WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/377/Add.9
24 January 2003
(03-0375)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:
INFORMATION FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
Addendum
SWITZERLAND
The present document reproduces the updated information on Switzerland's technical and
financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement, which has
been received from the Permanent Mission of Switzerland by means of a communication dated
19 November 2002.  It was circulated as an advance copy to the TRIPS Council on20 November 2002.
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Following documents IP/C/W/12/Add.3 of 13 September 1995, IP/C/W/34/Add.2 of
17 September 1996, IP/C/W/77/Add.3 of 30 Septem ber 1997, IP/C/W/109/Add.1 of 4 September
1998, IP/C/W/154/Add.2 of 8 October 1999, IP /C/W/203/Add.1 of 13 September 2000 and
IP/C/W/306/Add.3 of 18 September 2001 in which much of the description of the aims and
organizational aspects of technical cooperation remains relevant, this report describes the activities of
the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (“Institute”) in the field of technical cooperation between
1 September 2001 and 31 August 2002.1  Drafted along the same lines as the preceding reports, this
document draws a distinction between multilateral activities and purely bilateral activities.  It shouldbe recalled that the concern of the Swiss authorities is to ensure optimum coordination of available
resources, both at the multilateral and bilateral levels, while avoiding duplication or overlapping of
programs.
I. MULTILATERAL ACTIVITIES
1. Technical cooperation in the framewor k of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO)
(a) Annual basic training program at WIPO
From 17 September to 5 October 2001, one expert from Zimbabwe was able to benefit from a
training course which was held at the CEIPI (Centre d’Études Internationales de la Propriété
Industrielle) in Strasbourg and at the Institute in Bern.  From 5 June to 5 July 2002, two experts from
Mozambique and Nepal  were able to benefit from a training course which was held at WIPO in
Geneva and at the Institute in Bern.  The program at the Institute covered the entire field of
intellectual property, focusing, in particular, on patents, trademarks and industrial designs.  Emphasis
was put on the practical, administrative and organizational work.  As in the past, the Swiss Federal
Agency for Development and Cooperation of the Federal Department (Ministry) for Foreign Affairs
                                                     
1 (unless otherwise indicated)IP/C/W/377/Add.9
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financed the entire program. Costs related to teach ing and to guidance of the experts in Bern were
covered by the Institute.
(b) Information and/or training visits
At the request of WIPO, the Institute received delegations from the following countries:
1. China (26 September 2001):  Study visit of senior officials to the Institute for a
presentation on structure and administration of the Institute; IP law enforcement;
application and granting system.
2. African countries (5-16 November 2001):  Workshop on services for the promotion of
innovation and their management.  Participants were officials from Algeria, Benin ,
Burkina Faso, Cameroon , Côte d’Ivoire , Guinea , Madagascar , Mali , Morocco , Niger ,
Senegal, Togo , Tunisia  and the FAPI  (Fond d'Aide à la Promotion de l'Invention et de
l'Innovation). The Workshop was organized by WIPO, the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation (DDC) of the Swiss Federal Department (Ministry) of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) and included several presentations held in particular at theWIPO (Geneva), at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Lausanne and Zurich)
and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (Berne).
3. African countries:  On 19 February 2002, a delegation of officials from Botswana
,
Namibia and the United Republic of Tanzania  visited the Institute for a presentation
on the Swiss system of protection and administration of intellectual property rights.
The presentation focused also on patent, trademark and copyright matters.
4. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan , Kyrgyz Republic , Tajikistan , Uzbekistan  (18-22 March
2002): Accession training course on intellectual property rights in the world trade
system.2  Presentations covered all fields of intellectual property including the
economic aspects of IPR’s, dispute settlement, enforcement, undisclosed information,
traditional knowledge and geographical indications.
(c) Free-of-charge searches on the state of the art for WIPO in favor of developing countries
Between 1 July 2001 and 30 June 2002, the Institute conducted, upon request of WIPO, free-
of-charge searches on the state of the art for the following countries (the searches were financed
through the Institute’s ordinary budget):
Country Number of searches
Argentina 2
Burundi 1
Chile 3
Cuba 1
Ghana 1Jordan 1
Jamaica 2
Demokratic People’s Republic of Korea  11
Morocco 1
Mauritius 2Mexico 5
                                                     
2 Training course undertaken by the World Trade Institute (Berne) at the initiative and with the support
of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), Federal Department (Ministry) of Economy.IP/C/W/377/Add.9
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Paraguay 1
El Salvador 1
Trinidad and Tobago 6
Viet Nam 2
Yemen  10
Total    50 searches
II. BILATERAL ACTIVITIES
1. Hungary (15-16 November 2001):  Visit of two representatives of the Institute to the
Hungarian Patent Office for an exchange of experiences focusing in particular on automation,
electronic and system for electronic search for trademark applications.
2. Hungary (6-7 March 2002):  Study visit of experts on trademarks of the Hungarian Patent
Office on trademarks and geographical indications to the Institute in Bern.
3. Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:  The Special Program of Co-operation based on the
Agreement on the Protection of Intellectual Property and Co-operation in the Field of
Intellectual Property between Switzerland and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam,
inaugurated on 12 June 2001, maintained and even increased the pace it had set in the first
year.  Four seminars have been held, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.  The two first focusedon the TRIPS Agreement and industrial property, UPOV, the protection of designs, as well as
on the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of Deposit of Microorgamisms for
the Purposes of Patent Procedures (18-19 March in Hanoi and 21-22 March in Ho Chi Minh
City);  the third and fourth seminars focused on the enforcement of intellectual property rights
(27-28 May in Hanoi and 30-31 May in Ho Chi Minh City).  Approximately 100representatives from governmental agencies and private business took part in each of these
seminars.  Speakers for the seminars came from both developing and developed countries.
Translations of major international intellectual property treaties into Vietnamese, as well as
Vietnamese summaries thereof, were completed and delivered on the occasion of the 20
th
anniversary of the National Office of Industr ial Property of Viet Nam (NOIP) in July 2002.
5000 copies are currently being distributed in Viet Nam.  Other activities of the Special
Program of Co-operation, such as the establishment of a modern library, expert evaluationsfor the modernization of the information technology system as well as the promotion of the
use of intellectual property rights, particularly in the exploitation of traditional knowledge, are
under way.
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