RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/287
9 July 2001
(01-3405)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  French
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION
Responses by Côte d’Ivoire to Questions Posed
 by Canada and Switzerland
By means of a communication from the Permanent Mission of Côte d’Ivoire, dated
14 June 2001, the Secretariat has received the following responses to the questions posed by Canada
and Switzerland, which were circulated in documents IP/C/W/261 and 263, respectively, and a report
on progress in implementing the TRIPS Agreement in Côte d’Ivoire.
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CANADA
1. Please describe how the enforcement obligations (Articles 41-61 of the TRIPS
Agreement) have been implemented.
The revised Bangui Agreement of 24 February 1999 contains provisions relating to the
enforcement obligations established in Articles 41 to 61 of the TRIPS Agreement.  These aspects have
been addressed in the report on progress in implementing the TRIPS Agreement annexed hereto.  The
draft legislation mentioned in paragraphs 1.2(a) and 1.2(b) of the report reinforces the provisions ofthe Bangui Agreement.  For example, Section III of the draft law on procedures and penalties with
respect to the protection of intellectual works makes the following provisions:
Confiscation of infringing works (Article 90)
At the request of right holders, their successors in title or agents, goods in infringement of
rights can be seized.  This measure is subject to legal recourse to have them released (Article 91-92).
Descriptive seizure (Article 93)
On the petition of the above-mentioned parties, one or more court-appointed experts may
proceed to take an inventory of the objects alleged to be counterfeit or to describe the particulars of
the infringement and the materials used to commit it.
Suspension of release by customs (Article 94)
Without prejudice to the pertinent provisions of the customs code, when a right holder has
prima facie evidence for suspecting the imminent import or export of goods whose circulation is
unlawful, he may submit a written request to the customs authorities to suspend their release.IP/C/W/287
Page 2
Enforcement
The law defines infractions and establishes penalties.  It describes the offence of
counterfeiting (Article 96), the infraction of fraudulent affixation or suppression of a mark
(Article 96), the infraction of abuse of technical facilities (Article 97), etc. and establishes thepenalties to which offenders are liable.
Technical measures
Provisions on technical devices to prevent piracy (Article 76) have been added to the
provisions governing the use of apparatus not equipped with copy-protected devices and devices to
render inoperative any means of copy protection or regulation (Article 175).
2. What protection does your copyright legislation afford to "foreign works"?
Works by foreign nationals published for the first time in Côte d’Ivoire enjoy the same
protection as works by Ivorians (Article 3.2).
Subject to international conventions to which Côte d’Ivoire is party (the Berne Convention
and the TRIPS Agreement, in particular), works by foreign nationals that have not been published for
the first time in Côte d’Ivoire are protected, on the condition that the country of the copyright holder
affords equivalent protection to the works of Ivorians (Article 2.3).
SWITZERLAND
A. GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
1. Please explain in detail how your legislation provides protection for geographical
indications.
Geographical indications are protected under Annex VI of the Bangui Agreement of
24 February 1999.
Conditions of protection
Geographical indications are protected if they have been registered by the African Intellectual
Property Organization (AIPO) or are to be treated  as having been registered by virtue of an
international convention to which the member States are party.
Geographical indications foreign to the territories of the organization’s member States may be
registered by AIPO only where provided for in an international convention to which the member
States are party or in the enforcing legislation.
The following geographical indications are excluded from protection:
• Indications which do not correspond to the definition contained in the Bangui
Agreement;
• indications which are contrary to morality or public order or those which are liable to
deceive the public as to the nature, the source, the manufacturing process, the
characteristic qualities or the suitability for their purpose of the goods concerned.IP/C/W/287
Page 3
• indications which are not protected in their country of origin or, have ceased to be
protected or have fallen into disuse in that country.
Registration procedure
Natural or legal persons carrying on an activity as a producer in the geographical area
specified in the application, with respect to the products specified in the application, as well as groups
of such persons, groups of consumers and any competent authority are entitled to file an application
for registration of a geographical indication.
AIPO examines all applications for registration of a geographical indication to determine
whether the applicant is eligible to request registration and whether the application provides all thenecessary information, including information on exclusions from protection. It registers the
application if no irregularities are found, publishes the registration and furnishes the owner of the
registration with a certificate.
Only producers carrying out their activity for commercial purposes in the geographical area
specified in the Register shall have the right to use a registered geographical indication with respect to
the products specified in the register, provided that such products possess the essential characteristic
qualities specified in the register.
Nevertheless, where products have been put into circulation under the conditions defined in
the preceding paragraph, under a registered geographical indication, any person shall have the right to
use the geographical indication for those products.
Unless the above-mentioned conditions are complied with, it is unlawful to use, for
commercial purposes, a registered geographical indication or a similar designation with respect to theproducts specified in the register or similar products, even if the true origin of the product is indicated
or if the geographical indication is in the form of a translation or is accompanied by words such as
'kind', 'type', 'make', 'imitation' or the like.
B. 
PATENTS
2. Does your legislation grant patent protection to all categories of products or are there
any exceptions?  If so, please explain in detail what kind of exceptions exist and how they
comply with Article 27 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Ivorian legislation does not grant patent protection to all categories of products.  Article 6 of
the Bangui Agreement lists the following exceptions:
• Inventions contrary to public order or morality, it being understood that the
exploitation of the invention is not considered contrary to public order or moralitymerely because it is prohibited by a law or regulation;
• discoveries, scientific and mathematical methods;
• inventions having as their subject-matter plant varieties, animal species, essentially
biological processes for the breeding of pl ants or animals other than microbiological
processes and the products of such processes;IP/C/W/287
Page 4
• schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts or
playing games;
• methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, as well as
diagnostic methods;
• mere presentations of information;
• computer programs;
• works of an exclusively ornamental nature;
• literary, architectural and artistic works or any other aesthetic creation.
The above exceptions to patentablity established in our law are consistent with those
established in Article 27.2 and 27.3 of the TRIPS Agreement.
3. Does your legislation, in accordance with Article 27.1 in combination with Article 31 of
the TRIPS Agreement, consider importation as "working" a patent (and therefore preclude
compulsory licensing, if a product is being imported)?
Article 7.3 of Annex I of the Bangui Agreement establishes that working a patent can consist
simply of importing the patented product into the country.
The provision precludes the possibility of imposing compulsory licences on owners who do
not work their patents but who would be considered to do so through imports of patented products.
4. Does your legislation make the granting of  a compulsory licence subject to all the
conditions enumerated in Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement?  Please cite the relevant
provisions of law.
Ivorian legislation makes the granting of compulsory licences subject to the conditions
established in Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement.  The following conditions apply to the granting ofcompulsory licences:
(a) Non-voluntary licences for non-working of a patent
After expiry of a period of four years from the filing date of the patent application or three
years from the date of grant of the patent, whichever period expires last, a non-voluntary licence may
be granted where one or more of the following conditions are fulfilled:
• The patented invention is not being worked on the territory of a member State at the
time the request is made;
• the working of the patented invention on such territory does not meet the demand for
the protected product on reasonable terms;
• on account of the refusal of the owner of the patent to grant licences on reasonable
commercial terms and conditions, the establishment or development of industrial orcommercial activities on such territory is unfairly and substantially prejudiced.
However, a non-voluntary licence may not be granted if the owner of the patentprovides legitimate reasons for the non-working of the invention.IP/C/W/287
Page 5
(b) Non-voluntary licence for a dependent patent
Where a dependant patent cannot be worked without infringing the rights under an earlier
patent whose owner refuses to authorize its use on reasonable commercial terms and conditons, the
owner of the later patent may obtain a non-voluntary licence for such use from the court on the sameterms as those listed above and on the following additional conditions:
• The invention claimed in the later patent must represent substantial technical
progress, of considerable economic interest, in relation to the invention claimed in theearlier patent;
• the owner of the earlier patent has the right to a reciprocal licence on reasonable
terms for the use of the invention claimed in the later patent.
The use authorized in relation to the earlier pa tent shall be intransferable except where the
later patent is also transferred.
5. Does your legislation provide for the principle of the reversal of burden of proof in a
process patent litigation?   Please cite the relevant provisions of law.
Article 66 of Annex I of the Bangui Agreement deals with the reversal of burden of proof in
process patent litigation.  The article stipulates that if the subject-matter of the patent is a process for
making a product, the judicial authority shall be authorized to order the defendant to prove that the
process used to make an identical product is different from the patented process in one of thefollowing situations:
• The product made by the process is new;
• there is a strong possibility of the identical product having been made by means of the
process and of the owner of the patent having been unable, in spite of reasonable
effort, to establish what process was actually used.
C. 
PROTECTION OF UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION
6. Please explain in detail if your legislation ensures that undisclosed test or other data
submitted by an applicant to the responsible State agency in the procedure for market
authorisation of a pharmaceutical or of an agricultural chemical product is protected againstdisclosure and against unfair commercial use by a competitor, for example by prohibiting a
second applicant from relying on, or from referring to the original data of the first applicant,
when applying subsequently for market authorization for his own product.  Does your
legislation provide for exceptions to this?  If yes, under what conditions would such exceptions
apply?  Does your legislation set a specific term of protection for undisclosed test or other dataof the first applicant?
Protection of undisclosed information is provided for in Article 6 of Annex VIII of the Bangui
Agreement of 24 February 1999, which deals with unfair use of confidential information.
Information is considered "confidential" when:
• In its totality or in the configuration or exact assembly of its elements, it is not
generally known to persons belonging to the circles that normally deal with that typeof information or is not readily available to them;IP/C/W/287
Page 6
• it has commercial value because it is confidential;
• its lawful holder has taken reasonable precautions, in view of the circumstances, to
keep it confidential.
Any act or practice which, in the course of industrial or commercial activities, constitutes or
leads to:
• Dishonest use in commerce of confidential data obtained from tests or other
confidential data whose production requires considerable effort and which have beencommunicated to a competent authority for the purpose of obtaining authorization to
market pharmaceutical products or chemical products for agriculture comprising new
chemical entities, or disclosure of such data, except where necessary to protect the
public or unless measures have been taken to ensure that the data are protectedagainst dishonest use in commerce, shall be considered an act of unfair competition.
The legislation does not establish a specific term for protection.
D. 
ENFORCEMENT
7. Please indicate remedies provided by your legislation, which constitute effective
deterrents to infringements of intellectual property rights.
The revised Bangui Agreement of 24 February 1999 contains provisions relating to the
enforcement obligations established in Articles 41 to 61 of the TRIPS Agreement.  These aspects havebeen addressed in the report on progress in implementing the TRIPS Agreement annexed hereto.  The
draft legislation mentioned in paragraphs 1.2(a) and 1.2(b) of the report reinforces the provisions of
the Bangui Agreement.  For example, Section III of the draft law on procedures and penalties with
respect to the protection of intellectual works makes the following provisions:
Confiscation of infringing works (Article 90)
At the request of right holders, their successors in title or agents, goods in infringement of
rights can be seized.  This measure is subject to legal recourse to have them released (Article 91-92).
Descriptive seizure (Article 93)
On the petition of the above-mentioned parties, one or more court-appointed experts may
proceed to take an inventory of the objects alleged to be counterfeit or to describe the particulars of
the infringement and the materials used to commit it.
Suspension of release by customs (Article 94)
Without prejudice to the pertinent provisions of the customs code, when a right holder has
prima facie evidence for suspecting the imminent import or export of goods whose circulation is
unlawful, he may submit a written request to the customs authorities to suspend their release.IP/C/W/287
Page 7
Enforcement
The law defines infractions and establishes penalties.  It describes the offence of
counterfeiting (Article 96), the infraction of fraudu lent affixation or suppression of a mark (Article
96), the infraction of abuse of technical facilities (Article 97), etc. and establishes the penalties towhich offenders are liable.
Technical measures
Provisions on technical devices to prevent piracy (Article 76) have been added to the
provisions governing the use of apparatus not equipped with copy-protected devices and of devices to
render inoperative any means of copy protection or regulation (Article 175).
8. Please describe any new initiatives that are planned to improve enforcement of
intellectual property rights in your country, particularly initiatives related to criminal
enforcement.
New measures to improve enforcement of intellectual property rights are contained in the
draft legislation on border measures and the protection of works of authorship.  They are presented in
paragraphs 1.2(a) and 1.2(b) of the annexed report.IP/C/W/287
Page 8
ANNEX
Report on Progress in Implementing the
 TRIPS Agreement in Côte d’Ivoire
Introduction
Entry into effect of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) in
1994 has engaged the Member countries in a general process of reworking their legislation on
international property rights.  A  transition period, whose length depends on the level of development,
was granted to different States to harmonize their legislation with the Agreement on Trade-RelatedAspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).  The transition period came into effect
for our country on 1 January 2000.  Concerned with respecting its international commitments,
Côte d’Ivoire, like other WTO Members, has undertaken extensive restructuring to bring its
intellectual property legislation into conformity with the rules of the TRIPS Agreement.
1. Legal and regulatory framework
Côte d’Ivoire is a party to the following international agreements on intellectual property
rights:
• The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 20 March 1883,
revised in Stockholm in 1967;
• the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886,
revised in Paris in 1979;
• the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs of
1925, revised and completed in Stockholm in 1967;
• the Patent Cooperation Treaty;
• the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization;
• the Agreement revising the Bangui Agreement of 2 March 1977, which established
the African Intellectual Property Organization.
The Agreement establishing the African Intellectual Property Organization (AIPO) is the
basic text for intellectual property protection in the 16 member States, which include the
Côte d’Ivoire.  The new rules for the protection of intellectual property rights in the TRIPS
Agreement have led the member States to re-examine their basic legislation, i.e. the Bangui
Agreement of 2 March 1977.  The revised Agreement was signed in Bangui on 24 February 1999 andprovided the AIPO States with a new text that brings them into line with the TRIPS Agreement.
However, this new community instrument does not exempt the member countries from the obligation
of taking appropriate measures at the national level.
The legislative and regulatory framework for implementing the TRIPS Agreement can be
examined by looking at the content of the revised Ba ngui Agreement, i.e. at the community level, and
by looking at the relevant domestic measures.IP/C/W/287
Page 9
1.1 The African community level
The basic provisions of the Paris and Berne Conventions, incorporated in the TRIPS
Agreement by reference, were already present in the original Bangui Agreement of 2 March 1977.
Those acquis  have been preserved, as reflected in the following requirements:
• Membership by the member States in the Paris and Berne Unions;
• national treatment for nationals of the member States of those Unions;
• benefit of priority rights;
• independence of the protection afforded in different countries;
• a grace period for the process;
• right of restoration;
• prohibition on the registration as marks of the emblems of governments and
international organizations and official signs indicating control;
• protection for widely-recognized marks;
• establishment of an industrial property office;
• definition of protected literary and artistic works and limitations on patrimonial
rights;
• rules for the protection of literary and artistic works.
Added to the above are the innovations introdu ced in view of the TRIPS Agreement, for
example:
• The suppression of the control of licensing contracts;
• the inclusion of provisions regarding the protection of neighbouring rights for
copyrights;
• extension of protected subject-matter to include the lay-out designs (topographies) of
integrated circuits and plant varieties;
• inclusion of provisions on protection against unfair competition, which provide for
the protection of confidential information;
• recognition of the most-favoured-nation clause;
• protection of computer programs and compilations of data;
• elimination of the ex officio  lapse of patents not worked;
• introduction of rental rights for copyright and neighbouring rights.IP/C/W/287
Page 10
The system in use in AIPO countries to enforce intellectual property rights has been
strengthened under the revised Bangui Agreement.  The new Agreement defines a significant number
of infractions:
• Counterfeiting;
• unlawfully using a geographical indication;
• unlawfully using a trade name;
• confusion with another's enterprise or activities;
• acts damaging to another's image or reputation;
• deceiving the public;
• disclosing confidential information;
• usurpation of rights.
Provisions regarding second offences have also been introduced.
Different penalties have been established for offences, including:
• Imprisonment;
• fines, which have been increased twenty-fold over the old Bangui Agreement;
• damages;
• confiscation or destruction of recognized infringing objects;
• destruction of implements or tools specially intended to commit an infringement;
• publication of court rulings;
• legal disqualification from membership in professional groups (Chambers of
commerce and industry, Chambers of agriculture)
With regard to civil and administrative procedures, provisions have been introduced to make
them fair, effective, equitable and expeditious, i.e. summary procedures, ex parte decisions and
confiscation of infringing works.  All of these procedures involve bailiffs as well as public and
ministerial officials, including customs officials.
The revised Bangui Agreement of 24 February 1999 was signed by all 16 of the
Organization’s member States.  For it to enter into fo rce, two thirds of the members must ratify it.  To
date, 11 of the 16 States have done so, thereby providing members with a new national text in the
field of intellectual property rights that meet s the requirements of the TRIPS Agreement. With
allowances for administrative procedures, the new Agreement will come into effect by the end of
2001.IP/C/W/287
Page 11
1.2 The national level
Côte d’Ivoire has taken steps domestically to comply with its commitments under WTO.  The
following texts are examples:
• Draft law on the protection of intellectual property rights at borders;
• draft law on the protection of intellectual works;
• draft Decree on the implementation of the Bangui Agreement of 24 February 1999, as
regards to the administration of industrial property.
1.2(a) Draft law on the protection of intellectual property rights at bordersThis bill was drafted in response to provisions of the TRIPS Agreement regarding special
requirements at borders.  It begins by establishing the principle that imports and exports of counterfeit
goods are prohibited.  It makes customs services a key link in combating counterfeiting and piracy at
borders and provides them with the authority to take the following actions:
• Receive and examine requests to suspend import and export clearance of goods that
are allegedly counterfeit or pirated;
• suspend clearance of counterfeit goods;
• authorize the holder of a right to examin e goods whose release has been suspended
for the purpose of determining whether they are counterfeit;
• prevent identified counterfeit goods from being placed on the market.
The bill also establishes that if counterfeit goods are found to be confiscable, customs may
proceed with their destruction.
1.2(b) Draft law on the protection of intellectual works
This bill preserves the progress made in Law 96-564 of 25 July 1996 on the protection of
intellectual works and the rights of authors, performers and producers of phonograms and videotapes.
It includes new components to comply with the TRIPS Agreement in the areas of:
• The introduction of rental rights;
• protection of databases;
• protection of computer programs;
• strengthening of procedures and penalties to combat infringements of rights;
• technical measures to combat piracy;
• the right to pledge a patent.IP/C/W/287
Page 12
1.2(c) Draft decree on the implementation of the Bangui Agreement of 24 February 1999, as
regards the administration of industrial property
This bill transfers responsibility for the formalities of filing applications for industrial
property rights from the tribunal to the Côte d’Ivoire Industrial Property Office, in accordance withthe new Bangui Agreement. It also gives the Office the power to request police assistance in
investigating all infringements of industrial property rights.
All the above-mentioned texts have been completed and submitted to the Government.
2. Practical preparedness
Ivorian authorities have taken practical organizational steps to comply with their
commitments.
2.1 National Institutional Committee to follow-up the WTO Agreements
A National Institutional Committee has been established to follow-up the different
agreements concluded to by our country under WTO. The Committee paves the way for their
implementation. It includes four sub-committees, composed of national experts, each of which is
responsible for aspects of WTO Agreements in his area of expertise.
The Ivorian Industrial Property Office chairs the sub-committee on intellectual property.  The
work of the sub-committee is performed through a task force responsible for monitoring
implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  It is composed of representatives from the Industrial
Property Office, the Economic Police, Customs, the Directorate of Culture, the Directorate of Plant
Production, the Directorate of Metrology and the Directorate of Fraud Control and Prevention. Thistask force drafted the legal texts presented in paragraphs 1.2(a), 1.2(b) and 1.2(c).
2.2 Education and outreach
Outreach and education activities are carried out by the Ivorian Industrial Property Office
with support from WIPO and AIPO.  They are addr essed to economic operators, government agencies
involved in implementing the TRI PS Agreement (customs, courts, police) and the general public, and
their purpose is to raise awareness of the importance of intellectual property in the country’s economy
and of the TRIPS Agreement in the world trading system. They can take the form of seminars
supported by our partners, or awareness sessions or ganized by WIPO in Abidjan and in the interior.
The following activities have been carried out:
• A subregional seminar on implementing th e TRIPS Agreement, held in Yaoundé,
Cameroon, from 6 to 8 April 1999.  An Ivorian delegation composed of senior
officials from the government agencies involved in implementing the Agreement
attended;
• a national seminar on implementing the TRIPS Agreement, held in Abidjan from 28
to 30 March 2000.  This well-attended seminar (more than 150 participants) wasorganized by AIPO in conjunction with WIPO and the private sector (Microsoft,
UNIWAX and Bijouterie A. Constant).  Delegations of customs officers working at
different posts around the country participated in this important training session. They
had the opportunity of drawing on the experience of their French counterparts incombating counterfeiting;IP/C/W/287
Page 13
• a symposium for French-speaking Africa on in ternational rules and sanctions for the
protection of intellectual property rights in the digital age held in Dakar from 24 to
27 July 2000.  An Ivorian delegation composed of one official from the bureau, one
from the Ministry of Culture, the public prosecutor attached to the Abidjan Court of
First Instance and an attorney took part in the work of this subregional meeting,intended to draw the attention of States to the new rules on sanctions and the
protection of intellectual property rights and related sanctions.  The meeting enabled
Ivorian participants to benefit from American experience in this field.
Additional actions have been carried out by the Ivorian Industrial Property Office in the
country’s interior (Bouaké, San-Pedro, Doala), as well as activities to raise the awareness of economic
operators and professional groups.
2.3 Other activities
An inter-ministerial committee to combat coun terfeiting has been established to step up
efforts to eliminate this scourge. It brings togeth er different government agencies involved in the
protection of intellectual property rights and the prevention of infringements and representatives
drawn from the private sector.  The Committee has an operational group that works independently in
the field. It is composed of representatives of agencies responsible for prevention (Customs, the
Economic Police, the Directorate of Fraud Preventi on, the Investigation Brigade of the Gendarmerie).
It can be called upon by operators to intervene in cases of counterfeiting.  Teams from this operationalgroup have been deployed at border posts and in the country’s main centres (Noe, Ouangolo,
Bondoukou, Agniblekrou, Bouaké, Doala) for greater effectiveness in prevention.
In the near future, a second committee will be established – the national committee to combat
piracy of literary and artistic works.
With the entry into force of the revised Bangui Agreement, our country has taken a decisive
step toward completing the process of implementing the TRIPS Agreement.
__________