. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/231/Add.2
26 September 2001
(01-4593)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  Spanish
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION
Replies from Paraguay to the Follow-Up Questions Posed
by the European Communities and their Member States
and by the United States
Addendum
By means of communications from the Permanent Mission of Paraguay, dated
30 November 2000 and 19 September 2001, the Secretariat has received the following replies to the
follow-up questions posed by the European Communities and their member States and by the UnitedStates, which were circulated in documents  IP/C/W/219/Add.2 and 215/Add.4, respectively.
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EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THEIR MEMBER STATES
Ad response to question 6
Please clarify how the Dirección Nacional del Derecho de Autor ensures that the
limitations, foreseen by Title V of the Law, pres erve the legitimate interests of the right holders.
The National Directorate of Copyright ensures that the limitations laid down in Title V of
Law No. 1328/98 preserve the legitimate interests of right holders on the basis of the content of the
Law which provides in Articles 38 to 44 that intellectual works may be communicated lawfully
without the necessity of authorization by the author or payment of any remuneration.
Accordingly, it can be affirmed that the National Directorate of Copyright guarantees
enforcement of the law in accordance with the powers conferred on it by the above-mentioned statute,
since it is able to carry out, either ex officio or at the request of a party, supervisory and inspection
functions in relation to activities that might give rise to the exercise of the rights recognized by theLaw;  it also has the power to institute civil actions and file criminal complaints on behalf of the State
regarding the enjoyment and exercise of those same rights, as well as to apply sanctions provided for
in the Law.
Ad response to question 8
Please describe how, and under what provision, Paraguayan legislation grants the
retroactive protection provided pursuant to Ar ticle 18 of the Bern Convention and Article 14.6
of the TRIPS Agreement to works and other subject-matter that are still under protection in
their country of origin.IP/C/W/231/Add.2
Page 2
Article 182 of the new Law grants the benefit of protection to works, whether or not they
were previously protected, and lays down the relevant procedures.  This Article is consistent with
Article 180 on the national treatment that must be accorded to foreign intellectual works in Paraguay,
and these provisions must be applied in accordance with the provisions of the Bern Convention and
the TRIPS Agreement, since Paraguayan laws conform to Kelsen's pyramid in terms of order ofprecedence:  the National Constitution comes first, followed by international conventions, treaties and
agreements, and then by national laws.  It is clear, therefore, that if it were necessary to protect works
and other subject-matter that are under protection in their country of origin, the National Directorate
of Copyright would do so directly pursuant to the Berne Convention and the TRIPS Agreement.
UNITED STATES
1. Please explain whether and how an invention involving the innovative use of a product,
previously patented for a different use, may be patented if that use is new, involves an inventive
step, and has industrial applicability.
If the use it is wished to patent is not covered by the state of the art or is in the public domain,
according to the definition provided by the applicant, it may be protected under the Law on Patents
for Invention, Law No. 1630 of 29 November 2000, provided that it meets the requirements laid down
in Article 3 of that Law, which provides as follows:
"Article 3.  Patentable subject-matter.  New inventions of products or processes that involve
an inventive step and have industrial applicability shall be patentable."
2. We would be interested to learn of the reasons that have caused Paraguay to decide to
delay until 1 January 2003 providing patent protection for agricultural chemicals and
pharmaceutical products.
As was mentioned in the introductory statement, the process of updating national legislation
on intellectual property, in particular the Law on Patents for Invention, was the subject of extensive
discussion with all the sectors concerned.
Paraguay has availed itself of the right granted to it by Article 65.4 of the TRIPS Agreement,
in accordance with the agreement reached at the tim e of ratification of the instruments resulting from
the Uruguay Round.  Furthermore, we have foregone the five-year delay allowed under the provision
in question, and this decision to grant patents for areas of technological subject-matter not previously
protectable, and to start doing so from 1 January 2003, is directly related to a sovereign decision on
national policy in this field.
3. Please explain if and how the law of Par aguay prevents relevant Ministries from relying
on earlier submitted undisclosed data of one party to approve another party's request for
marketing approval of its agricultural, chemical or pharmaceutical product which is
bioequivalent to the product of the first party.
Paraguay complies with Article 39.3 of the TRIPS Agreement by enforcing the obligation to
protect such data against unfair commercial use, as well as against disclosure.
However, our delegation will in due course provide a fuller reply within the time-limit laid
down in Annex 1, Procedure for Review of Legislation.
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