WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/109/Add.1
4 September 1998
(98-3377)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
SWITZERLAND
Addendum
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 28
August 1998.
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Technical Assistance Provided by the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property
Federal Department of Justice and Police, Berne
Following documents IP/C/W/12/Add.3 of 13 September 1995, IP/C/W/34/Add.2 of
17 September 1996 and IP/C/W/77/Add.3 of 30 Septem ber 1997, 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 1997 and 31 August 1998. Drafted along the same lines as the
preceding reports, this document draws a distinction between multilateral activities and purelybilateral activities. It should be recalled that the concern of the Swiss authorities is to ensure optimum
coordination of available resources both at the multilateral and bilateral levels, avoiding duplication oroverlapping of programmes.
I. MULTILATERAL ACTIVITIES
1. Technical cooperation in the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO)
(a) Annual basic training programme at WIPO
From 3 September to 24 October 1997, two experts, from Togo and Niger, were able to
benefit, in the framework of the annual training pr ogramme, from a two-month training course which
was held in three successive stages at WIPO, in Strasbourg and at the Institute. The programme
covered the entire field of intellectual property, focusing in particular on patents, trademarks and
industrial designs. As in the past, the programme was financed by the Swiss Agency for Development
and Cooperation of the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs. Costs related to teaching and toguidance of the experts in Berne were covered by the Institute.
From 2 September to 23 October 1998, two experts, from Chad and Burkina Faso, will
receive the same kind of training.IP/C/W/109/Add.1
Page 2
(b) Information and/or training visits
At the request of WIPO, the Institute received delegations from the following countries:
1. Mongolia: On 24 March 1998, the Director General and the Director of the Law and
Policy Department from the Mongolian Intellectual Property Office visited the
Institute for a presentation by a member of the Trademark Division on the Institute’s
implementation of the Trademark Law Treaty and the Madrid Protocol Concerning
the International Registration of Marks.
 
2. China: On 28 May 1998, a delegation of directors-generals and deputy directors-
generals from different Chinese copyright offices (Shanghai, Sichuan Province,
Chengdu and Beijing), headed by the Director-General of the National Copyright
Administration of China, visited the Institute for a presentation on copyright and
neighbouring rights. The presentation focused on Swiss copyright law and the
organization of the Institute's Copyright Division.
 
3. Oman: On 25 May 1998, the Head of the Trademark Division of the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry from Oman visited the Institute and met with a member of
the Trademark Division to discuss the operation of this Division, with particular
attention to the latest technology being employed by the Institute.
 
4. Brunei: On 26 June 1998, a senior legal officer from the Patent Division of the
Attorney General’s Chambers, Brunei Ministry of Law, made a study visit to the
Institute where he met with the Head of the Finance and Computer Science as well as
a representative of the Patent Division and discussed recent developments and
activities in the field of patent information.
(c) Participation in seminars and courses
From 29 June to 1 July 1998, the representative from the Institute's Trademark Division, who
previously met with Oman's Head of the Trad emark Division of the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry on 25 May 1998 (see above), was invited by WIPO, at the request of the Oman authorities, to
participate as an expert in a WIPO expert mission visiting Oman where she assisted in an examinationand evaluation of Oman's trademark registration system and computer system.
(d) Free-of-charge searches in connection with patent applications filed by citizens of developing
countries
Between July 1997 and the end of June 1998, the Institute conducted free-of-charge searches,
at the request of WIPO, in connection with patent applications filed by citizens of the following
countries:IP/C/W/109/Add.1
Page 3
Country Number of searches conducted
Argentina  2
Côte d’Ivoire  6Chile 46
Egypt  1
Gabon  2
Kenya  1
Lebanon  1
Morocco  4
Trinidad and Tobago  1Uruguay  1
These searches are currently financed through the Institute's ordinary budget.2. Technical cooperation in the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
On 24 June 1998, a representative of the Institute made a presentation on enforcement and
Swiss implementation within the framework of a six-week training programme of WTO which
included the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine. A representative of theFederal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs made a presentation on patents and undisclosed
information under the relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.
1
3. Technical cooperation in the framework of UNITAR2
In July and August 1998, a representative of the Institute made a presentation on the TRIPS
Agreement at seminars devoted to investment and trade (with particular emphasis on issues covered
by the WTO Agreement). The seminars were held in the framework of UNITAR programmes in
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.3 The seminar in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) was a regional one
and included participants from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
4. Technical cooperation in the framework of  the European Patent Organization (EPO)
(a) Vietnam: From 12 to 13 February 1998, a delegation of high officials, led by the Deputy
Director General of Vietnam's National Office for Industrial Property (NOIP), attended a two-
day presentation on the Institute's activities and on aspects  of Swiss intellectual property law,
including a discussion of the Swiss enforcement system. The visit was conducted in theframework of the European Technical Assistance Programme for Vietnam (EURO-TAP
VIET) and implemented by the EPO. The programme, carried out in stages, included visits to
the OHIM in Alicante, the Dutch Patent Office and EPO in The Hague and the German Patent
Office and EPO in Munich.
(b) From 23 to 25 March 1998, at the request of the EPO, the Institute received a group of
trainees for three days in the framework of a training programme on the use of CD-ROM
technology in patent information. The experts came from the following countries: Brunei,
Cuba, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania,
Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.  Part of the programme was also conducted at the EPO in
                                                     
 1 The programme was financed by Switzerland (Feder al Office for Foreign Economic Affairs, Federal
Department (Ministry) of Economy) and addressed all issues covered by the WTO Agreement.
2 United Nations Institute for Training and Research
3 The programme was financed by Switzerland (Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs).IP/C/W/109/Add.1
Page 4
Vienna and WIPO in Geneva. Living and travel ling expenses were covered by the EPO. The
organization of the working sessions and the teaching and guidance of the experts in Berne
were financed by the Institute.
II. BILATERAL ACTIVITIES
1. On 4 March 1998, a delegation of IP agents from the Community of Independent States
(CIS), comprised of specialists from the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan  and
Moldova attended a one-day presentation on the Institute's activities and aspects of Swiss
intellectual property law conducted by members of the Trademark, Copyright, Patent and
International Affairs Divisions. The visit was organized by the Russian Intellectual Property
Institute of Rospatent and was part of a programme which also included visits to WIPO, the
WTO, the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI), theAssociation of Swiss Patent Attorneys (ASPA) and other patent attorneys in Berne, Zurich
and Geneva.
2. China: On 11 September 1997, a group of experts from the Ministry of Chemical Industry in
Beijing visited the Institute to discuss the organization of the Institute and, more particularly,
the legal and administrative services of the Patent Division.
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