RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/295/Add.1
9 January 2002
(02-0099)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION
Responses from Botswana to the outstanding initial and follow-up questions
posed by the European Communities and their member States,
Switzerland and the United States
Addendum
By means of a communication from the Permanent Mission of Botswana dated
18 December 2001, the Secretariat has received the following responses to the outstanding initial and
follow-up questions posed by the European Communities and their member States, Switzerland and
the United States, as circulated in documents IP/C/W/274, IP/C/W/263/Add.1, IP/C/W268 and
IP/C/W/268/Add.2, respectively.
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EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THEIR MEMBER STATES
Response to outstanding initial question 21:
Please state whether or not your legislation provides for the right to issue a compulsory
licence for industrial designs.
The Botswana Industrial Property Act 1996 does not provide for the right to issue a
compulsory licence for industrial designs.
SWITZERLAND
Response to follow-up question 1:
You mention that you are currently developing the legislation on geographical indications.
Please explain what the draft Act provides and when the new regulation is supposed to be adopted.
The draft Act has not been approved by the Legislature, therefore we are unable to provide
information on the proposed legislation.IP/C/W/295/Add.1
Page 2
Response to follow-up question 2:
Please confirm that your legislation grants patent protection to all categories of products. If
there are exceptions, please specify.
In accordance with the Botswana Industrial Property Act 1996, Section 8 of the legislation
grants patent protection to all patentable inventions categories of products.
In terms of section 9 the following shall, even if they are inventions, not be protected as
patents:
(a) a discovery;
(b) a scientific theory or mathematical method;
(c) a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or other aesthetic creation;
(d) a scheme, rule or method for doing business;  performing a mental act or playing a
game;
(e) a program for a computer;
(f) method for the treatment of the human or animal body by surgery;  and
(g) a diagnostic method practised on the human or animal body.
Response to follow-up question 4 :
You mention that Section 30 of the Industrial Property Act, 1996 sets out most of the
conditions enumerated in Article 31 of the TRIPS Agr eement.  Please confirm that, with the mentioned
amendment of your law relating to Article 31 (l) of the TRIPS Agreement, the granting of compulsory
licences will be subject to all the conditions enumerated in Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Please explain what the draft Act provides in this regard. When will the new regulation enter into
force?
The draft amendment Act has not yet been approved by the Legislature, therefore, we are
unable to provide information on the provisions of the proposed amendment.
Response to follow-up question 6 :
A. You mention that, currently, you do not have laws for protection of undisclosed information in
Botswana, but that you will provide for such protec tion in the amendment of your Industrial Property
Act, 1996. Please explain what the draft amendment provides in relation to protection of undisclosed
information.  When will the new regulation enter into force?
The draft amendment Act has not yet been approved by the Legislature, therefore, we are
unable to provide information on the provisions of the proposed amendment.
B. Referring to the issue of unfair commercial use of data submitted by an applicant to the
responsible State Agency in the procedure for mark et authorisation of a pharmaceutical or of an
agricultural chemical product, please explain in detail if the draft amendment will prohibit a second
applicant from relying on, or from referring to, the original data of the first applicant, when applying
subsequently for market authorisation for his own product.  Will the responsible State Agency requireIP/C/W/295/Add.1
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the same amount of data from the second applicant as from the first applicant? Will the draft
amendment set a specific term of protection for undisclosed test or other data of the first applicant?
See response to part A above.
Response to follow-up question 7:
Please explain how your legislation implem ents Article 50 of the TRIPS Agreement and how
the special requirements related to border measures of Articles 51 to 60 of the TRIPS Agreement are
implemented in your legislation.
Under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, Section 29(4) provides that:
"… where a Chief or Senior Magistrate is satisfied from information
given on oath or affirmation by the investigating officer, that urgent
action is required to obtain evidence pertaining to the contravention
of the provisions of this Act, which evidence is likely to be concealedor destroyed, the Magistrate may dispense with an procedural
requirements and grant a search warrant to the investigating officer at
such time and place and under such conditions as the urgency of the
matter may require."
Furthermore, on special requirements related to border measures of Articles 51 to 60 of the
TRIPS Agreement, the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, 2000, Section 32 provides that any
goods imported into the country that are in contravention of the provisions of this Act, may be placed
under an embargo, destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the Customs officials as provided for under
Sections 115 and 116 of the Customs and Duty Act Cap 50:01.
UNITED STATES
Response to outstanding initial question 32:
Please provide statistical information related to civil copyright, trademark, geographical
indication, industrial design, patent, integrated circuit layout-design, and trade secret enforcement
for 2000, including the number of cases filed;  injunctions issued;  infringing products seized;
infringing equipment seized;  cases resolved (i ncluding settlement); and the amount of damages
awarded.
Botswana does not have statistical information relating to civil copyright, trademarks, patents
and industrial designs enforcement because there has never been lawsuits filed in court against these
prices of legislation.
Botswana has not yet put in place legislation related to integrated circuit layout-designs, trade
secrets and geographical indications.
Response to follow-up question 3:
Please explain how the Intellectual Property Act of 1996 will be amended to include the
protections that are required under Articles 39.2 and 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement.  Please address
how the amended law will ensure that a second comer will not be allowed to rely on the data that isIP/C/W/295/Add.1
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submitted to the regulatory authorities in support of a pioneer drug application, as required by the
unfair commercial use provisions of Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement.
The amendment of the Industrial Property Act of 1996 will take into consideration amongst
others the protection as required under Articles 39.2 and 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement.  Since theamendment has not been developed yet, it is not possible to disclose information on how it might
look.
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