description oftheproject:
TheGerman Foundation iscarrying outseminars which arefocused onthefollowing areas:
general significance ofindustrial property protection inmarket economies, thepractice ofthepatent
grant procedure, aswellaslegalandcontractual problems intheareaofpatents, questions ontrademark
anddesign law,questions ofjurisdiction forpatent matters andofproceedings before patent courts,
legalprotection ofcomputer programs, procedures fortheregistration oftrademarks withtheGerman
Patent Office, andproceedings before theFederal Patent Court intrademark-related cases.
2. Cooperation withtheRussian Centre forPrivate Law
Duration:
Thecooperation wasstarted in1995 andisintended tocontinue untilfurther notice.
Aim:
Advising inpreparing andreforming statutory provisions fortheprotection ofcopyright and
ofindustrial property rights.
Description oftheproject:
Attherequest oftheGerman Foundation, draftregulations areappraised byexperts ofthe
Federal Patent Court, theMaxPlanck Institute forForeign andInternational Patent, Copyright and
Competition Law, andtheBar. Furthermore, discussions takeplace between experts, recently
concentrating onimplementing property rights, copyright andtechnical property rights.
- Ukraine:
Cooperation onthepreparation ofanewUkrainian Civil Code.IP/C/W/34/Add.3/Suppl.4
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Duration:
Cooperation started in1993. Noendisscheduled.
Aim:
Support inthereform oflegalprovisions oncopyright andindustrial property rights.
Description oftheproject:
TheGerman Foundation gives support byproviding advice, preparing appraisals, aswellas
organizing meetings ofexperts andspecialist seminars.
Intended Projects:
- Lithuania:
Cooperation withtheLithuanian Patent Office.
Duration:
15through 22September 1996.
Aim:
Providing information ontheobjection procedure intheareaofindustrial property rights.
Description oftheproject:
Meetings between experts fromtheLithuanian Patent Office andfromtheGerman Patent Office
andtheFederal Patent Court.
- Czech Republic:
Cooperation inthecontext oftheEuropean Commission 'sPHARE programme.
Duration:
Thestartandduration ofcooperation havenotyetbeenscheduled.
Aim:
Harmonization ofCzech legalprovisions intheareaofcopyright andindustrial property rights
withEuropean Community law.
Description oftheproject:
Advisory measures byGerman experts areplanned. Nodetails areyetknown.