RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/34/Add.3/Suppl.1
7November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4729)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
Supplement
Finland
Thepresent document reproduces theupdated information onFinland 'stechnical andfinancial
cooperation activities relevant totheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement, which hasbeenreceived
from thePermanent Mission ofFinland bymeans ofacommunication dated 31October 1996.
_______________
There arenomajor changes intheforms oftechnical andfinancial cooperation in1996tothose
reported totheTRIPS Council in1995. Finland hasparticipated andcontinues toparticipate inthe
development cooperation activities ofinternational organizations inthefieldofintellectual property
rights.
Participation inannual WIPO training programmes forcivilservants fromvarious developing
countries forms asignificant partofFinland 'smultilateral cooperation activities.
Asregardsbilateralactivities,FinlandhasalsoagreatinterestinassistingandsupportingRussia,
especially thecityofSt.Petersburg, intheaspirations tocreate anew, effective industrial property
system. Finland hasalready successfully carried through anextensive cooperation programme with
Estonia.
Summarized information concerning Finland 'spresent cooperation activities inthefields of
industrial property andcopyright isgiven below.
A. COOPERATION INTHE FIELD OFINDUSTRIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
1. Multilateral cooperation
Cooperation through international organizations
Human resources
TheNational Board ofPatents andRegistration (Patentti -jarekisterihallitus, hereinafter PRH)
hasorganizedandcontinuestoorganizetrainingwithintheframeworkoftheWIPOTrainingProgramme.
Thetraining inFinland consists ofcourses providing information ontheintellectual property system
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ingeneral andespecially intheNordic countries, aswellasastudy oftheorganization andtheduties
ofthePRH. Trainees whohaveparticipated inthistraining programme havebeenfromAsia, Africa
andLatin America. In1996, PRH hadnineWIPO trainees; seven from theDemocratic Republic
ofKorea, onefromSriLanka andonefromTanzania. Therepresentatives ofPRHhavealsoattended
industrial property courses indeveloping countries aslecturers.
Technical assistance
PRH hasannually completed several state-of-the-art searches consisting ofacompilation of
published patent documents. Insome cases thesearches arebroad reviews ofatechnical fieldand
inothercasesdetailed reports ontherecent development inaparticular areaoftechnology. Thesearches
havebeenmade forthedeveloping countries 'patent offices atWIPO 'srequest. Lastyearthenumber
ofthecompleted state-of-the-art reviews was19.In1996, thenumber ofreviews is12.
2. Bilateral cooperation
Adjacent areas cooperation programme
PRHandtheMayor 'soffice ofthecityofSt.Petersburg haveamutual cooperation agreement
concerning industrial property rights. Thiscooperation agreement wasconcluded inorder tosupport
thefurther development andprotection ofindustrial property rights. Thecooperation hasfocused on
education andexchange ofinformation concerning industrial property rights, theirlegal protection
andcommercialization. InJune1996, athree-day seminar onthetopicofintellectual property rights
wasorganized within theframework ofthiscooperation. TheMinistry ofTrade andIndustry has
supported theproject financially.
B. COOPERATION INTHE FIELD OFCOPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS
TheMinistry ofEducation andCulture organizes andfinances, incooperation withWIPO,
training courses forofficials fromdeveloping countries. These courses havebeencarried outjointly
withFinnish public andprivate organizations inthefieldofintellectual property andcopyright. The
courses havebeenplanned withaviewtogiving theparticipants anoverview onFinnish andNordic
solutions concerning intellectual property legislation, collective administration ofrights andenforcement
questions. Inrecent years, thecourses havebeenarranged onanannual basis.
In1996, apractical training course oncollective administration ofcopyright andneighbouring
rights wasarranged fortwoparticipants fromGhana andNigeria. Thecourse washeldon14-25 October
inHelsinki.
Corresponding training courses willbearranged inFinland alsointhefuture, subject tothe
undertakings ofWIPO inthefieldoftechnical cooperation andtherequests andfactual needs ofthe
various developing country members oftheorganization.