WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/428 
17 September 2004 
 
 (04-3909) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights  
 
 
  
WTO SECRETARIAT TECHNICAL COOPERATION IN THE TRIPS AREA  
 
Note by the Secretariat
 
 
    
 
  1. This document updates the information on the WTO Secretariat's technical cooperation 
activities in regard to TRIPS matters contained in  document IP/C/W/406, dated 23 October 2004.  It 
covers the period from 1 November 2003 to 17 Septem ber 2004.  It deals both with the Secretariat's 
technical activities that specifically relate to intellectual property and with those of a broader character 
which have a significant intellectual property component. 
Main Orientations
 
2. The Secretariat's technical cooperation activities in relation to TRIPS ha ve continued to be 
directed towards assisting Members to understand th e rights and obligations, including the available 
options, which flow from the TRIPS Agreement and relevant decisions of WTO bodies.  This has 
been particularly the case for the least-developed co untry Members whose transition period has yet to 
expire.  This activity includes helping Members to a ssess the amendments that may be needed to their 
national legislation, the adaptations in institutions  that may be called for and other requirements for 
which they would need to plan.  The Secretaria t's technical cooperation activities in the TRIPS area 
have also been aimed at assisting Members to part icipate fully in the work of the TRIPS Council.  
This has included assisting Members to use the mech anisms under the TRIPS Agreement, such as in 
regard to notifications and review s of national legislation.  It has also been aimed at assisting 
Members to assess what is at stak e for them in issues under negotiation, examination or review in the 
TRIPS Council and thus to participate in this work. 
3. The technical cooperation made available has been essentially driven by demand from 
Members.  The Secretariat has also provided assi stance to countries seeking to join the WTO by 
helping them to prepare for the accession process and by training officials.  Priority continues to be 
attached to assistance to least-d eveloped countries.  Importance has been attached to ensuring 
complementarity and cooperation with other interg overnmental organizations, in particular WIPO.  
The main modes of supply of technical coopera tion specifically relating to the TRIPS Agreement 
have been information and advice given to Memb ers in Geneva and study programmes, training 
courses, seminars and workshops for developing count ries in Geneva and elsewhere.  The extent to 
which requests for assistance could be responded to c ontinued, in the course of the reporting period, 
to be constrained by personnel resources.  This document has been prepa red under the Secretariat's own 
responsibility and without prejudice to the positions of Members 
and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.IP/C/W/428 
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 Information and Advice given to Members in Geneva
 
4. A significant part of the work of Secretariat o fficials dealing with intellectual property matters 
has been concerned with providing information in response to questions put to them by representatives of Member governments, e.g. notifi cation and review procedures, the meaning of 
particular provisions of the TRIPS Agreement,  the options available under these provisions and 
matters under discussion or negotiation in the TRIPS Council.  Matters have been raised with the 
Secretariat not only by local delegations but also by visiting intellectual property officials and as a 
result of direct contacts from officials in capitals  by telephone or in written form on issues such as 
domestic draft legislation or the ongoing work a nd negotiations in the TRIPS Council.  Advice and 
information have also been given to officials from acceding countries. 
Seminars, Workshops, Training Courses and other Technical Cooperation Activities
   
 In Geneva 
5. TRIPS issues have continued to figure prominen tly in the context of broader training courses, 
seminars and workshops held in Geneva.  For example, the long WTO Trade Policy Courses, the 
Introduction Courses for LDCs, the "Geneva Weeks" fo r Non-Residents, and other events held in 
Geneva included presentations on the TRIPS Agreem ent and the ongoing work and negotiations in the 
TRIPS area.  The four long Trade Policy Courses held in Geneva during the reporting period also included a day at WIPO, learning about that Organiza tion, its conventions and activities.  In addition, 
the Secretariat organized a number of special study programmes for individual countries or groups of countries in Geneva, and provided speakers or brie fings for a number of seminars and training 
programmes organized in Geneva by others, for example WIPO, the EPO (European Patent Office) 
and CASIN (Centre for Applied Studi es in International Negotiations). 
6. Pursuant to the WTO Technical Assistan ce and Training Plan 2004 ("TA Plan 2004")
1, a 
WIPO-WTO Joint Workshop on Intellectual Property Ri ghts and Transfer of Technology was held on 
17 November 2004.  The objective of the Workshop was to examine in depth, with a range of experts, 
evidence regarding the relation between intellectual property rights and the transfer of technology.2  
7. An important component of the activities carried  out in Geneva during the reporting period 
was the holding, from 28 June to 9 July 2004, of a WIPO-WTO Colloquium for Teachers of Intellectual Property Law from developing countries. 
 This Colloquium was a new joint initiative of 
the two Organizations.  For the WTO, this formed pa rt of a wider approach in the WTO TA Plan 2004 
towards cooperation with the academic community in developing countries aimed at local capacity-
building on WTO matters.  The main objectives of the Colloquium were to update university teachers 
of intellectual property law in developing countri es on the activities and instruments of WIPO and the 
WTO, and to provide a forum for exchange of information and ideas among the participants and 
officials of the two Organizations.  The emph asis was put on recent developments and on policy 
issues under debate in the two Organizations.  Th e Colloquium also provided an opportunity for an 
exchange of views on teaching methodologies and on the outsourcing of technical cooperation.  The 
Colloquium took place at the WIPO Worldwide Academy and at the WTO.  University teachers from 
the following 19 developing countries participated  in the event:  Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, 
Cameroon, Chile, China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, the 
Philippines, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey and Zambia.  In addition to speakers from the two Secretariats 
and from the Secretariat of the Union for the Pr otection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV), several 
capital or Geneva-based delegates were invited to share views on certain topical issues under 
                                                      
1 WT/COMTD/W/119/Rev.3. 
2 See http://www.wto.org/engl ish/tratop_e/trips_e/techtransfer_e.htm, which refers for full details to the 
WIPO site, http://www.wipo.int/documents /en/meetings/2003/wipo_wto/index.html.  IP/C/W/428 
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 discussion or negotiation.  Participating university teachers also made presentations on selected 
topics.3    
 Outside Geneva 
8. An important part of the WTO technical coopera tion in the field of intellectual property has 
been the organization of, or participation in, inte rnational, regional and na tional seminars, workshops 
and other events outside Geneva.  The Annex to  this document lists the technical cooperation 
missions outside Geneva organized by, or involving, intellectual property staff.  
9. The WTO TA Plan 2004 puts special focus on regional seminars devoted to specific WTO 
areas.  The Plan foresees the holding in 2004 of sev en regional workshops on certain topical issues 
under discussion, examination or negotiation in the TRIPS context, namely TRIPS and public health, 
biotechnology/traditional knowledge/biodiversity, and geographical indications, as well as on 
enforcement.  The aim of the workshops is to prov ide information and an opportunity for an exchange 
of views among countries of the region that will f acilitate their effective participation in the ongoing 
negotiations or discussions.  With regard to the Decision on Paragraph 6 of  the Doha Declaration on 
the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, the work shops have also as their objective to provide 
information that will assist the countries of the region in implementing and making effective use of 
the mechanism set out therein.  The programmes for these workshops provide for presentations by 
WTO staff members and representatives of WIPO and WHO as well as by two external speakers that are participating or have participated in the discussions or negotiations on the topical issues mentioned.  In the first part of 2004, three regi onal workshops were organized , in cooperation with the 
host country, in:  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 27-29 April 2004;  Sandton (Johannesburg), South 
Africa, from 2-4 June 2004;  and in Yaoundé, Ca meroon, from 20-22 July 2004 (see Annex).  The 
remaining four workshops are scheduled to be he ld from 19-21 October in Moldova (jointly with 
WIPO), from 3-5 November in Saint Lucia, fro m 8-10 November in the Dominican Republic and 
from 6-8 December in the United Arab Emirates.    
10. In addition, the WTO participated in 12 national seminars or workshops devoted to 
intellectual property matters as well as in six region al events on intellectual property organized by 
other intergovernmental organizations.  Further, WTO staff members participated in a number of 
meetings among providers of technical assistance on TRIPS matters.  
11. One of the features of activities during the repor ting period has been the increasing number of 
broader WTO events outside Geneva which have  included a significant TRIPS component.  The 
intellectual property staff contributed to six even ts, e.g. the three-month WTO regional Trade Policy 
Courses (for the Caribbean, English-speaking Africa and Asia/Pacific) and  WTO short Trade Policy 
Courses, organized by the WTO Secretariat, or  co-organized with other intergovernmental 
organizations and/or universities.   
Cooperation with WIPO and other Intergovernmental Organizations
 
12. As indicated in this note and earlier reports s ubmitted to the Council for TRIPS, cooperation 
with WIPO has been a key feature of WTO Secretar iat technical cooperation in the TRIPS area.  This 
has been based on the Cooperation Agreement betw een the two Organizations, Article 4 of which 
deals with legal-technical assistance and technical cooperation.4  Since the Agreement was concluded, 
                                                      
3 For the programme, see http://w ww.wipo.int/academy/en /policy/academy_session s/index_past.htm. 
4 The Agreement Between  the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade 
Organization came into effect on 1 January 1996.  Article 4 of the Agreement provides for the International Bureau of WIPO to make available to developing country WTO Members which are not Members of WIPO the 
same legal-technical assistance relating to the TRIPS Ag reement as it makes available to Member States of IP/C/W/428 
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 there has been intensive cooperation between the two Organizations on tec hnical cooperation matters, 
which has been regularly reported to the Council.
5 
13. The WIPO-WTO Joint Initiative on Technical Cooperation for Least-Developed Countries, 
launched in June 2001, is aimed at helping least -developed country Members of the WTO comply 
with their obligations under the TRIPS Agreement and make best use of the intellectual property 
system for their economic, social and cultural development.  It is also open to other least-developed 
countries.  Under the Joint Initiative, the two Or ganizations, together with countries requesting 
assistance, and, where appropriate, donor countries,  are endeavouring to ensure that technical 
cooperation activities are efficiently planned and c oordinated and to maximize the use of available 
resources in carrying them out.  During the period  under review, the WTO participated in national 
seminars in Bangladesh, Benin, Djibouti, the Maldives, Myanmar and Senegal (see Annex).   
14. The WTO Secretariat has also cooperated in the provision of technical cooperation in the area 
of TRIPS with other intergovernme ntal organizations (see Annex). 
_______________ 
 
                                                                                                                                                                     
WIPO which are developing countries.  The WTO Secretariat is required to  reciprocate.  The Agreement also 
provides for the International Bureau  and the WTO Secretariat to enhance cooperation in their legal-technical 
assistance and technical cooperation activities relating to the TRIPS Agreement for developing countries, so as to maximize the usefulness of those activities and ensure their mutually supportive nature. 
5 See documents IP/C/W/406, 375, 304, 201, 156, 110, 79 and 36.  IP/C/W/428 
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ANNEX 
 
Technical Cooperation Missions in the TRIPS Ar ea from 1 November 2003 to 17 September 2004  
 
 
Date Place Mission 
24-28 November 2003 Bangkok, Thailand ADB (Asi an Development Bank) Intensive Course 
on the WTO TRIPS Agreement. 
2 December 2003 Tunis, Tunisia JITAP (J oint Integrated Technical Assistance 
Program) National Workshop on Investment and 
Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights  
6-7 December 2003 Bahrain  WTO Seminar on the TRIPS Agreement 
8-11 December 2003 Amman, Jordan WHO Regional Consultative Meeting on TRIPS 
and Public Health 
15-17 December 2003 Kuala Lumpur, 
Malaysia WTO Seminar on the TRIPS Agreement 
29 January 2004 Libreville, Gabon WTO Trad e Policy Course for CEMAC Countries 
(Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale), organized with CEMAC and 
the Agence Intergouvernmentale  de la 
Francophonie  
9-10 February 2004 Djibouti WIPO Nationa l Seminar on Copyright and Related 
Rights 
WIPO-WTO Joint National Seminar on the TRIPS 
Agreement 
9-13 February 2004 Hanoi, Viet Nam Expert evaluation mission of the Special 
Programme of Cooperation (SPC) in the Field of Intellectual Property between Viet Nam and Switzerland 
23-25 February 2004 Male, Maldives WTO Seminar on the TRIPS Agreement 
3-5 March 2004 Concepción, Chile UNIDO Forum on Biotechnology 
17-19 March 2004  Senegal WTO Semina r on Enforcement (Border Measures) 
23-25 March 2004 Guadalajara, Mexico WIPO Regional Meeting of Heads of Copyright 
Offices and of Industrial Property Offices of Latin America  IP/C/W/428 
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 Date Place Mission 
5-7 April 2004 Kingston, Jamaica WTO Regional Trade Policy Course, organized 
with the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica 
7-8 April 2004 New Delhi, India Second Conference on Biotechnology for Asian 
Development, Regional Co-operation for Ensuring 
Access and Capacity Building, organized by RIS (Research and Information System for the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries)  
20-21 April 2004 Beijing, China  OECD  High-level Workshop on Intellectual 
Property Rights and Economic Development in 
China:  Meeting Challenges and Opportunities Following WTO Entry 
22-23 April 2004 Beijing, China APEC Semi nar on Patent Protection and Drug 
Access  
27-29 April 2004 Kuala Lumpur, 
Malaysia WTO Regional Workshop on Certain Topical 
Issues in regard to Intellectual Property for Asia and the Pacific, organized with the cooperation of the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (IPCM), Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs  
10-12 May 2004 Nairobi, Kenya WTO Regional Trade Policy Course, organized 
with the cooperation of the University of Nairobi 
11-14 May 2004  Hanoi, Viet Nam  APEC Training Program on the Enforcement of 
Intellectual Property Rights for APEC Developing Member Economies  
27-28 May 2004  Washington, United 
States Training Seminar for the World Bank's officials:  
"Impact of International Trade in Goods and Services on Public Health"  
2-4 June 2004 Sandton 
(Johannesburg), South Africa WTO Regional Workshop on Certain Topical 
Issues in regard to Intellectual Property for English-speaking African Countries, organized 
with the cooperation of the Companies and 
Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO), Department of Trade and Industry  
14 June 2004  Lausanne, 
Switzerland WHO Training Course on the Public Health 
Implications of Multilateral Trade Agreements 
28-29 June 2004 Yangoon, Myanmar WIPO Wo rkshop on the Implementation of the 
TRIPS Agreement  
6 July 2004 Cotonou, Benin WTO Seminar on the TRIPS Agreement   IP/C/W/428 
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 Date Place Mission 
8-9 July 2004 Cotonou, Benin IDB (Islamic Development Bank) - WTO Short 
Trade Policy Course for Countries Members of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) 
20-22 July 2004 Yaoundé, Cameroon WTO Regional Workshop on Certain Topical 
Issues in regard to Intellectual Property for French-
speaking African Countries, organized with the cooperation of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Cameroon  
26-28 July 2004 Hong Kong, China WTO Regional Trade Policy Course, jointly 
organized with Hong Kong University 
30 July-2 August 2004 Taipei, Chinese 
Taipei WTO Seminar on the TRIPS Agreement 
30-31 August 2004 Dacca, Bangladesh WTO Seminar on the TRIPS Agreement 
15-16 September 2004 Tunis, Tunisia Third WTO/ADB/ECA Trade Policy Course for 
African Countries  
15-17 September 2004 Burnham Beeches, 
United Kingdom DFID (United Kingdom Department for 
International Development) Workshop:  "Reflecting on IPR Technical Assistance for Developing Countries & Transition Economies" 
 
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