IP/C/W/664  
17 July 2020 
(20-4956) Page: 1/4 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  Original:  English  
 
  
PROPOSED NEW TEMPLATE FOR ANNUAL REPORTING UNDER  ARTICLE  66.2 OF THE 
AGREEMENT ON TRADE -RELATED  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (TRIPS)  
COMMUNICATION FROM C HAD ON BEHALF OF THE  LDC GROUP  
1.  Notwithstanding the decisions taken in 20011 and 20032, and the subsequent mechanisms and 
processes introduced in the TRIPS Council, it is the view of the LDC Group that while some Members 
have made efforts , the implementation of Article  66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement continues to fall short 
of the  letter and spirit of the TRIPS Agreement mandate . The LDC Group previously tabled three 
submissions (IP/C/W/561, IP/C/W/640, and RD/IP/24) to the Council for TRIPS to further assist 
Members and provide clarity in reporting under this Article . LDCs acknowledge  the great 
contributions by the developed country Members to promote and encourage the transfer of 
technology to the least  developed country Members in order to develop a sound and viable 
technological base . The LDC Group would, however, like to note that Switzerland 's report in 2019 
did indicate that the LDC illustrative list, in RD/IP/24, served as a guide . The illustrative list contained 
the types of programmes, that in the view of the LDC Group, could qualify as incentives . The 
LDC Group encourages othe r Members to use this guide as well.  
2.  LDCs also note that some reports of developed country Members under Article 66.2 of the 
TRIPS  Agreement continue to lack clarity on the nature of incentives and whether such incentives 
sufficiently result in technology transfer to LDCs that creates a sound and viable technological base 
in LDCs . Many notifications continue to show that recipients of technology transfer are not LDCs, 
and where LDCs are identified in the notifications as recipients, the incentives do not re sult in transfer 
of technology.  
3.  Some developed Members claim that it is difficult for governments to ensure technology transfer 
because technology is the subject of private contracts and rights . But, A rticle 66.2 of the 
TRIPS  Agreement unequivocally states tha t developed country Members are required to "provide 
incentives to  enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and 
encouraging technology transfer to least  developed countr y Members in order to ena ble them to 
create a sound and viable technological base ". In other words, as a first step, the responsibility to 
provide incentives clearly falls on the developed country Members and not on the private sector 
entities and enterprises . Only after receiving  incentives from the developed country authorities, the 
enterprises and institutions would take further initiatives to transfer technology to the LDCs . The 
contributing developed country Member can ensure such transfer in the second step by identifying 
the beneficiary LDC and the specific technology that has been transferred to that LDC.  
4.  The LDC Group takes note that various templates have been utilized to aid reporting Members . 
Considering the clear mandate of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, and to co mplement room 
document RD/IP/24 on possible incentives, the LDC Group has done further work proposing the 
following new template for annual reporting contained in room document RD/IP/37.  
 
1 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2, paragraph 7.  
2 IP/C/28.  IP/C/W/664  
- 2 - 
  5.  The present submission is built on the room document RD/IP/37 with a few editorial modifications 
and clarifications . The additional contribution in the new template is the appendix to provide details 
on the specific enterprise receiving the incentives and transferring technology to LDCs . The 
LDC Group believes that the prop osed template will help simplify the reporting process, synchronize 
the current reporting variations, and acknowledge the substantive contributions of developed 
country Members with evidence and precision.  
_______________  
 
  IP/C/W/664  
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  TEMPLATE FOR ANNUAL REPORTING PURSUANT T O 
ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE AGREEMENT ON TRIPS  
[DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBER ] 
Year covered in the report (January –December):  
Name of the reporting Member:  
Contact point information (name, office/ ministry, city, phone, email etc.):  
 
A B C D 
Information of the scheme 
under which the incentives 
have been provided to 
enterprises/ institutions in 
the territory of the reporting 
Member  Name and address of 
the enterprise/ 
institution (in the 
territory of the reporting 
Member) that has 
received ince ntives for 
the purpose of 
technology transfer to 
LDCs  Type(s) of incentives 
provided by the 
reporting Member to the 
enterprises/ institutions 
(mentioned in 
column  B)  Type(s) of technology 
to be transferred to 
LDCs by the 
enterprises/ 
institutions resulti ng 
from the incentives 
provided under 
column C  
1     
2     
3     
4     
5     
 
 
  IP/C/W/664  
- 4 - 
  APPENDIX* 
Information on specific enterprise/ institution in the territory of [Developed Country Member] 
transferring technology to LDCs** 
Year covered in the report (January – December):  
Name and address of the enterprise/ institution (in the territory of Developed Member):  
 
A B C D E 
Type(s) of incentives 
provided to this 
enterprise/ institution by 
the reporting member 
(Developed Country) for 
the purpose of 
technology transfer to 
LDCs 
 Type(s) of 
technology that 
has been 
transferred (or in 
the process of 
transferring) to 
LDCs by this 
enterprise/ 
institution  Name of the 
beneficiary LDC  Name, address and 
category (Public/ 
Private/ NGO) of the 
entity (in the LDC 
Member mentioned in 
column C) to whom 
the technology has 
been transferred (or in 
the process of 
transferring)  Impact (if already 
assessed) of the 
transferred 
technology in the 
recipient LDC 
(mentioned in 
column C)  
1      
2      
3      
4      
5      
 
__________  
 
* To be submitted by the reporting Member (Developed Country) with the annual report.  
** Separate information sheet to be used for separate enterprise/ institution.