WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/377/Add.5
1 November 2002
(02-6021)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:
INFORMATION FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
Addendum
CANADA
The present document reproduces the updated information on Canada's technical and financial
cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement, which has been
received from the Permanent Mission of Canada by means of a communication dated
13 September 2002.  It was circulated as an advance copy at the TRIPS Council meeting on17 September 2002.
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Pursuant to Article 67 of the Agreement on Tr ade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS), the Council for TRIPS requests an update from developed country Members of their
technical and financial cooperation programmes in favour of developing and least-developed country
Members.  The present document updates the report provided by Canada in 1999
(IP/C/W/154/Add.6), for consideration of the TRI PS Council at its meeting from 17-19 September
2002.
Canada has undertaken a number of technical cooperation activities at the bilateral, regional
and multilateral levels.  Canada's bilateral efforts are mainly directed to the Latin American,
Caribbean and Asia-Pacific regions.  Canada regional activities are undertaken in the context of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Intellectu al Property Rights Experts' Group (IPEG).  At
the multilateral level, Canada works in close collaboration with the World Intellectual PropertyOrganization (WIPO).
The following summary provides an update of th ese activities, which are mainly administered
by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  Other Canadian institutions such asthe Centre for Trade Policy and Law (CTPL) are also involved in international cooperation efforts.
1. Bilateral Activities
1.1 CIPO has provided several training courses to developing and least-developed country
Members on client service and quality management in the delivery of patent services.  These courseswere offered by CIPO in partnership with WIPO and had the following objectives:  (i) to provide
participants with first-hand experience of the nature and scope of Canada's intellectual property
expertise, products and services;  (ii) to enhance knowledge and skills in the area of client service and
quality management in the delivery of patent services (e.g., patent processing);  and (iii) to provide a
forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences with  officials from other Member countries.  Most ofIP/C/W/377/Add.5
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these courses were targeted at senior-level officials with a view to supporting their implementation of
good practices in their domestic patent systems.
1.2 In particular, an eight-day course was held in 2000 and a week-long course was held in 2002
for officials from Asia-Pacific countries.  The participants included, China, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand .  Members with
observer status such as Nepal  and Vietnam  also participated in the courses.  Bangladesh  and Fiji
attended the course in 2000.  A nine-day course for officials from Latin-American and Carribean
countries was offered in 2001.  Participants included Antigua and Baruda, Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay  and Venezuela .
1.3 CIDA, the lead governmental organization responsible for Canada's Official Development
Assistance Programme, has also sponsored a number of visits of foreign officials to Canada to receive
training from CIPO officials.  During 2000-2002, there were several such visits from Membercountries including China, Estonia, Mexico, the Republic of Korea  and the Separate Customs
Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.   The foreign delegations were officials of the
intellectual property community, educational institutions, and judicial systems from both developing
and industrialised countries seeking information about the Canadian intellectual property system and
sharing best practices, with the ultimate goal of enabling officials from developing and least-developed countries to benefit in supporting the development of effective domestic intellectual
property regimes.
2. Regional/Multilateral Activities
2.1 Canada also undertakes technical cooperation activities in favour of developing and least-
developed countries at the regional and multilateral levels.  These activities have chiefly focussed onthe training of officials from intellectual property offices with a view to modernization of domestic
intellectual property regimes, as well as the enforcement of intellectual property rights, especially in
respect of copyright and trade-mark infringement.
2.2 In association with the APEC IPEG , Canada participated in a seminar on the enforcement of
intellectual property rights in 2002.  In particular, a representative from Canada's RCMP provided anoverview of the problems faced in respect of policing pirated and counterfeited goods, especially for
music and software piracy.  In that connection, it was noted that broader-based international
cooperation and information-sharing between enfo rcement authorities would help address this
challenge.
2.3 CIPO also provides other services on an on-going basis for WIPO 's technical cooperation
activities in favour of developing and least-developed country Members, including the following:
• Training of senior officials of intellectual property offices of developing and least-developed
country Members, upon request by WIPO;  including on-the-job training in operational and
administrative matters with a view to support modernisation of domestic intellectual property
services;
• Performing state-of-the-art searches under the WIPO Patent Information Searches (WPIS) for
developing countries;
• Providing search and examination reports of patent applications under the WIPO Program of
International Cooperation in the Search and Examination of Inventions (ICSEI);  and
• Supplying free copies of Canadian patent documents for developing countries, upon request from
WIPO.IP/C/W/377/Add.5
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Particular highlights of these efforts included programmes organized in 2000 for the
intellectual property offices of Jamaica  and Trinidad and Tobago .
3. Other Canadian Institutions and Resources
3.1 Other Canadian institutions have also been involved in providing technical assistance to
developing and least-developed country Members.  For example, the CTPL is a Canadian institution
that provides developing and transition economies with the guidance and support to sustain them in
the short term, and with the knowledge and tools to ensure their full participation in international trade
agreements, including specific training on intellectual property law and policy issues.  One of the
CTPL's programmes specific to intellectual property included a workshop in December 1999
organized by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery and funded by the Inter-American Bank
in favour of the 15 members of the Caribbean Community .  The workshop  reviewed the obligations
of the TRIPS Agreement and the domestic legislative and administrative implications in terms of
implementation requirements.  Particular emphasis was placed on mechanism to encourage
investment through stronger intellectual property ri ghts protection, and ways of protecting traditional
medicine, folklore and culture.  Representatives included officials from national trade and foreign
affairs ministries, attorney general offices and regional organizations.
3.2 Canadian awareness-building and reference resources have also been made available for wide
consultation by all Members through the Internet, including by way of example CIPO's following
website: http://cipo.gc.ca/.
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