IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
25 March 2024 
(24-2597) Page: 1/84 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights    
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING  
HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD ON 30-31 OCTOBER 2023 AND 13 FEBRUARY 2024  
Chair: H.E. Ambassador Dr Pimchanok Pitfield (Thailand)  
Addendum  
The present document contains the statements made during the Council for TRIPS meeting held on 
30-31 October  2023 and 13 February 2024 . 
 
_______________  
 
 
Contents  
1   NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT  ................................ ........  5 
2   REVIEWS OF NATIONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION  ................................ ............  16 
3   IP AND COVID -19 ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 16 
4   REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B)  ................................ ...................  28 
5   RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON 
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY  ................................ ................................ ................................  28 
6   PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE  ................................ ... 28 
7   ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE SPECIAL COMPULSORY LICENSING SYSTEM  ......................  31 
8   NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS  ................................ .......................  31 
9   REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER ARTICLE 71.1
 ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 35 
10   REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 24.2  ................................ ....................  35 
11   TWENTY -FIRST ANNUAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE DECISION ON THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT  ................................ ... 35 
12   TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY -BUILDING  ................................ ............  41 
13   PARAGRAPH 8 OF THE MINISTERIAL DECISION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
ADOPTED ON 17 JUNE 2022  ................................ ................................ ...........................  53 
14   THE ROLE OF TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY IN RESILIENCE BUILDING: 
REINVIGORATING THE DISCUSSIONS IN THE WTO ON TRADE AND TRANSF ER OF 
TECHNOLOGY  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  65 
15   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS' 
SUPPO RT OF START -UPS OPERATING IN A CROSS -BORDER ENVIRONMENT.  ...............  734 
16   INFORMATION ON RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ELSEWHERE IN THE WTO  ...............  83 IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 2 - 
 
  17   OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL OR GANIZATIONS
 ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 84 
18   ANNUAL REPORT  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 84 
19   OTHER BUSINESS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 84 
 
  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 3 - 
 
  INDEX OF THE STATEMENTS MADE  
AT THE MEETING OF COUNCIL FOR TRIPS 30-31 OCTOBER  2023  and 13 February 2024 * 
Argentina  
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 32 
Australia  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  38 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  17 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  63 
TC and Capacity Building  ......................  46 
Bangladesh  
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  29 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 34 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  54 
The role of T ransfer of Technology  ........  68 
Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  40 
TC and Capacity Building  ......................  52 
Brazil  
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  28 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  27 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 34 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  63 
The role of Transfer of Technology  ........  68 
Cambodia  
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  56 
Canada  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  40 
IP and Innovation Incubators  ................  80 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 33 
Notifications  ................................ ....... 15 
Chair of the Council for TRIPS  
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  63 
Chile  
IP and COVID -19 ................................  18 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 33 
Notifications  ................................ ....... 15 
China  
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  31 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 33 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  55 
The role of Transfer of Technology  ........  69 
Colombia  
IP and COVID -19 ................................  25 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 35 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  55 
Costa Rica  
Notifications  ................................ .........  6 
Egypt  
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  58 
European Union  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  37 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  24 
IP and Innovation Incubators  ................  79 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 34 
Notifications  ................................ .........  6 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ... 60, 64  
TC and Capacity Building  ......................  41 
The role of Transfer of Technology  ........  70 
Gulf Cooperation Council  
TC and Capacity Building  ......................  52 India  
Biotech, Biodivers ity, TK  ......................  28 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 34 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 62 
The role of the Transfer of Technology  ... 70 
The Role of Transfer of Technology ........  66 
Indonesia  
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  29 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  21 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 32 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 55 
 IP and COVID -19 ................................  24 
Japan  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  35 
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  29 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  18 
IP and Innovation Incubators  ...............  76 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 32 
Notifications  ................................ ....... 13 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 59 
TC and Capacity Building  .....................  42 
The role of Transfer of Technology  ........  69 
Korea, Republic of  
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 34 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 61 
Mozambique  
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 54 
Mozambique on behalf of th e ACP Group  
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 31 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 54 
Nepal  
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 54 
The Role of the Transfer of Technology  .. 72 
New Zealand  
TC and Capacity Building  .....................  47 
Nigeria  
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  30 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  23 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 31 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 56 
The Role of the Transfer of Technology  .. 72 
Norway  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  39 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 33 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 61 
Peru  
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  29 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  20 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 32 
Singapore  
IP and COVID -19 ................................  23 
IP and Innovation Incubators  ...............  78 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 61 
South Africa  
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  30 
The role of Transfer of Te chnology  ........  73 
 IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 4 - 
 
  South Africa on behalf of the African 
Group  ................................ ...............  30 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  21 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 33 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  53 
The role of Transfer of Technology  ........  65 
Switzerland  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  38 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  19 
IP and Innovation Incubators  ................  73 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints . 33, 
34, 35  
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ........  58 
TC and Capacity Building  ......................  44 
The Role of the Transfer of Technology  .. 71 
 TC and Capacity Building  ......................  45 
Chinese Taipei  
IP and Innovation Incubators  ................  78 
Notifications  ................................ ....... 13 
Thailand  
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  30 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  26 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints .. 32 
Türkiye  
Notifications  ................................ ....... 14 
Ukraine  
Notifications  ................................ .........  6 
 
 United Kingdom  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  39 
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  31 
IP and COVID -19 ...........................  16, 28  
IP and Innovation Incubators  ...............  76 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 32 
Para 8 of the MC12 Decision  .................  60 
TC and Capacity Building  .....................  46 
The Role of the Transfer of Technology  .. 72 
United States of America  
Article 66.2  ................................ ........  36 
Biotech, Biodiversity, TK  ......................  30 
IP and COVID -19 ................................  27 
IP and Innovation Incubators  ...............  75 
Non-Violation and Situation Complaints  . 32 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 57 
TC and Capacity Building  .....................  42 
The role of Transfer of Technology  ........  69 
Uruguay  
IP and COVID -19 ................................  22 
Para 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision  ....... 52 
World Health Organization  
TC and Capacity Building  .....................  50 
World Intellectual Property Organization  
IP and Innovation Incubators  ...............  81 
TC and Capacity Building  .....................  49 
WTO Secretariat  
Notifications  ................................ .........  5 
TC and Capacity Building  .....................  47 
 
 
*A record of statements as delivered in the formal session of the Council. Some statements have been lightly 
edited as appropriate to ensure the consistency of presentation.  
 
  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 5 - 
 
  1  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT  
1.1  WTO Secretariat  
1.  The Council has received the following notifications from Members since its meeting in June  2023. 
2.  Under Article 63.2  on laws and regulations: a  number of the member states of the 
European  Union have notified a number of primary and secondary domestic laws. These are:  
a. Ireland has notified a significant number of laws and regulations relating to the substance 
and the administration of its IP system.  
b. Greece has notified laws on the collective management of copyright and related rights,  on 
intellectual property and cultural issues, as well as on the protection of undisclosed know -
how and business information.  
c. Germany has notified its Design Act and its Trademark Act, as well as corresponding 
implementing regulations.  
d. Estonia has notified  consolidated Acts on Patents, Utility Models, Industrial Designs, 
Geographical Indications and Layout -Design of Integrated Circuits. It further provided Acts 
on Principles of Regulation of Industrial property, on the implementation of the European 
Patent Convention, and an Act relating to Patent Attorneys.  
e. Latvia has notified its Trademark Law.  
f. Austria has notified its Copyright Act; and  
g. Slovenia has notified a consolidated version of its Industrial Property Act.  
3.  Regards other Members:  
a. Costa Rica has notified a number of Executive Decrees relating to the Law on Authors 
Rights and related Rights, as well as corresponding regulations.   
b. Chinese Taipei has notified its Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act, and Regulations 
governing the deter mination of patent term extensions.   
c. Ukraine has notified two Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers related to fee payments 
on intellectual property protection, as well as an amended law on enhancing the protection 
of IP rights.   
d. Canada has notified it s Bill C -19 – which extends the term of copyright protection from 50 
to 70 years, and Bill C -47 – which amends the Patent Act to allow the grant of an additional 
term for a patent under certain conditions.  
e. Chile has notified a number of Decrees promulgatin g international agreements, as well a 
substantial number of amendments relating to numerous different aspects of its 
intellectual property system.  
f. Türkiye has made a substantial number of notifications relating to intellectual property 
protection, to custo ms as well as to competition provisions.  
g. Japan has notified consolidated versions of its Patent Act and its Designs Act, 
accommodating minor amendments since their last notification of these Acts in June.  
4.  Under Article 69  which  regards contact points for  IP enforcement, Burkina Faso, Moldova and 
France have notified such contact points since the last meeting.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 6 - 
 
  5.  Under Article 67  which are  contact s points for technical and financial cooperation, the 
United  Kingdom and France have notified such contact points since the last meeting.  
6.  This concludes the overview of notifications received since our meeting in June 2023.  
1.2  Ukraine  
7.  Ukraine is pleased to present its notifications listed under this agenda item and to inform 
WTO Members o n recent amendments of our national IP legislation.  
8.  The first notification ( document IP/N/1/UKR/18)  concerns the Law "On Amendments to Certain 
Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Enhancing the IPR Protection ". This Law was adopted in March  2023 
and amende d Ukrainian general and sectoral legislative acts (such as the Civil, Civil Procedural and 
Commercial Procedural Codes), as well as the IPR Laws. This Law implemented into national 
legislation the provisions of the EU Directive 48  on the IPRs enforcement, in particular, regarding 
general obligations, civil remedies and measures, allowing effective IPRs enforcement in line with 
the Ukraine -EU Association Agreement.  
9.  Second notification, submitted by Ukraine ( document IP/N/1/UKR/19) , present ed the Ukrai nian 
Government Act approved in August 2023. It's a new version of the Fees Payment Procedure related 
to Plant Varieties.  
10.  The third Ukraine 's notification ( document IP/N/1/UKR/20)  also concerns the fees related to all 
other objects of IPR (Inventions, Utility Models, Trademarks, GIs, Designs and Layout of 
Semiconductor Products). It presents amendments to the Fees Payment Procedure and was adopted 
by Ukrainian Gove rnment in August 2023. This updated Procedure has introduced new types of fees, 
in particular, for pre-grant  and post -grant oppositions related to patents, additional fees for the 
publication trademarks and designs  in colour , new names of fees in complianc e with new terminology 
of Ukraine 's IPR Laws.  
11.  To conclude, I would like to reassure WTO Members that despite the ongoing Russia 's war and 
aggression against Ukraine we will continue to improve our IP legislation providing its compliance 
with the TRIPS Agr eement and to fulfil all our obligations in the framework of the WTO.  
1.3  Costa Rica  
12.  We would like to reiterate our appreciation for the opportunity to discuss the notifications that 
we have submitted under this item on the Council 's agenda. As we have previously mentioned, 
Costa  Rica's regulatory developments in the field of intellectual property right protection reflect the 
implementation of international trade commitments and a country -wide effort that recognizes the 
impor tance of intellectual property rights as a development tool.  
13.  Further to our previous statements, we would like to emphasize that legislation on the 
enforcement of intellectual property rights was amended in relation to administrative, civil and 
criminal s anctions. Some penalties were adjusted to make the sanctions dissuasive, and a system 
of pre -established damages was developed for cases in which the amount of damages cannot be 
determined. For trademark, copyright and related offences, a graded system was  established, 
proportional to the damage caused.  In criminal matters, it is up to the judge to determine on a 
case-by-case basis whether pecuniary or prison sentences apply. In addition, Costa Rica 
incorporated into its legislation the concept of exemptio n from liability for internet service providers, 
which is possible when internet service providers, once aware of possible copyright violations, follow 
an expedited procedure intended to prevent such violations from continuing.  
14.  Our delegation would like, o nce more, to thank the staff of the Secretariat for their assistance 
in the submission of these notifications. On that note, I wish to conclude my statement and express 
our readiness to respond to Members ' questions.  
1.4  European Union  
15.  The European Union and its member States place a high emphasis on notifications as an 
important tool to increase transparency in the WTO including in the IP context. As the Secretariat IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 7 - 
 
  as mentioned we are  quite happy that as many as seven  EU member States have since June 2023 
provide d extensive notifications to the WTO to make sure that their notification record in the area 
of intellectual property is fully up to date.  In fact, as many as 66 notifications overall were made by 
these seven  EU member States. Let me please first introduce  the notification made by Ireland and 
Germany and my colleague Pierre -Yves who is online will then continue with the remaining five 
member States.  
16.  The EU would like to once again thank the Ukrainian authorities for their intervention today and 
for complyin g with their notification obligations of the T RIPS Agreement under  the unprecedented 
circumstances caused by the brutal, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The EU 
can only admire efforts of Ukrainian authorities in a situation where even  the Ukrainian capital is 
under constant fire from Russian attacks on non -military targets and where Russia illegally occupies 
part of Ukrainian territory. The EU appreciates that one of the notifications, namely IP/N/1/UKR/15 , 
concerns the implementati on of EU Regulation 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the 
use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodst uffs, the protection 
of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural 
origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/20. This implementation is one 
important step in the process of  Ukrainian accession to the EU as indeed, the EU granted Ukraine 
the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union on 23 June 2022. The EU stands firmly 
by Ukraine and its people in this unparalleled crisis and will provide further political, f inancial, military 
and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.  
17.  So as regard the notification by Ireland IP/N/1/IRL/59  to 103 so all together 45 notifications. 
The following is an overview of the various laws and regulations notified by Ireland . So there are 
Laws and Regulations pertaining to the protection of Patents for the period 2006 to 2017 providing 
for: 
a. Amendment to the Patents Act of 1992 to give effect to the TRIPS Agreement, the 
European Patent Convention and the Patent Law Treaty,  
b. Amendments to t he Patents Act of 1992 and the Patent Rules of 2006 to allow persons 
established in another EU member State to act as a patent agent in Ireland,  
c. Matters relating to the fling of Supplementary Protection Certificates,  
d. A number of procedural changes to the Patent Act and Rules and related commencement 
orders for the Act.  
e. Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Act 2007 – a tax relief certificate 
for SMEs for qualifying inventions and related commencement order for the Act.  
f. An Order giving eff ect to the establishment of the Union for the Protection of New Varieties 
of Plants.  
18.  So that was the 12 laws related to patents. I will now describe 17 Laws and Regulations 
pertaining to Copyright and Related Rights covering for the period 2007 to 2022 . The notified Acts 
are:  
a. an Act establishing the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and related matters ; and  
b. a commencement Order for section 198 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act of 2000 
relating to the provision of books to certain libraries .  
19.  Regulat ions provid es for: 
a. a register of Licensing Bodies for Performers ' property rights ;  
b. a Public Lending Remuneration Scheme in respect of the public library service and a 
subsequent amendment to designate the Registrar ;  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 8 - 
 
  c. the transposition of the EU Collective Rights Management Directive, imposing governance 
requirements on collective management organisations established in the State and to allow 
them to undertake licensing on a multi -territorial basis throughout the EU ; 
d. the Artist 's Resale Right ; 
e. the copyright rules applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations 
and the retransmissions of TV and radio programmes (commonly referred to as SatCab  II); 
f. an amendment to the term of protection for performers and for producers of sou nd 
recordings from 50 to 70 years ; 
g. certain permitted uses of Orphan Works to allow certain cultural organisations digitise such 
works and make them publicly available on -line in all EU member States ; 
h. the transposition of the EU Marrakesh Treaty Directive permitting use of certain copyright 
protected works for the benefit of persons who are blind or visually impaired ;  
i. injunctions against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe a 
copyright or related right (commonly ref erred to as the Information Society Directive) ;  
j. matters relating to the fees payable for proceedings before the Controller of Intellectual 
Property ; and  
k. the form of the notice of seizure of copyright infringing copies or illicit recordings.  
20.  After patent  and copyrights now three  Laws and Regulations pertaining to Trade Marks covering 
for the period 2018 to 2019 . There are r egulations to give effect to the EU Trade Mark legislative 
reform package, specifically EU Regulation No. 2015/2436 and Council Regula tion 2017/1001 on 
European Union Trade Mark.  And it also contains r egulations to amend the Trade Mark rules of 1996 
to provide that : 
a. IP proceeding may take place in certain courts;  
b. changes to the title of the Controller and the Irish Patent Office to the C ontroller of 
Intellectual Property and the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland;  
c. a number of other procedural amendments to do with the administration of national trade 
marks.  
21.  The next description concerns seven  Laws and Regulations pertaining to Desig ns for the period 
2003 to 2019 . These were r egulations to : 
a. give effect in Ireland to provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 6/2002 on Community 
Designs,  
b. also r egulations to amend certain design rules to do with the administration of the national 
design right,  
c. and finally a regulation providing for amendments to the Trade Marks Act, 1996 and the 
Industrial Design Act of 2001 to allow persons established in another EU member State to 
act as a trademark/design agent before the Controller of Intellectual Pro perty.  
22.  Finally, there were o ther laws and Regulations in the Irish notifications providing for:  
a. the transposition of certain aspects of Directive 2004/48/EC on the Enforcement of 
Intellectual Property Rights which are not currently available under Irish la w; 
b. an Act to give effect to the Convention on Jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement 
of judgments in civil and commercial matters ; and   IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 9 - 
 
  c. the Arbitration Act of 2010 consolidating previous national arbitration laws including the 
model law on Inter national Commercial Arbitration.  
23.  That concludes the 45 notifications made by Ireland since June 2023.  
24.  I will now proceed to describe the German notification s contained in IP/N/1/DEU/2  to 5. There 
were all together four notifications . I will start with IP/N/1/DEU/2  which is the Trademark Law 
Modernization Act that introduced significant changes to German trademark law. The law came into 
force on 14 January  2019. Here is an overview of the most important changes:  
a. Determinability/new t ypes of trademarks . Whereas trademarks in the register previously 
had to be capable of being represented graphically, now it will suffice if they can be clearly 
and precisely determined. For example, sound marks, multimedia marks, holograms and 
other types  of trademarks in suitable electronic formats may also be registered as 
trademarks, provided there are no grounds for refusal.  
b. The national certification mark . The certification mark introduced a new trademark 
category into German trademark law. The main f eature of the certification mark is that, 
unlike the individual trademark, it does not focus on the function of the trademark as an 
indication of origin but on the guarantee function.  
c. Cancellation proceedings renamed revocation/invalidity proceedings . "Cancellation 
proceedings " was renamed "revocation proceedings " or "invalidity proceedings ". It is 
possible to claim relative grounds for refusal (earlier rights) in official invalidity 
proceedings in addition to absolute grounds for refusal, as currently poss ible. Furthermore, 
the current formal preliminary procedure with regard to revocation declarations was 
converted into revocation proceedings before the office.  
d. New absolute grounds for refusal . Geographical indications and designations of origin, in 
partic ular for foodstuffs, wines and spirits protected under national or European legislation 
or conventions, have now been explicitly introduced into the Trade Mark Act as absolute 
grounds for refusal.  
e. Registrability of licences/register entry about willingness  to license or sell/transfer . 
Licences are entered in the register upon request. The entry includes information on the 
licensee, the type of licence and restrictions, if any.  
f. Changes regarding term of protection and renewals . The German Patent and Trade M ark 
Office (DPMA) has brought the calculation of the duration of protection into line with the 
practice of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The ten -year duration 
of protection of trademarks registered on or after 14 January 2019 sta rts on the day 
following the filing of the trademark application and, as a rule, ends on the expiry of the 
day which corresponds in designation or number to the filing date.  
25.  Now a brief description of IP/N/1/DEU/3 . This concerns the Act on the Legal Prot ection of 
Designs  and t he legal reform mainly introduced the invalidity proceedings and changes the 
designation of the property right to design. The law came into force on 16 March 2004.  The most 
important changes  concern the invalidity proceedings and the  change of designation.  
26.  As regard the Invalidity proceedings  the DPMA registers the design without examination of all 
substantive requirements. Should it become apparent, after registration, that, for example, the 
design lacks novelty or individual character, a third party can file an application for the determination 
of invalidity. If the registered design is invalid, it will be cancelled from the Design Register after 
conclusion of invalidity proceedings. The registration will be deemed not to have had any protective 
effect as from the outset.  
27.  And as regards the Change of designation  the German designation of the registered property 
right, the "Geschmacksmuster ", was initially based on the French usage "dessins et modèles ", which 
was translated as "patterns and models ". With the increasing internationality the need to protect 
intellectual property at international level is also growing. For the resulting international regulations 
on intellectual property, the term "design " has become increasingly common in the past.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 10 - 
 
  28.  Now, regarding IP/N/1/DEU/ 4. So that concerns the Trade Mark Ordinance  which also came into 
force on 1 June 2004.  The provisions of this Ordinance regulate the conduct of proceedings under 
the Trademark Act bef ore the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) in addition to the 
provisions of the Trademark Act and the DPMA Ordinance.  
29.  The changes entered  into force on 1 June 2004 and are mostly of a purely editorial nature, such 
as updating references to other leg islation.  
30.  Only the changes made on 24 June 2016 are of a content nature. The following are essential:  
a. The electronic property rights file in trademark matters has led to procedural 
simplifications, which are reflected in the trademark ordinance. In particu lar, it is no longer 
necessary to submit certain documents multiple times in the registration process.  
31.  In addition, the regulation includes some other changes, for example:  
a. With regard to colo ur or black -and-white trademark applications, it is clarified th at the 
visual reproduction of image trademarks, three -dimensional trademarks, identifying 
thread trademarks or other forms of trademark must be submitted in the manner in which 
it is intended to be included in the trademark register.  
32.  One last notification I will introduce is IP/N/1/ DEU/5 that concerns the R egulation on the 
implementation of the Design Act. It came into force on 10  January 2014  and the most important 
changes  are: 
a. The provisions of this Ordinance regulate the conduct of proceedings under the  Design Act 
before the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). In addition to the provisions of 
the Design Act and the DPMA Ordinance.  
33.  The changes made since the regulation came into force on 10 January  2014 are mostly of a 
purely editorial nature, such  as updating references to other legislation.  I give now the floor if I may 
to Pierre Yves who will continue with the other notifications made by the remaining 5 EU member 
States.  
34.  Austria notified one piece of law IP/N/1/AUT/7 . It is t he Austrian copyright law which has been 
amended various times since 1996. These amendments are based in particular on the 
implementation of the European Directives. Most recently, in 2021, Directive (EU) 2019/790 on 
copyright in the di gital single market was implemented, which introduced, among other things : 
a. Harmonized rules across Europe regarding exception for automatic analysis of digital data 
(text and data mining), the use of works for digital teaching and teaching activities and 
the preservation of cultural heritage ; 
b. A legal framework that makes it easier for museums, libraries and archives to digitize their 
holdings of out -of-print (i.e. not available on the market) works and offer them on the 
Internet ; 
c. Regulations to (also) hold internet platforms such as YouTube, whose business model is 
designed so that their users upload large amounts of copyrighted material to their 
platforms, responsible for these uploads and finally ; and  
d. Copyright contract rights for authors and performing a rtists to an appropriate and 
proportionate fee, a kind of a "bestseller clause " in the event of unexpected success, an 
obligation to invoice their contractual partners and a right to revoke rights of use due to 
insufficient use.  
35.  Another relevant directive  is Directive (EU) 2019/789 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 17 April 2019 lays down rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable 
to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organizations and retransmissions of telev ision and 
radio programmes, and amending Council Directive 93/83/EEC entered into force on 7 June 2019, 
complements the existing Directive 93/83/EEC and facilitates the clearance of copyright and related IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 11 - 
 
  rights of radio and certain TV content for cross -border digital broadcast and retransmissions. This 
Directive also establishes the "country of origin " principle, extends the system of mandatory 
collective management to all types of re -transmission of relevant television and radio programmes 
and clarifies th e legal framework of the so -called transmission by "direct injection. " This is for 
Austria.  
36.  Greece notified five pieces of law from IP/N/1/GRC/8  to 12. I start with eight. Law 4605/2019, 
Articles 4 -7 - Harmonization of Greek legislation to Directive (EU) 2016/943 on the protection of 
undisclosed know -how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, 
use and disclosure.  
37.  Articles 4 and 5 amend provisions of Law 1733/1987 on Patents as regards contractual and 
non-contractual lic ences, as well as Article 12, paragraph 3 and Articles 13 and 14 of Law 1733/1987. 
Articles 6 and 7 amend provisions of Law 1733/1987 on compulsory licensing. The amendments 
introduce:  
a. the possibility of public offering of a contractual non -exclusive licen ce by a patent holder 
(Article 4);  
b. changes to the granting authority of a non -contractual licence by authorizing the national 
IP authority i.e. the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI) instead of civil courts, 
to review the conditions for the g rant of a non -contractual licence and to issue a decision, 
facilitating a shorter procedure than the previous regime (Article 5);  
c. compulsory licensing for public interest reasons is permitted to third parties authorized by 
the government, which were not en titled pursuant to the previous regime, where only use 
by public authorities was permitted (Article 6);  
d. a definition of "public interest reasons " (Article 6); and 
e. authorization of the national IP authority (i.e. OBI) as the competent authority for 
receivin g applications for the compulsory licensing of patents relating to the manufacture 
of pharmaceutical products for export to countries with public health problems pursuant 
to EC Regulation 816/2006 (Article 7) .  
38.  Intellectual property related rights and cultural issues (Law 2121/1993)  are notified under 
IP/N/1/GRC/9 :Amendment of Art. 66E of Law 2121/1993 . The provision of Art. 66E of 
Law 2121/1993 (Greek Copyright Act) has been revised twice during the last two years. This 
notification concerns the late st amendment providing for the current version of the provision which 
had been established under the Law 4821/2021 by the means of which paragraph 10A concerning 
live blocking of sport and cultural events was amended.  
39.  Regarding notification IP/N/1/GRC/10 , it is about the Amendment s of Article 17 of 
Law No. 1733/1987 on Patents, of Article 17 para. 1 of Presidential Decree 45/1991 on topographies 
of semiconductor products , and of Article 28 paras. 1 -2 of Presidential Decree 259/1997 on Desig ns. 
40.  Article 53 of Law 3966/2011 harmonizes national legislation with EU Directive 2004/48/EC on 
the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR).  New enforcement measures are introduced as 
well as intermediary liability. In particular, rules are prov ided for:  
a. the presentation of evidence ;  
b. the right of information on the origin and distribution networks of IPR infringing goods or 
services ;  
c. interlocutory injunctions or orders for the seizure or delivery of goods suspected of 
infringing an intellectua l property right as a provisional measure ;  
d. the award of pecuniary compensation to the injured party ;  
e. the award of damages ; and  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 12 - 
 
  f. the expansion of the list of persons entitled to apply for provisional measures, procedures 
and remedies. In case of infringem ent of design rights and of topographies of 
semiconductor products, all above -mentioned measures are applicable.  
41.  Now the notification IP/N/1/GRC/ 11. It is about the Amendment to Law  4481/2017 about 
collective management of copyright and related rights,  multi-territorial licensing in musical works 
for online use in the internal market and other issues falling within the scope of the Ministry of 
Culture and Sports . Also o peration of Collective Management Organizations and of Independent 
Management Entitie s within the Greek territory.  and finally th e amendments included herein refer 
to the reformulation of the status and foremost of the conditions that need to be cumulatively fulfilled 
in order for a CMO or an IME to lawfully operate as such within the Gree k territory.  
42.  Finally, last notification from Greece is about Law 4072/2012 that concerns the concept and 
conditions of protection of trademarks, scope of protection and registration procedure.  This is the 
final for Greece.  
43.  Now nine notifications from  the Republic of  Estonia, from IP/N/1/E ST/2 to 10. The f irst 
notification Principles of Legal Regulation of Industrial Property Act . This Act regulates the status of 
industrial property registers established pursuant to industrial property protection acts, the registrar 
of such registers, the status and financing of the registrar, the status and financing of the Industrial 
Property Board of Appeal and regulates the maintenance of registers and the extra -judicial 
contestation of the decisions of the reg istrar and legal protection of objects of industrial property 
rights before the Board of Appeal.  
44.  The s econd notification IP/N/1/EST/2 . Implementation of Convention on Grant of European 
Patents Act . This Act provides for the legal status of European paten ts and patent applications in 
Estonia and regulates legal relationships arising from the accession of the Republic of Estonia to the 
Convention on the Grant of European Patents (European Patent Convention) which do not fall within 
the scope of application of the Patents Act, other Acts or the specified Convention.  
45.  The third  notification  is  Industrial Design Protection Act . This Act regulates the legal protection 
in the Republic of Estonia of industrial designs created in the field of industrial design and , in the 
cases provided for in this Act, the rights and obligations related to industrial designs unregistered or 
registered by the European Union Intellectual Property Office on the basis of Council Regulation (EC) 
No 6/2002 on community designs . 
46.  The four th notification  is the Utility Models Act . This Act provides for the legal protection of 
inventions as utility models. The rights and obligations established by legal acts concerning the legal 
protection of inventions as utility models apply, taking into account of the restrictions provided for 
in this Act, equally to persons of the Republic of Estonia and of foreign states.  
47.  The fifth n otification is Patents Act . This Act regulates the relations which arise in connection 
with the legal protection of patenta ble inventions in the Republic of Estonia. The rights and 
obligations prescribed in this Act apply equally to natural and legal persons of the Republic of Estonia 
and of foreign states unless the legislation of Estonia or international agreements ratified by the 
Riigikogu provide otherwise.  
48.  The sixth  notification is Layout -Designs of Integrated Circuits Protection Act . This Act regulates 
the legal protection of layout -designs of integrated circuits. The legal protection of layout -designs of 
integrated circu its is provided for in this Act, other Acts and regulations issued by the Government 
of the Republic and the Ministers on the basis and for the implementation of such Acts. The legal 
protection of layout -designs of integrated circuits provided for in this Act is independent of the 
protection provided for in the Copyright Act. If a legal act regulating the legal protection of 
layout -designs of integrated circuits is contrary to an international agreement ratified by the 
Riigikogu, the provisions of the inter national agreement apply. The rights and obligations prescribed 
in this Act and other legislation regulating the legal protection of layout designs of integrated circuits 
apply equally to natural and legal persons of Estonia and of foreign states, consider ing the 
restrictions provided for in this Act regarding persons of foreign states.  
49.  The seventh n otification is Trade Marks Act . This Act regulates the legal protection of well -known 
and registered trade marks and service marks, rights and obligations relat ed to trade marks and, in IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 13 - 
 
  the cases provided for in this Act, rights and obligations related to trade marks registered by the 
European Union Intellectual Property Office on the basis of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the 
European Parliament and of the Counci l on the European Union trade mark.  
50.  The eighth notification Is Patent Attorneys Act  - this Act provides the legal bases for the 
activities of patent attorneys.  
51.  Finally, the ninth notification is Geographical Indication Protection Act . This Act regulates th e 
legal protection of geographical indications used to design goods and services of natural, agricultural, 
handicraft or industrial origin, except the geographical indications and designations of origin for 
agricultural products, foodstuffs and alcoholic b everages protected at community level. The Ministry 
of Rural Affairs shall perform the national operations provided in Council Regulation (EU) 2081/92 
on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural product and 
foodstuffs and the operati ons prescribed with regard to the geographical indications and designations 
of origin of alcoholic beverages protected at community level.  This finalized the notifications from 
Estonia.  
52.  One notification from Latvia is IP/N/1/LVA/16 . On 6 March 2020, th e Trademark Law entered 
into force and at the same time the Law on Trademarks and Indications of Geographical Origin 
expired. The Trademarks Law implements Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council of 16 December 2015 to approx imate the laws of the Member States relating to 
trademarks. The Trademark Law regulates legal relations in the field of registration and protection 
of trademarks  and collective marks, as well as protection of geographical indications. It also 
regulates leg al relations in the field of the protection of the registration of certification marks.  
53.  Finally, one notification from Slovenia, IP/N/1/SLV/1 1 – the Industrial Property Act transposes 
Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Counci l of 16 December 2015 to 
approximate the laws of the member States relating to trademarks into Slovenian legislation in 
relation to the revocation and invalidation of trademarks. It also harmonizes the national legislation 
with the Agreement on a Unified P atent Court.  This finalizes the notifications from the EU member 
States.  
1.5  Chinese Taipei  
54.  Our first notification concerns amendments to Articles 17, 28 and 90 of the Enforcement Rules 
of the Patent Act which include:  
a. Applicants are required to attach a marked document indicating differences/changes in 
the divisional application. In order to promote mutual recognition of biological material 
deposits under Article 27 of the Patent Act, documents issued by deposi tories not 
recognized by the Budapest Treaty must include a viability statement.  
55.  Our second notification, in order to streamline administrative procedures, Articles 4 and 10 of 
the Regulations Governing the Determination of Patent Term Extension were amend ed. Key points 
include:  
a. The Specific Patent Agency, namely the Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), may utilize 
documents submitted by applicants pertaining to the period of domestic and/or foreign 
clinical trials conducted for pharmaceutical approvals, as  confirmed by the "the central 
competent authority in charge of the business " which is the Ministry of Health and Welfare 
for pharmaceuticals, as a basis to determine eligibility for patent extension. TIPO is no 
longer required to forward the applicants ' documents to the Ministry of Health and Welfare 
for further confirmation.  
1.6  Japan  
56.  This delegation is pleased to inform the Council that Japan recently amended its Patent Act and 
Design Act. These amendments have been notified to t his Council in accordance with Article 63.2. 
The reference numbers are IP/N/1/JPN/70  and 71.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 14 - 
 
  57.  Under the purpose of facilitating the digitalization of intellectual property procedures, these 
amendments streamlined the delivery system of documents that are unable to be mailed to overseas 
residents, such as examiner 's decisions. These documents will now be deemed to have been sent 
upon publication. Amendments also include a review of access to patent and design documents that 
contain secret  information, in order to increase protection for trade secrets.  
58.  The Government of Japan will continuously fulfil its obligation to ensure the accessibility and 
transparency of the Japanese intellectual property system.  
1.7  Türkiye  
59.  Türkiye believes that obligation of notification under Article 63  paragraph 2 of the 
TRIPS  Agreement provides WTO Members with an opportunity to get acquainted with the provisions 
in relation to intellectual property rights (IPRs) in various national le gal systems and an effective 
mean to understand underlying public policy objectives.  
60.  The recent notifications of Türkiye under Article 63  paragraph 2 of the Agreement, which are in 
total 19, covering areas from Copyrights to IPRs protection through Custom s Law should be 
considered as a strong indication of Türkiye 's unwavering commitment to the principles of 
transparency and openness and her dedication to upholding the rules -based international trading 
system.  Taking this opportunity,  I would also like to express our gratitude to the Secretariat for their 
kind support on the notifications process.  
61.  Amendments introduced to respective IP laws and regulations have led to notable improvement 
in the overall IP Protection in Türkiye. Likewise, an overall growth in the use of various forms of IPRs 
over the period of 2017 -2021 and a remarkable increase in trademark applications have been 
witnessed.  
62.  More specifically, Türkiye started to implement its National Intellectual and Industrial Property 
Strategy during the period of 2015 -2018. One of the most significant results of the strategy was the 
introduction of the new Industrial Property Code which replaced a series of laws, executive decrees, 
and regulations enacted in 1995 to comply with the provisions of the Türki ye-EU Customs Union. 
The mentioned legislative framework covers all matters related to trademarks, geographical 
indications, designs, patents, utility models, and traditional product names.  
63.  Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works is the main national instru ment covering legal 
arrangements regarding copyrights and it has been harmonized to a large extent. With the latest 
amendment published in the Official Gazette dated 25 December 2021, Article 72 was revised to 
reflect the EU Information Society Directive.  
64.  Regarding protection of IPRs at customs, Türkiye has amended Article 57 of Customs Law . It 
provides that customs authorities may suspend the release of goods, if there are valid grounds for 
suspicion that these goods infringe any IP  Rights. And within simp lified destruction procedures, 
customs authorities may permit the destruction of the goods under customs control without a court 
decision on the infringement of IPRs.  
65.  IPRs are also covered in Competition Law. Regarding protection of competition within the 
market and legal certainty for undertakings, Block Exemption Communiqué on Technology Transfer 
Agreements provides general conditions of block exemption for technology transfer agreements 
which include IPRs and enumerates the provisions which would prevent  the said agreements from 
qualifying for the block exemption.  
66.  In conclusion, I would like to once again underline the importance that Türkiye attaches to 
keeping Members informed on her trade policies and practices to foster mutual understanding and 
collab oration.  We are confident that the recent notifications will contribute to a more transparent 
and efficient international trade environment. Our objective is to foster an environment where open 
dialogue and cooperation are at the forefront, ultimately for the benefit of all Members.  
67.  Taking this opportunity, as you may already be aware, I would like to inform you that, 
yesterday, 29 October 2023 was the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Türkiye. 
We are very happy and proud to celebrate 1 00 years of our Republic. Finally , let me conclude my IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 15 - 
 
  words to saying that  counting on your leadership, we are confident that we will have fruitful 
discussions in the TRIPS Council today  and tomorrow.  
1.8  Canada  
68.  Canada is pleased to take this opportunity to present on two notifications regarding recent 
legislative amendments in the areas of copyright term of protection and additional term of protection 
for patents. These notifications can be found under documents IP/N/1/CAN/32  and IP/N/1/CAN/33 , 
respectively.  
69.  First, document IP/N/1/CAN/32  notifies recent amendments to Canada 's Patent Act, under 
Bill C-47 (An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on 
28 March  2023). Specificall y, Bill C -47 amends the Patent Act to, among other things, authorize the 
Commissioner of Patents to grant an additional term for a patent if certain conditions are met; 
authorize the Governor in Council to make regulations respecting the additional term; a nd authorize 
the Commissioner of Patents and the Federal Court to reconsider the duration of an additional term.  
70.  Our second notification, under document IP/N/1/CAN/33 , pertains to recent Copyright Act 
amendments under Bill C -19 (An Act to implement cert ain provisions of the budget tabled in 
Parliament on 7 April 2022 and other measures). Bill C -19 amends the Copyright Act to extend 
certain terms of copyright protection, including the general term, from 50 to 70 years after the life 
of the author.  
1.9  Chile  
71.  Firstly, we would like to thank the Secretariat for its hard work and support in Chile 's notification 
process for laws and secondary rules under Article 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. This notification 
process reflects our country 's commitment to ensuring that the information in the hands of Members 
corresponds to the reality of our current regulations. In the case of our country, the last notification 
of a regulation took place in 2009, meaning that many changes have taken place since then. With 
this updating exercise, we hope to help highlight the important role that this tool can play for 
Members in terms of promoting transparency.  
72.  We are therefore grateful for this opportunity to briefly describe the content of the notifi cations 
made. In this regard, the Secretariat has been notified of decrees that enacted the following 
Conventions:  
a. the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO);  
b. the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Arti stic Works;  
c. the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property;  
d. the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants;  
e. the WIPO Copyright Treaty;  
f. the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty;  
g. the International Convention for  the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms 
and Broadcasting Organizations;  and 
h. the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms; 
inter alia.  
73.  With respect to domestic legislation, Chile has notified various l aws and regulations relating to 
the subject matter of the Agreement. Thus, the laws governing the intellectual property system and 
the relevant institutional organic law have been notified, including Laws No. 17.336 and No.  19.039, 
which are the main regul atory texts on copyright and related rights, and industrial property, 
respectively. In turn, we have notified regulations on various specialized state administration 
agencies in charge of the creation and implementation of intellectual property policies, o r responsible IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 16 - 
 
  for the granting, recognition, registration and administration of various intellectual property rights, 
including: the National Industrial Property Institute of the Ministry of Economic Affairs; the Copyright 
Unit, National Cultural Heritage Service and National Council of Culture, the Arts and Heritage of the 
Ministry of Culture, the Arts and Heritage; the Seeds Department of the Agriculture and Livestock 
Service and the Office for Agricultural Policy of the Ministry of Agriculture; and the P ublic Health 
Institute of the Ministry of Health. We have also notified the regulations governing the National 
Customs Service, an entity that carries out operations to defend and protect intellectual property 
rights, in conjunction with the police brigade  responsible for investigations into intellectual property 
violations.  
74.  Furthermore, we have notified the various legislative reforms that have been implemented in 
order to modernize intellectual property regulations and bring them into line with internatio nal 
commitments and standards. Among the changes, we would like to point out those in the field of 
industrial property, which entered into force in 2022 and comprised , inter alia : 
a. the introduction of provisional patent applications ; 
b. exceptions to patentabi lity; 
c. the expiration of unused trademarks ; 
d. the registration of trademarks for industrial property ; 
e. a broader definition of trade secrets ; and 
f. the possibility of imposing prison sentences for infringement of industrial property rights.  
75.  Lastly, we would like to emphasize the importance of this exercise for Chile, particularly within 
the framework of our Trade Policy Review that will take place in December 2023. We hope our review 
will be a success and allow us to share information on our country 's trade policy, boost transparency 
and respond to Members ' concerns. We remain at the disposal of Members to address the questions 
they deem important and to share information on the regulations we are notifying today.  
2  REVIEWS OF NATIONAL IMPLEMENT ING LEGISLATION  
76.  No statements were made under this agenda item.  
3  IP AND COVID -19 
3.1  United Kingdom  
77.  The U nited Kingdom  would like to  start by  thank ing the numerous Members (many of which I 
can see  around the room here tod ay) who have engaged with the UK 's paper on intellectual property 
(IP), voluntary licensing, and technology transfer, including at the 9 October informal Council  for 
TRIPS  and Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology on 13 October. We were pleased  to 
hear that Members consider the paper as a useful contribution to discussions on the role of IP in 
pandemic preparedness efforts.  Comments from Members have illustrated the complexity of 
voluntary licensing arrangements, and a range of different views o n their effectiveness.  
78.  We have also heard from external stakeholders, including at the Thematic Session on 
28 September 2023 and more recently at the briefing provided by the United States International 
Trade Commission (USITC ), that voluntary licensing an d technology transfer partnerships are 
important in ensuring access ibility  and affordability. They have also shown that IP is only one part 
of a wider set of complex issues.  
79.  The UK paper seeks to capture, and to explore, this complexity. It recogni zes that voluntary 
licensing relationships, underpinned by trust, are valuable and beneficial. It also recogni zes that 
such arrangements are not a silver bullet, and that space exists for discussion on how access and 
delivery through voluntary licensing partnerships can be improved. Our paper notes that effective 
protection and enforcement of IP rights is one critical element of facilitating tech nology  transfer. Our IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 17 - 
 
  paper also notes that while important , IP is only one of those critical element s and that additional 
cross-cutting factors also contribute to a tech transfer ready environment.  
80.  We hope that our paper will stimulate a focused, evidence -based discussion on how the WTO 
can support and encourage the use of voluntary licensing partnership s, learning the lessons from 
the COVID -19 pandemic. Clearly, further discussions will advance our collective thinking on this 
cross-cutting issue. The WTO can play a useful role in helping Members navigate these issues. We 
welcome views from Members on how  to take forward a structured discussion, in a collaborative 
manner, which is inclusive of all Members ' experiences, particularly developing and least developed 
countries, as well as licensors and licensees. Some further areas for exploration include, but are not 
limited to : 
a. research and development ; 
b. manufacturing and capacity building in developing economies ; 
c. the role of government and wider institutions ; 
d. trade and commercial barriers ; 
e. the relationship between different sized economies in accessing volunta ry arrangements ; 
and 
f. the conditions embedded in these agreements.  
81.  We would like to encourage continued contributions by Members to the Annex in the paper. This 
Annex provides a means to document both successes and challenges in seeking voluntary licences 
and technology transfer partnerships. We would  warmly welcome further engagement by Members 
and the continued sharing of national experiences  – so that we can really develop this Annex. The 
UK will continue to engage with all Members and seek their perspec tives.  
82.  Unfortunately, the UK  has a Minister in town which means I have to disappear from this 
discussion relatively quickly . But Lizzie , our IP lead , and our experts from capital are  with us  here 
today. They will be listening  closely  to comments and reflections . We are also keen to continue to 
meet with Members to talk about the ideas in the paper and to continue to  develop our thinking. We 
look forward to a rich discussion this morning and continue d conversation.  
3.2  Australia  
83.  Good morning to my new colleagues here. I 'm Australia 's new delegate on all matters IP and I 
look forward to getting to know you all and working with you over the coming years. Australia would 
like to thank the United Kingdom for i ts communication, "Intellectual Property, Voluntary Licensing  
and Technology Transfer ". 
84.  Further  to the examples provided in the UK 's communication of the usefulness of voluntary 
arrangements in promoting access to health products and technologies, we  would also like to 
contribute an Australian example today. In August 2022, the Australian Government, the Victorian 
State Government and Moderna  finalized a 10 -year partnership agreement to establish an 
end-to-end m essenger RNA (mRNA)  vaccine manufacturing facility, which is capable of producing 
up to 100 million doses each year. The 10 -year partnership will lead to a world -class mRNA 
ecosystem that 's based in Melbourne.  The facility is expected to be completed in 2024.  
85.  In addition, Mo derna 's Regional Research Centre for Respiratory Medicines and Tropical 
Diseases was launched in August 2023. The centre will be a hub for research into respiratory viruses 
and tropical diseases across the Asia  Pacific.  This partnership allows the IP and t he know -how that 's 
developed by Moderna to be used to establish its manufacturing plant in Australia. This will help to 
protect Australians against future pandemics,  and it will reduce our dependence  on imported mRNA 
vaccines, along with other advantages i n health products and technologies for Australia and the 
region.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 18 - 
 
  3.3  Chile  
86.  We would like to thank the United Kingdom for preparing the document on "Intellectual 
Property, Voluntary Licensing  and Technology Transfer ". We see the i nterest in discussing this topic 
in the Council for TRIPS. At the same time, we consider it important to emphasize the use of the 
flexibilities pertaining to health -related intellectual property, provided for in the TRIPS Agreement.  
87.  We therefore believe th at the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology is an 
important forum for continuing discussion and the exchange of information and experiences relating 
to the transfer of technology and trade. In this regard, the chair of the Group has made 
comme ndable efforts to reinvigorate the Group 's work, fostering constructive and fruitful dialogue 
among Members.  
3.4  Japan  
88.  Japan appreciates the contributions made by the United Kingdom through the submission of 
document  IP/C/W/704 . We fully agree that it is important to facilitate further voluntary licensing and 
technology transfer so we would like to support constructive discussions on this paper.  
89.  This paper would help Members to consider and discuss how voluntary licensing can work a nd 
be improved upon. We believe it is important for Members to share their specific experiences of 
voluntary licensing, such as those listed in the Annex, and to stimulate discussion through 
examination of the facts and evidence.  
90.  In this regard, Japan has gathered information from domestic stakeholders on specific 
experiences with voluntary licensing and technology transfer during the COVID -19 pandemic. Some 
Japanese pharmaceutical companies have experience as donors of technology transfer, developing 
their own COVID -19 therapeutics and transferring technology abroad, and some other companies 
have experience as recipients of technology transfer for vaccines developed in other countries and 
manufactur ed in Japan.  
91.  Based on their specific experiences, in order to achieve rapid technology transfer during a 
pandemic, it is important to:  
a. build a relationship of trust based on transaction experiences through technology transfer 
in normal times ; 
b. promote improvement of the recipient 's technological capacity and production facilities ; 
and 
c. provide public support for this purpose.  
92.  In other words, first, if there is trust based on an existing relationship between the donor and 
the recipient , the negotiation period for technology transfer will be shorter because they can proceed 
with it easily and efficiently without worrying about trade  secrets and know -how leakages . The 
importance of trust in technology transfer was pointed out by many stakeholders in the thematic 
session last month. Japanese stakeholders also commen ted that trust between the donor and the 
recipient is essential.  
93.  Second, in general, if the recipient has sufficient technological capacity and production facilities, 
the burden on the donor in terms of both financial and human resources is expected to be reduced, 
the obstacles to technology transfer will be lessened , and the time required will be shortened. 
However, based on the experiences of Japanese stakeholders, technology transfer  is more difficult 
for biopharmaceuticals, even if  the recipient s with sufficient capacity and facilities  are carefully 
selected. It is not easy to transfer the biopharmaceutical technology in a short period of time.  
94.  Third, government support is useful in boosting technology transfer, particularly as it reduce s 
financial devel opment risks for pharmaceutical companies. In short, based on the concrete 
experiences of Japanese pharmaceutical companies, in order to achieve rapid technology transfer 
during a pandemic, it is essential to make efforts to  experience more technology tran sfer in normal 
times, build relationships of trust, and improve technological levels . IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 19 - 
 
  95.  On the other hand, for some efforts to be successful, in other words, for  the facilitation of 
technology transfer to developing countries in normal times, we need to furt her examine the factors 
that make pharmaceutical companies reluctant to engage in such voluntary licensing and technology 
transfer. According to the opinions of Japanese pharmaceutical companies, the incentive to engage 
in tech transfer is greatly influenc ed by the level of infrastructure development in the regions where 
the supply of products is expected. The above -mentioned infrastructure includes institutional 
infrastructure such as health systems and intellectual property systems, and social infrastruct ure, 
such as distribution channels and power supply.  
96.  For example,  since pharmaceutical companies place importance on securing rapid delivery of 
medicines to patients with guaranteed quality and safety , they express the opinion that insufficient  
infrastruct ure, including the lack of  pharmaceutical regulations, supply chains, and 
pharmacovigilance systems could be factors that discourage them from transferring their 
technology.  
97.  Given these views, it is expected that improving institutional and social infrastr ucture will 
promote voluntary licensing and technology transfer in normal times. Then, through such efforts, if 
trust is built between companies in developing countries and those in developed countries, and the 
companies in developing countries enhance the ir technological level , it will be possible to achieve 
more rapid technology transfer to developing countries even during a pandemic.  
98.  Japan welcomes sharing of specific experiences and stakeholders ' opinions from Members 
regarding this paper. Japan will co ntinue to contribute to constructive discussions.  
3.5  Switzerland  
99.  We thank the distinguish ed delegate of the United Kingdom  for introducing its submission on 
voluntary licences  to the Council for TRIPS. The submission rightly points out the quintessential role 
that the international IP system played as an enabler of the hundreds of development and 
manufacturing partnerships that were established during the COVID -19 pandemic, ena bling the rapid 
and legally safe sharing of technology and know -how of decades long research and development  
efforts.  
100.  Many of these partnerships encountered serious problems during the pandemic due to trade 
restrictions. This hampered their smooth functio ning, slowed down the speed and quantity with 
which they could bring their innovative vaccines , therapeutics  and diagnostics  to those who needed 
them most.  
101.  The World Health Organization 's COVAX mechanism may be recalled as an example . COVAX 
having contrac ted the licensing and manufacturing of Astra Zeneca 's COVID -19 vaccine to generics 
manufacturers, but export restrictions imposed acted as a barrier and prevented the delivery of the 
manufactured vaccines to the beneficiary lower -income countries, particul arly in Africa. More than 
half a year 's time was lost, before COVAX could take up delivery of the ordered products or procure 
supply from alternative sources. Accordingly, there is cause for the WTO to discuss how it can 
contribute in the future to pandemi c preparedness and response, based on the mandate received at  
MC12.  
102.  Recognizing the important role voluntary licences  play in a pandemic, we consider it useful for 
the Council  for TRIPS  to examine the questions that the UK lists in its communication  as far as they 
are related to intellectual property . Gaining a better understanding of the problems the voluntary 
licens ing partnerships met during the pandemic, discussing possible solutions and improvements in 
order to support these partnerships effectively, will hopefully contribute so that the fruits of their 
collaboration can be reaped fully and benefit all WTO Members more equitably in a next pandemic.  
103.  Beyond those questions listed in the  UK submission, others have been posed by Members. A 
concern that ha s been voiced in relation to voluntary licences  is that often such licences  have a 
limited regional scope.  In relation to the voluntary licences  granted by patent holders to generics 
manufacturers via the MPP , the Medicine s Patent Pool, for COVID -19 vaccines and therapeutics, the 
delegation of Colombia  pointed out at an earlier meeting  that some of the licences  granted extend 
to some but not to all upper -middle income countrie s, noting that  some Latin American countries 
were not included in the scope of some of the MPP licences .  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 20 - 
 
  104.  Applying differential pricing depending on the status of development and degree of affluence 
of countries makes sense. As a corollary, it allows to provide lower -income countries with needed 
medicines or vaccines at cost or fo r free. The Council could look into this and seek clarification in 
order to better understand the criteria used in determining the geographical scope of the MPP 
licences . This could help improve the effectiveness of such licences  in future pandemics.  
105.  Durin g the stakeholder session, we heard from the representatives of the MPP that they had 
received many requests for sub licences , but that MPP could only grant a quarter of the requested 
licences . The reason for this being a lack of industrial capacity of many  applicants, be it in relation 
to the quality, quantity or timing of the production , as well as health regulatory challenges in their 
countries. In order to increase the number of successful licen ce applications, these shortcomings 
should be looked at by W TO more broadly to identify whether WTO can play a role in the future as 
an enabler for such voluntary licen ce partnerships. While many of these aspects fall outside the 
responsibility of the Council for TRIPS , and some possibly even outside WTO, weakening  or 
suspending IP rights would certainly not work in support of these partnerships.  
106.  As a lesson to be learned from the past pandemic, there is the call for regionally more 
diversified production of vaccines and pandemic related therapeutics. Some of the pr oponents even 
claim that this is why paragraph 8 of the MC12 TRIPS Decision should be extended to therapeutics 
and diagnostics .  
107.  Switzerland supports the diversification of production capacity and the promotion of regional 
vaccines and therapeutics manufac turing. However, this needs to happen on the basis of workable 
approaches, measures and tools that attract investment to interested countries rather than scare it 
away. Only in a reliable regulatory framework, including IP protection, can long -term partner ships 
be established successfully and will cooperation and the sharing of technology and know -how happen 
in an open and trusted relationship. And with that comes the training and building up of a qualified 
local workforce of experts and other personnel. In  short, also for geographical diversification of 
production and the increase of manufacturing capacity , voluntary licences  are the promising 
approach. My delegation is looking forward to discussing the questions raised in the UK 
communication and those from other Members in th is context at the next  Council  meeting and today . 
3.6  Peru  
108.  We would like to thank th e United Kingdom for preparing the document before us, which is 
clearly of interest to Members. We also see the value of deepening discussions on this document at 
future meetings as part of our preparation for future health emergencies. We have already had  the 
opportunity to refer to this document during the informal session. We would just like to highlight 
certain elements in this forum.  
109.  Firstly, as we saw at the informal session, a major obstacle to voluntary licensing was its lack 
of transparency; little  information could be found on it. For this reason, addressing this matter with, 
for example, a truly global database that contains information on voluntary licences  and the 
possibilities for granting them, as well as the transfer of technology, could impr ove their use. 
Secondly, we have identified several factors that affect the formation of partnerships, such as market 
size, and limited capacity in manufacturing or local industry, taking into account the technology 
involved in the manufacturing process an d lack of personnel and infrastructure, which can also limit 
the scope of partnerships . Therefore, if we need to broaden or promote the use of voluntary 
licensing, these factors should probably be incorporated into Members ' cooperation as well, and, to 
the extent possible, into the cooperation provided by this Organization.  
110.  Lastly, in terms of experiences, our benchmark is the Medicine s Patents Pool  (MPP) . 
Unfortunately, with respect to COVID -19 and, for example, the agreements signed with Pfizer, its 
scope  did not include Peru. We therefore believe that these issues, as the delegate of Switzerland 
just mentioned, could be addressed in more depth at future meetings. This brings me to the end of 
the points that I wished to raise, and once again I would like t o thank the United Kingdom for 
submitting this document.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 21 - 
 
  3.7  Indonesia  
111.  At the outset, I would like to thank the U nited Kingdom  delegation for their presentation of 
the recent submission. In this regard, we feel that discussions on this agenda item will also greatly 
benefit from the external stakeholders ' session and also the long -awaited United States International 
Trade Commissi on (USITC ) report and its subsequent briefing. From these two events and the recent 
submission, we feel that there are some key takeaways that we think are important for further 
consideration.  
112.  First, the USITC report already highlighted the wide disparity among countries of different 
income groups in terms of access to and availability of COVID -19 diagnostics and therapeutics. This 
should remain as the main focus as we continue our discussion on this matter. Second, mechanisms 
such as voluntary licences , while beneficial, ha ve severe shortcomings and are inadequate to address 
access needs in developing countries. We think that voluntary licensing is not actually a silver bullet 
that could address this important issue. Third, on the use of compulsory licences , they might provide 
benefits where voluntary licences  could not . They reduce the co st of pharmaceutical products or 
products at issue and improve access. Fourth, while intellectual property  is beneficial for innovation, 
it must be admitted that in times of emergency, an IP protection waiver becomes a necessity. 
Indeed, patents should not  stand in the way of saving more human lives.  
113.  While the W orld Health Organization  already declared that COVID -19 is no longer a public 
health emergency of international concern, its potential threats are still looming. Therefore, it is 
imperative for WTO t o address this issue in a holistic and comprehensive manner. Indonesia stands 
ready to engage constructively on this matter with other interested delegates.  
3.8  South Africa  on behalf of the African Group  
114.  Thank you very much , Madame Chair , and apologies for not being with you in person . Like the 
62 million other South Africans , I am still recovering from the celebrations.  
115.  With regard to this particular agenda item, I would like to start by say ing that my delegation 
concurs very much with the distinguished delegate of Chile. We also appreciate the excellent work 
done by Professor Bo za in the context of the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology. 
With regards to the submission before u s today, we thank the United Kingdom for its submission. 
We have some comments on the respective passages . 
116.  Firstly, we noted the statement that existing technical capacity and experience is important 
alongside a relationship of trust and transparency. Indeed, clearly pre -existing technical capacity 
and experience is important in order to contribute to rapid sca ling up of production of new medical 
countermeasures. This points to the importance of the WTO to support mechanisms for 
strengthening capacities and experience and expanding collaborative and research and development  
initiatives, such as the messenger RNA (mRNA)  hub, and to increase transparency in research and 
development ( R&D) investments, pricing, and supply chains, among others.  
117.  Furthermore, during the pandemic, voluntary licensing arrangements were characterized by 
transparency and trust – this was a further statement from the submission. In South Africa, for 
instance, contracts with pharmaceutical multinational corporations were sealed and civil society had 
to litigate to access unredacted copies of the contracts , revealing  terms such as full indemnif ication 
for multinational corporations, unfettered priority exports, confidentiality,  and non -disclosure 
agreements . Excessive pric es compared to what was even available in northern countries were 
charged, including onerous advance payments. The outcome of  one of the clauses was that 30 million 
vaccine doses filled and finished in South Africa were exported to Europe before South Africans had 
any access to vaccines at all.  
118.  Another passage from the UK we comment on stated that another equally key element is the 
protection and enforcement of intellectual property  rights, which provide confidence to the entity 
entering a business relationship that the IP will not be infringed , or if it is, that legal recourse for 
infringement would be available. By way of comme nt, we would say that the effects o f the 
enforcement of intellectual property rights need as much attention as the role that IP may provide 
for private firms to engage in R&D. This is well evidenced by the very active patent litigation taking 
place on COVI D-19 vaccines.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 22 - 
 
  119.  A further passage we would comment on is where it was stated that the TRIPS Agreement 
contains a specific pro vision  focused on increasing technology flows, which may be beneficial in 
supporting equitable access if the enterprise holds techn ology related to health products and 
technologies , as mandated by Article 66.2 : "Developed countr y Members shall provide incentives to 
enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and encouraging 
technology transfer to least-developed country  Members  in order to enable them to create a sound 
and viable technological base ".  
120.  By way of comment, we would state that we agree that if Article 66.2 was implemented 
accordingly, LDCs would be gaining as a result of increased technical capacity and increased 
technology flows.  However, there is little evidence that Article 66.2 is b eing implemented effectively, 
as the LDC Group has continuously noted in various submissions. The annual submissions from 
developed countries to the Council for TRIPS do not reveal that they are complying with obligations 
under Article 66.2. 
121.  A further passage we would comment on, is where it was stated that contained within some , 
but not all , voluntary licensing arrangements is the transfer of technology and know -how, often  
protected via IP, which is a necessary component required to scale up production. Fo r example, tech 
transfer can feature as part of contract manufacturing partnerships.  We would comment that the 
WTO Secretariat should set up a voluntary collection of the voluntary licensing arrangements during 
COVID -19 that establishes the terms of the ar rangements and indicate s the progress to date to 
determine to what extent are the  arrangements that the UK and others have described as successful 
collaborations, in particular involving developing country manufacturers.  
122.  The final passage we  would comment on was where it was stated that the TRIPS  Agreement  
has flexibilities built into its architecture, including compulsory licensing in certain situations to 
reflect the importance of achieving public policy health objectives. It is critical to recall that ex isting 
flexibilities may be utili zed by Members wh ere considered necessary and appropriate to achieve 
public health policy objectives.  When Members feel that they are unable to use TRIPS flexibilities, 
we encourage the sharing of evidence to understand thi s and discussion on how to navigate potential 
challenges. By way of comment, we  would say that during the COVID -19 era, the proponents of  the 
TRIPS waiver opted for a multilateral approach and discussion of the challenges of us ing 
TRIPS  flexibilities that did not foresee situations of pandemics where rapid  global R&D and scaling 
of existing and new technologies would be needed to attend to a global health and economic crisis.  
This has been addressed in several of our pri or submissions.  
123.  We are deeply disappointed with the outcome of the multilateral discussion on the waiver to 
date. And in conclusion , while we recogni ze that the pharmaceutical /biopharmaceutical sector is an 
important stakeholder in the context of IP and public health, there  are other equally important 
stakeholders.  The UK communication would benefit from considering the views of other stakeholders.  
3.9  Uruguay  
124.  I think we can all agree that what we are aiming for here is rapid and affordable acces s to 
vaccines and medicines in times of crisis (a health crisis). In this regard, we very much appreciate 
the document submitted by the United Kingdom and the various documents submitted by the 
African  Group seeking  solutions to this issue. We echo the sta tement made by Chile at the beginning 
of the discussions on this agenda item relating to the transfer of technology. We also echo 
Indonesia 's statement regarding the use of compulsory licensing. I believe such licensing is a tool 
provided for in the TRIPS Agreement and we must not be afraid when it comes to regulating and 
benefiting from it. I think that compulsory and voluntary licensing should complement each other 
on a case -by-case basis.  
125.  Talking about a health crisis situation is not the same as talking  about a situation in which 
conditions are normal. Talking about an LDC is not the same as talking about a mid -level developed 
country or a developed country; nor is talking about a low - to middle -income country the same as 
talking about a high -income coun try, or a middle -income country with a small  domestic market, as 
is the case for my country, for example. And here I would like to link this idea to what Colombia 
mentioned in the informal session, and Peru also shared a few thoughts on it – the concept of  a 
sandwich country. Sandwich countries are those of us that are neither very big nor very small, 
neither very rich nor very poor, and in a situation in which we have little productive capacity for IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 23 - 
 
  vaccines or medicines, or at least not for the time being.  Perhaps through the transfer of technology, 
we can remedy this in a few short years. And it is true that the opacity, discretion and selectivity of 
the process of concluding voluntary licensing contracts with some pharmaceutical companies have 
undermined confidence among the public and some government stakeholders.  
126.  I believe this is an important issue that we should be able to settle and implement within the 
framework of the document submitted by the United Kingdom, for example . How can we address 
this matter , which I think is the Achilles ' heel of the entire voluntary licensing system?  
3.10  Singapore  
127.  I would like to t hank the U nited Kingdom  for its paper on voluntary licensing . We also thank 
the other Members for sharing th eir experiences , which has been quite interesting for us. Singapore 
agrees that there is value for us to have a deeper discussion on voluntary licensing and technology 
transfer partnerships as a way to strengthen our response to future pandemics.  
128.   At the informal Council for TRIPS meeting on 9 October  2023, I had shared  briefly  about 
Singapore 's experience with the development of our COVID -19 test kits named "fortitude kits ", which 
were developed through close collaborations between several agencies in Sin gapore in less than a 
month. To fulfil local and international demand, our Agency for Science Technology and Research 
(or A*STAR) transferred the technology know -how to a home -grown biotech firm through a 
non-exclusive license to scale -up the manufacturing  and distribution of the diagnostic kits.  
129.  The biotech firm shared that some of the factors that facilitated its successful partnership and 
scaling up of production w ere to prioriti ze the building of capacity and capabilities first. With the 
talent and fac ilities that it had gained over the years, it was then able to meet the production 
demands quickly after A*STAR had transferred the technology know -how.  
130.  A second factor that they cited was open communication and trust. The biotech firm shared 
that it had multiple discussions with researchers from A *STAR, the hospitals, and partners from the 
Diagnostics Development Hub, which the firm had been working with since 2014. The close working 
partnership allowed the technology transfer process to be completed in o ne week and to begin mass 
production of 100,000 tests kits within a  week.  
131.  However, t he firm highlighted that one of its biggest concerns was to produce high quality 
tests that would perform well in whichever lab they were  deployed to and in any country. S ome of 
the challenges included working to set up production lines under tight timelines and ensuring that 
all processe s were followed to maintain the quality and accuracy of the test kits.  
132.  Hence, a close relationship and capacity building could play a role here to ensure a seamless 
expansion of production . Separately, a s part of Singapore 's efforts to strengthen our response to 
future pandemics, our Ministry of Health also launched the Programme for Research in Epidemic 
Preparedness and Response – also called PREPARE  – and u nder PREPARE, our key healthcare 
agencies work together to develop a national epidemic research and development  plan, form 
research networks, and develop tools, methods, and products to respond to future infectious disease 
outbreak th reats. Part of its programme also includes a Regional Networks Cooperative which seeks 
to create a strong regional infectious diseases research network that enables timely information 
exchange, technology transfer and insights training, by working closely with institutions in the 
region. I will stop here for now  and I look forward to hearing from others about their experiences .  
3.11  Nigeria  
133.  We support the statements made by the delegation of South Africa on behalf of the African  
Group.  We thank the United Kingdom for their paper. We share the view that to facilitate the scaling 
up of manufacturing and production of medicines and related equipment that could help tackle 
emerging and future public health emergencies, the WTO should  provide a platform that incentivi zes 
Members to improve manufacturing and production capacities and establish more R &D collaborative 
initiatives. We also support the view that trust and transparency is key , particularly regarding 
investments in research a nd development.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 24 - 
 
  134.  Furthermore, the global research and development pipelines for diseases that 
disproportionately affect African countries are inadequate. The African region comprises 15% of the 
world 's population, yet only accounted for 1.1% of global inves tments in R&D in 2016. In most 
countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the largest source of R&D 
funding is the private sector , while R&D in Nigeria is mainly funded by the public sector. Evidence 
suggests various research o utput and research capacity limitations in Africa when considering the 
global context. Metrics that reflect this include : university rankings, number of researchers, number 
of publications, clinical trials networks and pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity . 
135.  Incentivi zing investment is crucial to foster current and future research output and research 
capacity. Further  innovative and collaborative financing mechanisms can stimulate further 
investment. Regarding the protection and enforcement of intellectual p roperty  rights, while we 
welcome the various global collaborative efforts so far, it is important to note that multiple IP rights 
can pose a challenge in ensuring global equitable access to the effective tools needed in response 
to medical emergencies. Lik e some others, the Nigerian Government has faced IP barriers due to 
some existing patent disputes over relevant medicines and equipment. The WTO has a role to play 
in striking an acceptable balance between, on the one hand, protection of IP rights , and on the other, 
saving lives.  
136.  Finally, the specific provision of the TRIPS  Agreement for a mechanism for developed countries 
to provide the required incentives to enterprises and institutions in their territories to promote  
technology transfer to LDCs, continues to have its shortcomings.  
3.12  India  
137.  We thank the United Kingd om for their paper. It underscores the importance and need for 
partnerships to help the rapid scale -up of production and voluntary licences as important leverage 
for Members to ensure affordable access. The paper further clarifies that voluntary licences a re no 
silver bullet, especially in unprecedented times like a pandemic, to rapidly scale up production , 
because VLs are voluntary, time -consuming, limited and dependent on several factors before they 
can be executed. For instance, the existing relations an d trust between licensor and licensee , and 
therefore may not be an effective solution to quick scale -up, which is critically needed during a 
pandemic for affordable and equitable access. The submission underlines the challenges of voluntary 
licences that w ere evident and became more pronounced during the COVID -19 pandemic.  
138.  The paper thus strengthens the argument for creating more policy space, flexibilities and policy 
tools to be made available to Members both in TRIPS as well as in other WTO agreements fo r effective 
response and preparedness for pandemics. This should include improving and streamlining the 
current VL ecosystem with the aim to ensure that intellectual property  rights themselves do not 
impede timely access to therapeutics, diagnostics, vacci nes, etcetera, as well as to ensure they do 
not pose a barrier to technology transfer. Working on a comprehensive approach in this regard will 
enable Members and developing countries, especially including LDCs, to address and respond timely 
and effectively  to public health emergencies. My delegation is hopeful that these discussions would 
help shape outcomes with respect to our preparedness for future pandemics.  
3.13  European Union  
139.  The European Union would like to thank th e United Kingdom for its submission. The topic of 
voluntary licensing is coming forward under various agenda points that we are discussing and is of 
key importance for the broader discussion on technology transfer. We support the objective of the 
submissio n, which is to increase the understanding of factors that facilitate voluntary licensing and 
technology transfer partnerships.  
140.  As the paper indicates, and according to the World Intellectual Property Organization patent 
landscape, there is a large set of d iverse collaborations that have formed during the COVID -19 
pandemic. These collaborations should be explored and factors that played a key role in their 
formation brought to light, to increase our knowledge of best practices related to voluntary licensing.  
Experiences of those manufacturers that were not able to secure voluntary licensing are equally 
required for this exercise. We could also try to look deeper into particular issues. We noted today, 
and in previous discussions that, for example, the regiona l scope of licences  is coming up in various 
submissions – that was mentioned by the delegations of Peru, Colombia and Uruguay. We would IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 25 - 
 
  support the proposal put forward by Switzerland, for example, that we could look deeper into these 
particular issues and  try to understand the reasons for various approaches when it comes to the 
regional scope of licences . In this way , we could move on and could advance pragmatic ally on specific 
issues.  
141.  The European Union is ready to enter into this discussion in order to share experiences, identify 
best practices and reach a better understanding on how to form successful partnerships that promote 
voluntary licensing and technology transfer.  
3.14  Colombia  
142.  I echo what was said in previous stateme nts about seeing value in our discussions focused on 
improving access to medicines, diagnostic tools and vaccines, as mentioned by Chile, Peru and 
Uruguay. This should be the key objective in ensuring the exercise of the right to health. That said, 
we also  believe that we have collectively discussed and learned much these past few months, thanks 
to your successful efforts to open and fuel discussions. Colombia believes that our decisions will 
stand to benefit greatly if we focus our discussions. In that reg ard, we would like to highlight Article 
31(f),1 which provides for a near total export ban on medical goods subject to compulsory licensing. 
That is because, at times, the discussion seems to be something that is much bigger and related to 
the importance of intellectual property protection in general, whereas our discussion on public policy 
in this forum is more focused on one core element: subparagraph ( f). 
143.  Let me explain. The thematic session, the various papers by the United Kingdom, Switzerland 
and Mex ico, the work of the United States International Trade Commission and the discussions in 
this Council – from them we have collectively learned a number of things that I would like to 
highlight. The first is that, although voluntary licensing is the prime o ption, it often proves insufficient 
for a large number of countries, as Chile mentioned in the previous intervention. Indeed, the figures 
presented in this Council in recent months show that so -called "sandwich " countries have particular 
difficulty in term s of production, access and capacity to secure voluntary mechanisms. They are 
neither big enough nor small enough to benefit from the current regulations, and the figures prove 
it.  
144.  The second is that the waiver we discussed is rather narrow, whereas the d iscussions and 
arguments seem to refer to much broader general aspects. The waiver we decided on at MC12 refers 
essentially to a single waiver focused on subparagraph ( f) of the TRIPS Agreement. Most of the 
arguments, however, seemed to refer to a much bro ader waiver and perhaps that is why we have 
more or less reached an impasse. Therefore, let us focus on this discussion for a while, and we are 
sure that we are going to find points of convergence.  
145.  The export ban on products subject to compulsory licensin g is too strict for countries with 
small - and medium -sized populations. The TRIPS Agreement laid down a long and strict set of 
conditions in addition to the possibility of establishing voluntary licensing, already provided for in 
the Paris Agreement and W orld Intellectual Property Organization  Agreements. Today, regarding the 
waiver we decided on, we should focus on talking specifically about one of those conditions, one that 
is particularly important, which, as I said earlier, is subparagraph ( f). We belie ve that having 
deliberate and calm conversations about this subparagraph does not threaten the system; it only 
makes it more productive for a significant number of developing countries. Indeed, the prohibition 
of subparagraph ( f) is, in our view, one of th e main obstacles to the constructive implementation of 
compulsory licensing and the balanced negotiation of voluntary licensing with the private sector, 
given that the prohibition erodes the existing incentives to achieve either of the two options.  
146.  It has  often been said here that the patent – the "recipe " – is not the focal point of a productive 
effort and that the "kitchen " is more important. Therefore, the recipe is not enough; rather, the 
infrastructure, knowledge,  and way of doing things, that is, the  "kitchen ", are even more important. 
However, the way to bring about change in the kitchen is through investment, whether domestic or 
foreign. But to secure investments, a business case is crucial, and this does not work with relatively 
small populations t hat are subject to an export ban on licensed products. Thus, it will always be 
more difficult to secure investments when a market benefiting from licensing, whether compulsory 
 
1 Colombia clarified later in the meeting that references made during this intervention to subparagraph 
(k) of Article 31 should have been to subparagraph (f). In order to avoid confus ion, the Secretariat has 
updated the text of this intervention accordingly.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 26 - 
 
  or voluntary, is legally limited to the size of the country 's population. When a  country 's population 
is large enough, compulsory licensing or negotiations leading to voluntary licensing have much better 
prospects of being successful. The kitchen cannot be remodelled if the rules say that you can cook 
for one person only.  
147.  It is also a  simple matter of fairness. If my potential market demand is 450 million people, as 
is the case with the new draft regulation on compulsory licensing in the European Union, or 300 
million people, as is the case in the United States, or over 1.5 billion people, as is the case in larger 
developing countries, it is possible to overcome natural, legal and political barriers of compulsory 
licensing or voluntary licensing negotiations because the scale and volume allow for a business case. 
In the case of small countries, with populations of 10 or 30 million people, this option is not feasible. 
Subparagraph ( f) is therefore regressive and useful only for certain countries; and it primarily affects 
the public policy options of relatively small countries. The same applies in terms of voluntary 
licensing, when the question arises as to why some countries obtain voluntary licences and others 
do not. Our response is simple – a private company will naturally be more interested in a negotiation 
that promises a l arger market, and so decisions to relocate manufacturing facilities prove beneficial. 
Similarly, from the perspective of compulsory licensing, a State will naturally be more interested in 
promoting compulsory licensing for a larger market: a small market r enders this option devoid of 
benefit from the outset.  
148.  Subparagraph ( f) should therefore be the focus of our main discussions because it affects 
existing market incentives for more equitable production and access. This was acknowledged in the 
discussion on  the narrow waiver that we decided on in this forum at MC12 , and this is the specific 
and practical measure that, beyond general discussions, would allow for varying solutions that are 
useful for all. We are therefore not talking about the intellectual pro perty system as a whole, but 
only one of its requirements that directly affects developing countries and particularly medium -sized 
ones, or sandwich countries. The waiver of this subparagraph is a more specific, more useful 
discussion. We should therefore come to the decision to implement the waiver of subparagraph  (f) 
as an open trigger for all pandemics and for all products, in such a manner that we change the 
existing conditions for voluntary and non -voluntary negotiation. Achieving this would be key in terms 
of effectiveness and non -regressive justice.  
149.  In any event, industry 's profits are generated mostly in developed countries, so this 
adjustment would allow for a solution without further shortcomings and for the benefit of all. Perhaps 
we should drop t he very polarized discussion on intellectual property protection and practically 
assess just one of its requirements. This, in our view, is what we have collectively learned in the 
intense and very useful discussions we have had in recent months. Over 50% of countries during 
the Senior Officials Meeting shared this sentiment. The WTO should respond in synergy with the 
World Health Organization 's pandemic treaty discussions and enable or allow for, at the very least, 
specific changes to improve negotiating a nd regulatory conditions for a number of countries that 
have endlessly spoken about how fundamental this matter is for MC13.  
150.  In conclusion, a more specific focus should help unblock the relative impasse in the discussion. 
This may involve an extension of t he waiver, as we decided in the past, but there are also other 
alternatives if the "extension " became tinged with too many ideological problems. Focusing on 
subparagraph ( f) allows us to explore options such as a peace clause, a targeted waiver, an enablin g 
clause or a segmentation of the ban by regional market, in synergy with WHO discussions. In this 
regard, to conclude, we would like to thank Switzerland for its openness to examining this matter, 
a standpoint supported a few minutes ago by the European U nion. We therefore call for a focused 
and practical discussion that would bring about balance in the conditions for negotiating voluntary 
licensing and the regulatory conditions for compulsory licensing and enable us to take a concrete 
step forward.  
3.15  Thailand  
151.  Thailand recognize s the crucial role of intellectual property  in improving the availability and 
affordable access to medicine, notably through transfer of technology and knowledge sharing. We 
thank the U nited Kingdom for the submissions with the example s of successful collaborations during 
the COVID -19 pandemic. We believe that policy decision s must be made based on facts and 
evidence. Two weeks ago, the long -awaited report of the United States International Trade 
Commission ( USITC ) was finally issued. We thank Madam Chair and the Secretar iat for organizing 
the briefing session, which was helpful and informative.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 27 - 
 
  152.  The studies and data in the USITC report confirmed that the issue before us is a complex and 
not clear -cut one. The success or failure of the pandemic response is multi -factorial. Yet, intellectual 
property  is not the only determinant of access to medicine s, but it remains one of the crucial factors 
enabling timely and affordable access for all. In addition, a variety of factors and information need 
to be considered and weighed. IP tools, be they voluntary or compulsory licences , have advantages 
and challen ges in terms of their utilization. We also note that an information gap and limited available 
data is highlighted by different stakeholders. We concur with Per u's remarks on the usefulness of 
having a database and experience sharing by Members. Bearing all  this in mind, Thailand remains 
committed to discuss with other Members to find a balanced and effective solution in view of 
preparing for a future pandemic.  
3.16  United States of America  
153.  We thank the United Kin gdom for contributing to the extensive discussion on the COVID -19 
pandemic response within the Council  for TRIPS . As many of you are likely aware, the United States 
International Trade Commission (USITC) recently published a report titled "COVID -19 Diagnos tics 
and Therapeutics : Supply, Demand, and TRIPS  Flexibilities ". 
154.  The United Kingdom helpfully mentioned this report in its introduction, and several Members 
have also referenced this report this morning. The report looks at the voluntary licences  related t o 
COVID -19, and discusses these licences  in the context of technology transfer, knowledge sharing, 
transparency, and pricing. We are continuing to review the report, and we hope that the facts in the 
report can add to this important discussion that the Uni ted Kingdom has started.  
3.17  Brazil  
155.  Brazil thanks the United Kingdom for circulating this document, which renews the importance 
of further discussing the gaps and challenges involved in our mandate of transfer of technology in 
connection with intellectual property rights in the Council for T RIPS. In this regard, we would like to 
express our support for previous statements made by Chile and others in relation to the existence 
of flexibilities expressly provided by the TRIPS Agreement.  
156.  TRIPS flexibilities provisions exist precisely to guarantee  access at affordable prices to health 
goods during times such as the ones we have all faced during the COVID -19 pandemic. It is central, 
therefore, to bring this debate also to the WTO in terms of assessing the inherent links between the 
IP system and our  common goal of improving preparedness in view of future pandemics. It stresses 
also the importance of our dialogue with other international organizations, such as the W orld Health 
Organization , where there is an ongoing negotiation that encompasses the IP  dimension in any global 
coordinated response to future pandemics.  
157.  As regards the UK document, it demonstrates the importance of partnerships worldwide, while 
also recognizing that voluntary licences  themselves cannot be seen as a silver bullet.  It also po ints 
out the shortcomings faced in the field of technology transfer, such as lack of infrastructure and 
export restrictions. As mentioned before by previous delegations, it sheds light on the critical position 
of several developing countries, such as the o nes in Latin America, where the system of voluntary 
licensing has been insufficient and fell short of supporting countries at such a critical juncture, not 
only in sanitary terms, but also in economic terms, adding an extraordinary burden for governments 
in the region.  
158.  That brings us to the sandwich countries ' position . It's interesting to see  that we  heard some 
delegations before me suggesting somehow that maybe the solution w ould be further enhancing the 
trade regimes and trade bilateral, regional, and mu ltilateral agreements. When you look at the 
particular situation of Latin America in the last 30 years, right after the Uruguay  Round, what we 
have witnessed is that many countries in our region signed bilateral, regional, and multilateral 
treaties, some o f them actually with TRIPS -plus provisions.  
159.  Would a cynical view be allowed to say that at a critical juncture of their histories, those very 
same regimes not only did not support them, but actually added an extra burden on those low - and 
middle -income cou ntries, which is, by and large, what we had in Latin America? So is there a 
connection in which, actually, when we need an IP system in a region that fully respects, fully 
protects, and in many situations has TRIPS -plus provisions already in force, they we re unable to  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 28 - 
 
  benefit from that very same regime ? I think that when we are discussing those issues here in the 
TRIPS Agreement, this is something that should be taken into account. And we have fact -based 
evidence showing that that has been the case, particularly in Brazil 's region.  Is further insisting on 
this as a means of  attracting foreign investment , and then after I don't know how many decades we 
will be in a position to have infrastructure , fully functioning  health systems , and only then can we  
benefit from a transfer of technology ? This has been the situation in our region for three decades 
now, where these regimes  have been  fully in force. At a critical juncture we di d not have as much 
transfer of technology as needed to address  a critical challenge . From a strictly trade and TRIPS IP 
view, this is what happened in our region . I think this should also be fully taken into account in this 
discussion . Sorry for taking the floor and improvising , but music is like that right?  
3.18  United Kingdom  
160.  I just wanted to thank all Members for the active engag ement today on our non-paper. We 
look forward to continuing this constructive dialogue both in the Council for TRIPS  and in bilateral 
discussions. Thank you to all Members for sharing your national experiences and for the case studies 
provided. We would li ke to ask all Members to please share your statements with us so that we can 
read them in detail as part of our efforts to create a comprehensive Annex of evidence to underpin 
discussions on this important topic.  
4  REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B)  
5  RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON 
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY  
6  PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE  
6.1  Brazil  
161.  Brazil is pleased to see that the advance we have had in the previous yea r in connection to 
the negotiations on IP and genetic resources. We thank all Member states here at WTO, but 
particularly at WIPO, for their constructive approach for this process. And we further encourage all 
stakeholders, not only Member states, but also  civil societies and NGOs and international 
governmental organizations, including the WTO, to fully engage in the diplomatic conference that 
has been convened by WIPO on this issue for 2024.  
162.  Brazil expects that the diplomatic conference may result in an international instrument that 
further strengthens the protection of rights belonging to traditional communities, and then contribute 
to promoting social and economic inclusion in regard to sustainable environmental practices. There 
are strong signals that protecting genetic resources and traditional knowledge has positive impacts 
in terms of innovation and patents. This has been the Brazilian experience in this regard, and it 
shows the potential to explore in terms of how IP can concretely support sustainab le development, 
particularly in the developing world.  
6.2  India  
163.  India continues to call for an international and foreseeable regime to contain a 
misappropriation. We must work to make the TRIPS agreement better integrate into and 
complement the goals envisaged in the CBD, an important environment agreement that is ofte n 
ignored, even amidst active trade and environment and climate change -related work being 
undertaken by the WTO. Despite several submissions, it is regrettable that progress on these issues 
remain elusive. In this regard, we also note that some Members vie w the WIPO  IGC process to be 
the right forum for these discussions.  
164.  Just let me clarify our position on these discussions, that these discussions at the WIPO are 
complementary and mutually supportive of our work here at the Council  for TRIPS . And as the ne w 
mantra in WTO also says that processes and our choice of fora should not limit our engagement on 
important substance, therefore as much of the misappropriation is a consequence of trade, it is 
imperative to build the linkage between the TRIPS agreement a nd the CBD and to revitalise these 
discussions in this Council. Considering the long -pending mandate from the Doha Ministerial 
Declaration and the achievement of 2030 Sustainable Development Goals targets 2.5 and 15.6, to IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 29 - 
 
  which we all are committed, and th at specifically call for promoting access to and fair and equitable 
sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and associated traditional 
knowledge, it is crucial for us to take these discussions forward and in parallel with disc ussions at 
WIPO. To this end, a formal briefing by the CBD Secretariat on the latest developments, as well as 
an update of the factual briefs by the Secretariat, will be useful for Members. India remains fully 
committed to continue our efforts in reviving and building momentum on these important issues.  
6.3  Bangladesh  
165.  The delegation of Bangladesh delivers this statement in its national capacity. On this agenda 
item 4, 5, and 6, or the so -called triplets, to avoid re petition, I refer to my delegation 's statement 
delivered during the previous Council meetings. Bangladesh supports constructive discussions to 
make progress on these issues and stands ready to engage with Members.  
6.4  Japan  
166.  Japan 's position remains unchanged. There is concern that the introduction of the disclosure 
requirement in the IP system would discourage industries from conducting research and 
development activities on biological materials. This delegation believes  that WIPO IGC is the most 
appropriate forum for holding technical discussions on genetic resources, traditional knowledge and 
folklore from the standpoint of IP. Given that detailed discussions have been continuously held at 
WIPO IGC, we should avoid dupl ication thereof. The delegation of Japan remains willing to contribute 
to evidence -based discussions on these issues in a constructive and effective manner.  
6.5  Peru  
167.  With regard to the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity, it is clear that 
we have a long -standing mandate that we are failing to fulfil, which is weakening the Organization 
in general and all its Members. In the case of Peru, the continued misappropriation of the country 's 
genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge is a serious problem. Our National 
Anti-Biopiracy Commission has told us that at present, we have 328 such cases in 51 intellectual 
property offices around the world.  
168.  The solution Peru considers to be the  most appropriate, which we have proposed here, is to 
include the disclosure of the origin of resources and traditional knowledge in Article 29 of the 
TRIPS  Agreement, as this is not currently required of patent applicants. They are not required to 
disclos e the country of origin or provide evidence of compliance with prior informed consent and 
benefit -sharing. Now that we are discussing the need to make the WTO more relevant, not 
addressing these issues, not fulfilling mandates and looking the other way are  clearly things that we 
should not accept. Starting by allowing the CBD Secretariat to provide further information on the 
matter and on how both instruments can support and reinforce each other, as well as updating the 
Secretariat 's documents, would be a g ood sign of compliance with our commitments. If Members 
consider that there are other ways in which these mandates can be advanced, we are open to any 
further proposals.  
6.6  Indonesia  
169.  I will be brief. Indonesia woul d like to reiterate its previous statements in this agenda item as 
our position remains unchanged. In this context, we would like to reiterate our request to the 
Council  for TRIPS as follows : the CBD Secretariat be  invited to present on the Nagoya Protocol , and 
the Secretariat provide us with an updated background paper on the state of play on the CBD and 
the TRIPS Agreement . 
6.7  Nigeria  
170.  I wish to recall our previous statements regarding the agenda items 5 and 6.  Our p osition 
remains unchanged. We reiterate the importance for Members to engage in discussions with the aim 
to promote traceability of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore. We consider it 
necessary to establish a requirement for a prior infor med consent and benefit sharing systems in 
respect of any product manufactured through the use of genetic components or traditional 
knowledge and folklore.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 30 - 
 
  171.  We believe the requirement of disclosure contained presently in the TRIPS  Agreement remain s 
inadequa te. Hence the need to improve existing provisions by the consideration of past proposals in 
this respect. This will reduce the incidence of misappropriation. The improper acquisition of genetic 
resources and associated traditional knowledge without prior i nformed consent and on mutually 
agreed terms, in accordance with national laws of the country providing the genetic resource or 
associated traditional knowledge, continue to be a significant concern for Nigeria.  
172.  We believe that the WTO has an important rol e to play and that the discussions at the WIPO 
IGC can be complementary to the discussions at the Council for TRIPS.  Finally, we urge the 
Secretariat to provide updates to the three factual notes. We stand ready to engage constructively.  
6.8  Thailand  
173.  Thailand referred to our statement in previous meetings. We reiterated our view that the 
ongoing discussion in WIPO should not be understood to preclude discussion at the Council for TRIPS. 
In fact, they could comple ment each other. In this regard, Thailand stands ready to explore 
possibility to discuss the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD under the principle 
of mutual supportiveness to promote the sustainable use of resources, as well as the possi bility of 
amending the TRIPS Agreement when appropriate to contemplate the disclosure requirement of the 
origin of genetic resources in patent applications , prior informed consent and benefit sharing . 
6.9  South Africa  on behalf of the African Group  
174.  I have the honour of delivering my statements today on behalf of the Africa Group  and 
apologies for omitting to mention that previously.  With regard to agenda items 4, 5, and 6  in my 
continental capacity, we  would like to recall our previous statements on these items. As indicated 
previously in this discussion, we often lose relative importance of the individual components making 
up the triplets.  
175.  We also reiterate our call for the updating  of the three notes by the Secretariat.  And it would 
certainly be, in our view, appropriate for information contained in these notes to be updated in a  
factual manner to facilitate discussions among Members.  
6.10  South Africa  
176.  I will just very briefly switch to my national capacity . We note one delegation indicating that 
it does not support a disclosure requirement  on the basis that this would discourage investment.  I 
think this statement would require some clarification because on the face of it, that seems to be a 
tacit endorsement of misappropriation and b iopiracy.  
6.11  United States of America  
177.  I take the floor to respond to three proposals. First, regarding updating the factual briefs, the 
United States of America does not support requests to ask the TRIPS Secretariat to update the three 
factual briefs. As we have explained in previous sessions and in bilateral meetings, we do not view 
this a s a good use of the Secretariat 's resources. Members remain able to freely access the minutes 
of past interventions on these subjects through the WTO website, and we continue to be willing to 
discuss this bilaterally with interested Members.  
178.  Second, regard ing the proposal to invite the CBD secretariat to brief the TRIPS Council, the 
United States is not in a position to support this proposal. As it is Nagoya Protocol parties that are 
responsible for implementing the obligations of the Nagoya Protocol, we be lieve that it is Members 
that should explain their domestic policies for implementing the Protocol rather than the CBD 
secretariat. Over the years, there has been no shortage of outside events on the Nagoya Protocol 
that have included the CBD secretariat t hat provided Members with opportunities to hear directly 
from the secretariat on issues of interest to them.  
179.  And third, regarding genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural 
expressions, we continue to believe that WIPO is the best f orum to address these issues under the 
IGC current mandate. The WIPO IGC is tasked with addressing unresolved issues and working on a 
common understanding of core issues using an evidence -based approach and examples of national IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 31 - 
 
  experiences. While the 2022 General Assembly of WIPO took a decision to convene a diplomatic 
conference to include an international legal instrument relating to intellectual property, genetic 
resources, and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources no later than 2024, 
significant gaps in views, positions, and scope of the subject matter remain. The United States will 
continue to engage constructively in technical discussions at WIPO IGC. So with respect to the 
various requests made today, the United States is not in a po sition to support these requests, but 
we remain open to discussions, including bilaterally with delegations in between and at the margins 
of the TRIPS Council 's meetings.  
6.12  United Kingdom  
180.  In relation to these  items, and without prejudice to our position on substantive matters, the 
United Kingdom  stands ready to consider any proposals from Members. However, we must be 
conscious of ongoing negotiations at WIPO 's Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Proper ty 
and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, which has a mandate to negotiate 
international legal instruments relating to these issues. And with the WIPO 's Diplomatic Conference 
about to take place in 2024, the U nited Kingdom  believes it is counterproductive to duplicate 
discussions at the Council for TRIPS . 
6.13  China  
181.  I am the new division director of the TRIPS so I will not miss this opportunity to say hello to 
everyone and it is my first time since the COVID -19.  It has been  years not  being to this room, so 
it is such a great pleasure. And like many other Members, China also has attached great importance 
to the TRIPS/CBD issue and always being actively participating discussions. China be lieves that in 
order to better protecting genetic resources and traditional knowledge, it is necessary to fulfil the 
obligations of prior informed consent and benefit sharing. While benefit sharing based on contractual 
agreements and traditional knowledge databases are far from enough to achieve effective protection.  
182.  We believe that in the second phase meeting of COP15 of CBD we have achieved some kind 
of progress. As presidency we are witnessing a kind of stand still in the discussion on these topics. 
China  hopes the Council  for TRIPS  could attach great importance to the achievements and progress 
made in COP15 and we look forward to an early re -activation  of this topic in the Council  for TRIPS .  
183.  Regarding the procedure issue, we support the suggestion for th e Council for TRIPS to invite 
the CBD secretariat to brief on the Nagoya Protocol and its progress. We hope the Secretariat could 
renew the three factual notes. In recent years, although WIPO  IGC has conducted a lot of discussions 
and negotiations on the p rotection of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, achieving certain 
results, however, China believes that WIPO  IGC discussions and negotiations on the 
above -mentioned issues does not contradict with Members ' discussion in the WTO.  
7  ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE SPECIAL COMPULSORY LICENSING SYSTEM  
184.  No statements were made under this agenda item.  
8  NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS  
8.1  Nigeria  
185.  To avoid repetition Nigeria would just like  to recall our previous statements under this agenda 
item. 
8.2  Mozambique  on behalf of the ACP Group  
186.  I deliver this statement on behalf of the ACP Group. The ACP Group suppor ts a permanent 
moratorium against the  bringing  non-violation situation complaints. The lack of consensus and the  
overwhelming developing countries concerns if such actions permitted demonstrate that we should 
not continue to deliberate on this matter and w e must permanently close this discussion.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 32 - 
 
  8.3  United Kingdom  
187.  Given the lack of agreement on this long -standing issue, the United Kingdom believes that the 
Council for TRIPS should discuss the scope  and modalities of the potential application of the NVSCs 
to TRIPS Agreement before the decision is made. We therefore welcome your suggestion to allow 
Members more time.  
8.4  United States of America  
188.  We would also support providing more time for discussions as we have previously said the 
United States of America remains open to considering specific proposals from Members wishing the 
further examine of scope and modalities for complains of this type and we continue to be open for 
any bilateral discussions.  
8.5  Thailand  
189.  Thailand 's position remains unchanged. We view that non -violation and situation complaints 
should remain inapplicable to the TRIPS Agreement and support the extension of the moratorium 
until MC14. We remain open to engage with other Members to find a way forward toward a 
permanent solution on this matter . 
8.6  Peru  
190.  Peru's position, as reflected in document IP/C/W/385/Rev.1 , which we co -sponsored, has not 
changed. We have concerns about this item. In our view, challenging measures that are otherwise 
consistent with WTO obligations upsets the delicate balance of rights and obligations in the 
TRIPS  Agreement, and may limit the use of the flexibilities inherent in the Agreement and create 
legal uncertainty, among o ther things. In this regard, in line with some of my predecessors, we 
support the permanent moratorium, and, if that is not possible, we support continuing the practice 
of extending it on a temporary basis.  
8.7  Argentina  
191.  The Argentine Republic 's position on this issue is well known and, to date, remains unchanged. 
We believe that complaints of this type are not applicable to the TRIPS Agreement for the reasons 
explained in document IP/C/W/385/Rev.1 , which Argentina co -sponsored together with a large 
number of other Members. Non -violation and situation complaints in the TRIPS context are 
unnecessary. They raise serious systemic concerns, run counter to the long -term interests of the 
multilateral t rading system and upset the delicate balance of rights and obligations in the Agreement. 
We believe it is necessary to continue to explore this matter. Argentina is ready to pursue 
constructive discussions on this issue with a view to finding an acceptable  and permanent solution.  
8.8  Indonesia  
192.  Indonesia will continue to support the permanent moratorium o n NVSC s. On that note we 
would like to refer to our past statements under this agenda item. We believe that allowing NVSC 
dispute complains may jeopardize the flexibilities granted in the TRIPS Agreement. An issue that 
would particularly create challenges for developing  Members the most . As MC13 is in the horizo n, 
Indonesia would like to remind Members on the importance of arriving to a decision to extend the 
moratorium on non -violation and situation complains under the TRIPS Agreement until MC14.  
8.9  Japan  
193.  Japan recognize s that Members have not yet reached consensus on applicability or 
inapplicability of, or, if applicable, the scope and modality of, non -violation and situation complaints 
in the area of TRIPS. Japan 's view on this issue has not changed. Both clari ty and predictability 
should be ensured when applying non -violation and situation complaints to the TRIPS Agreement. 
From this point of view, making factual analyses on applicable specific and concrete circumstances 
of non -violation and situation complaint s would facilitate examination in terms of the scope and 
modality of non -violation and situation complaints in the area of the TRIPS Agreement.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 33 - 
 
  8.10  China  
194.  China 's position remains  unchanged.  We would like to  reiterate that non -violation and situation 
complaints are not applicable under the TRIPS Agreement. There have been insufficient cases of 
non-violation and situation complaints under GATT and the WTO that could serve as guidance on 
modalities and scope of  such complaints. Given such circumstances, we believe that to apply NVSCs 
under the TRIPS agreement would bring uncertainty to the application of the agreement and break 
the balance of interests among Members under the agreement. China would like to conti nue our 
constructive participation in this  discussion.  
8.11  Norway  
195.  It is in our opinion that non -violation and situation complaints should not be initiated under 
the TRIPS Agreement. This discussion has bee n deadlocked for many years with many other pressing 
issues in the lead up to MC13. We would recommend that the moratorium on NVSCs i s prolonged  
once again.  
8.12  South Africa on behalf of the African Group  
196.  I am intervening on behalf of the African Group. Our position on this item remains. The 
African  Group is not a proponent of the application of NVSCs. It is well established that th e 
proponents of the application of NVCs under the TRIPS have not provided any concrete examples of 
the kind of scenarios under which an otherwise TRIPS complaints measure would impair or nullify 
benefits beyond those arising from the obligations set out in  the Agreement. Having said this, we 
indicated in the past that we stand ready to discuss ideas from the proponents and we do support 
your suggestion of factual compilation.  
8.13  Switzerland  
197.  At MC12, S witzerland joined the consensus to extend the moratorium for another two years 
in order to give Members the possibility to discuss, if they think so necessary, additional modalities 
for the application of such complaints under the TRIPS Agreement, next to those already contained 
in the dispute settlement understanding. It is well known that Switzerland 's view is that no such 
additional modalities are necessary. We believe that in relation to the applicability of these 
complaints under the TRIPS Agreement, t he answer is to look into the Agreement and according to 
its Article 64, Paragraph 1 and 2, such complaints are applicable under the TRIPS Agreement once 
the moratorium ends. Our delegation was nevertheless ready to examine and discuss in a 
constructive sp irit scope of modalities of non -violation and situation complaints had other Members 
wished to propose such modalities.  
198.  This, however, has not been the case since MC12. On this background, we see little use to 
again extend the moratorium. Therefore, we see  little possibility, in fact, now , to draft a 
recommendation. And at the best, I could join my delegation to those others who said that Members 
need more time.  
8.14  Canada  
199.  Canada 's longstanding position on this issue remains unchanged . We note that the availability 
of NVNI claims under the TRIPS Agreement would create legal uncertainty for WTO Members. Canada 
recognizes that Members worked constructively to arrive at a consensus -based decision on this 
matter  at MC12, and encourages the TRIPS Council to continue to similarly engage in a constructive 
manner to identify consensus -based solutions to other important issues facing the WTO membership 
going forward.  
8.15  Chile  
200.  Our delegation 's position is well known among Members, and it remains unchanged. We 
reiterate our position regarding our belief that non violation complaints create uncertainty and should 
not apply in the context of the TRIPS Agree ment.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 34 - 
 
  8.16  India  
201.   Sorry I wanted to take the floor at the end because what I have written will go well as last 
statement. In this position on the issue of non -violation and situation complaints under the 
TRIPS  Agreement remain s unchanged. And we join the membership to support the  consensus on 
the extension of the moratorium on TRIPS and NVSCs until MC14.  
8.17  Korea, Republic of  
202.  I am sorry for flagging this too late. We also remain unchanged. We are of the position that 
incorporation of non -violation and situation complaints into trade agreements is not desirable. We 
are concerned that incorporation of non -violation and situation complaints in trade agreements may 
create and increase legal uncertainty in the WTO system. I n the run -up to MC13, Korea is committed 
to participating in discussions with other Members related to non -violation and situation complaints, 
including further extension of moratorium in a con structive manner . 
8.18  European Union  
203.  I think the E uropean Union, like many other Members today, is also open to hear and discuss 
any possible solutions for the future also in terms of scope and modality discussions.  
8.19  Bangladesh  
204.  Under this urgent item, the delegation of Bangladesh delivers this statement in national 
capacity. Bangladesh is in favour of establishing a permanent moratorium on this issue. However, 
in the past, Bangladesh always supported con sensus -based decisions in the GC and MC to extend 
the NVSC moratorium with the same spirit until the Council for TRIPS completes the examination of 
the scope and modalities of NVSC as provided in TRIPS Article 64.3. Our delegation suggests that 
the Council  for TRIPS recommends further extension of this moratorium by the Ministers at MC13.  
205.  Bangladesh also requests the Council for TRIPS to initiate dedicated informal discussion to 
examine the scope and modalities of the NVSC based on the proposals and inputs from interested 
Members and prepare a progress report for the MC13. Bangladesh looks forward to working 
constructively with all Members.  
8.20  Switzerland  
206.  I am not going to repeat what my delegation sa id yesterday on this point. Our position is 
well-known, and we would need more time for consultation. we have held discussions, and we are 
of course also open to discussing this with interested Members.  
Resumption of the Council for TRIPS on 13 February 2024  
8.21  Brazil  
207.  I took my intervention in the informal session , so please reflect it in the formal session and 
that will be enough from my point of view, thank you.  
At a previous informal meeting , Brazil made the following statement:  
208.  Finally, a comment on the report on the TRIPS Non -Violation and Situation Complaints. This 
has been a pending issue from many years now, it is pending from 2023 but has been pending on 
the agenda for many more years. It should not become any element of a kind of bargain, bargaining 
chip for MC13, I think that would be extremely detrimental to outcomes in the Ministerial and it is 
not an issue would conceivably make any sense to be used in that fashion. For decades now,  
Members ' views have remained unchanged, with respect to this, we have actually not had any 
substantive or significant discussion on the TRIPS Non -Violation and Situation Complaints and we 
would favour a broader reference in your report without getting int o "scope and modalities " as it is 
now mentioned there. We would simply support that the moratorium be extended in the terms that 
you suggest in your report. So I think that the reasonable thing to do is simply to extend the 
moratorium without further ado u ntil one day we decide to deepen conversation or our common IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 35 - 
 
  understanding with respect to exactly what we mean by this and how this provision would apply in 
actual practice. I think it is not an easy issue, I think it is an issue that could lead to huge gr ey areas 
of interpretation as to how it could be applied and the safest thing to do, including to retain 
predictability and systemic integrity of the TRIPS Agreement would be simply for the time being to 
extend the moratorium without any particular further  discussion.  
8.22  Switzerland  
209.  Our position on NVCs is obviously well known, has not changed over the recent years and we 
have made clear again at the recent informal Council for TRIPS meeting that we d o not see any 
benefit in a further extension of the moratorium. There are bilateral contacts on the issue of the 
moratorium going on and respective discussions elsewhere and in this Organization as well. My 
delegation is closely involved in these talks and  accordingly we feel that the matter is not yet ripe 
for a decision.  
8.23  Colombia  
210.  Thank you, Chair, and congratulations on the two earlier achievements. Regarding the decision 
on nullification and impairment, Colombia considers that the moratorium should be extended at the 
Thirteenth Ministerial Conference, as your text suggests. We find it difficult to understand under 
what circumstances, in practice, a specific nullification and impairment decision under the 
TRIPS  Agreement could be applied in future. Some years ago, the Secretariat prepared a summary 
of situations that Members considered could result in nullification and impairment in practice. There 
are several possible scenario s in that compilation, but one of them stands out above the others, 
namely price controls on medicines. All our countries control medicine prices, which is essential for 
public health reasons and increasingly important due to the growing budgetary impact. We do not 
understand why our governments would want to jeopardize such measures with discussions such as 
those that some want to have in this Council on matters that could open the door to nullification and 
impairment disputes. For this reason alone, the m oratorium should be extended, on the terms 
proposed by Brazil.  
9  REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER ARTICLE 71.1  
211.  No statements were made under this agenda item.  
10  REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 24.2  
212.  No statements were made under this agenda item.  
11  TWENTY -FIRST ANNUAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE DECISION ON THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT  
11.1  Japan  
213.  The dele gation of Japan recognizes the importance of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement for 
LDCs, taking into account such matters as their economic, financial and administrative constraints. 
From such a perspective, Japan is earnestly engaged in improving the bu siness environment for 
technology transfer to LDCs. We would like to briefly describe this year 's report on our 
implementation of Article 66.2, document IP/C/R/TTI/JPN/4 , which was submitted via e -TRIPS.  
214.  The main body of this report consists of f our sections, which are, namely:  
a. Activities Undertaken by Technical Cooperation Organizations ; 
b. Activities in the Field of Climate Change ; 
c. Activities in the Pharmaceutical Sector ; and  
d. Activities in the Field of Intellectual Property Rights.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 36 - 
 
  215.  The annex to t his report provides detailed information on each activity involving technology 
transfer to LDCs.  
216.  Japan understands that incentives to enable technology to be transferred include a variety of 
measures, such as financial and business environment support, in sofar as one of the main obstacles 
for enterprises and institutions in developed countries to transfer technologies to LDCs is their 
lacking or insufficient business environment. Making improvements in this regard also helps to create 
incentives that are s table and self -sustainable, which is especially important considering that 
technology transfer often takes time.  
217.  Japan believes that activities in the report contribute toward the creation of a sound and viable 
technological base in LDCs, which will bring  about further technology transfer by enterprises and 
institutions in developed countries. Japan will continue to make its utmost efforts to improve the 
business environment, and make it even more conducive to transfer of technology.  
11.2  United States of Ameri ca 
218.  The United States of America attributes great importance to this review with respect to the 
obligations under Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. Our submission this year, 
document  IP/C/R/TTI/USA/4 , is the second update to our 2021 report, and details progress in the 
past year to our programs aimed to support LDCs in fostering the necessary environment to 
encourage the effective, voluntary transfer of technology to LDC Members  on mutually agreed terms. 
The US submission details programs ranging from intellectual property and trade capacity building 
to the health, labour, and environmental sectors. Similar to previous submissions, this report 
includes comments from host country government and private sector representatives regarding the 
value of several of the programs listed in the report. New this year, we included a section in the 
report that references about 40 completed activities and their outcomes during the past three fis cal 
years.  
219.  The United States believes that for Article 66.2 to function effectively, there must be a robust 
dialogue between developed countries and LDC Members. Strong communication between partners 
is critical to ensure targeted incentives remain respons ive to the self -identified technology transfer 
interests and needs of LDC Members. The US government interagency strives to make this a priority 
in all our engagements with our host government partners around the world, and will continue to 
explore ways to  improve upon the process as we go forward. Allow me to mention some elements 
contained in our 2023 report, highlighting a few completed projects.  
220.  The Global Health Supply Chain Technical Assistance in Tanzania was active during 2016 and 
2023. This USAID p rogram improved the health commodities supply chain, led to better commodity 
and essential medicines availability, and improved health outcomes. This program closed on target 
in June 2023 and has improved the health commodities supply chain by:  
a. Assisting the Tanzania Ministry of Health to implement its strategic plans;  
b. Establishing a governance platform to manage future changes to the electronic logistics 
management information system;  
c. Supporting key supply chain actors to use the Logistics Management Un it's performance 
monitoring plans for greater accountability;  
d. Strengthening the governance of the supply chain system at the district level by tracking 
stock availability;  
e. Institutionalizing supply chain data quality and use;  
f. Supporting the rollout of results -based financing in the country; and  
g. Assisting the Ministry of Health 's Pharmaceutical Services Unit and Policy Planning Unit to 
better budget for health commodities.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 37 - 
 
  221.  The Millennium Challenge Corporation Power Compact in Benin entered int o force on 
22 June 2017, and was completed in June 2023. So this is the second program that I will highlight. 
The USD 391 million Power Compact in Benin seeks to unlock private investment by supporting 
policy reforms and investing in electricity generation , distribution, and off -grid electrification to 
increase business and household access to reliable electricity. The compact includes a strong 
emphasis on strengthening the independence and management of Benin 's national utility, reforming 
electricity tarif fs, developing an Independent Power Producer framework, and creating policies to 
enable off -grid electrification. The compact is modernizing Benin 's electricity distribution 
infrastructure to reduce losses, improve reliability, reduce outages, and accommod ate rapidly 
growing demand. Over a twenty -year period, an estimated 10.6 million Benin citizens are expected 
to benefit from the Power Compact.  
222.  Finally, t he USAID COVID -19 Preparation and Prevention in Burundi is a USAID grant for 
government health program  service providers who receive training from USAID. USAID also donated 
COVID -19 pandemic prevention equipment to a health cent re in Burundi. The project includes 
rehabilitation of water reservoirs to meet critical water, sanitation, and hygiene gaps for he alth 
centres. The target population is rural Burundians, particularly those who cannot access health 
services that might be available in larger cities.  
223.  I invite all of you to take a closer look at our report to see what COVID -19 laboratory supplies 
USAID h as helped to procure through this program.  Health workers in the rural areas of Cankuzo 
and Ruyigi provinces said the program was critical to being able to provide health services to local 
populations who cannot afford the costs of traveling to cities wher e hospitals are located. One 
healthcare worker expressed gratitude for the programming, noting that the USAID program allowed 
his clinic to build an incinerator to burn medical waste, build a cistern so that the clinic had a steady 
supply of clean water, a nd provided basic PPE equipment and training on corona pandemic. The 
health worker noted the PPE and training was especially critical, given that his province , is a border 
province , and migrant workers and others transited the border informally, often arri ving from 
Tanzania without testing, and would then seek treatment at his clinic. The program successfully 
closed in December 2022.  
224.  Our report describes over 175 programs just like these, that shows how the US government 
transforms lives. However, no report  can truly represent every activity that directly or indirectly 
incentivizes enterprises and institutions for the purpose of promoting and encouraging technology 
transfer. This report attempts to describe the most significant activities and programs and to  convey 
the breadth and depth of efforts by the United States. We look forward to discussing our technology 
transfer programming  with the LDC Members at the next workshop.  
11.3  European Union  
225.  The European Union and its membe r States take their commitment under Article 66.2 of 
TRIPS  Agreement very seriously. We provided proof year after year of having promptly and 
attentively reacted to social, health, climate, food and economic changes by implementing projects 
and programmes specifically tailored to the current needs of LDCs individually or of their regional 
organisations. The EU has submitted its annual report which provides a detailed update on the EU 
technology transfer programmes. The report submitted is not an exhaustive list of all the 
programmes to LDCs but we have  made a n effort to provide the most present ative ones – picture 
of our programmes . 
226.  This document was circulated in accordance with the Decision of the Council for TRIPS of 
19 February 2003, according to which d eveloped country shall submit annually reports on actions 
taken or planned in pursuance of their commitments under this article . Our programs cover the 
period from July 2022 to June 2023 and can be found in the e -TRIPS Portal.  Besides the EU -financed 
progr ams, this year Sweden, Ireland, Austria, France and Germany also contributed. The report has 
a total of 133 technology transfer programmes, including 60 projects funded by the EU institutions 
and agencies and 73 projects funded by the EU member States. 
227.  The EU and its member States have taken into consideration the needs and priorities for 
technology transfer as expressed by LDCs and we have integrated in our programmes and projects 
the four leading priority fields for technology transfer , means:    IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 38 - 
 
  a. enviro nment and climate change ;  
b. agriculture and food ;  
c. public health and pharmaceuticals ; 
d. and ICT.  
228.  The main incentive to promote technology transfer provided to EU enterprises, companies or 
universities are not only the grants but also the public -private partne rships financed by the EU 
institutions and the EU member States.  
229.  Horizon Europe is the EU 's key funding programme for research and innovation with a budget 
of EUR 95.5 billion over seven  years. LDCs are welcome to participate in the Horizon Europe projects  
and to join consortiums. LDCs are often the beneficiaries but could be also the partners with the 
same access to funding.  Transfer of technology is the way and means through which companies, 
individuals and organisations acquire technology or know -how fro m third parties. It is not always a 
stand -alone activity but one component of a more complex project.  Voluntary transfer of technology 
is the most efficient form of technology transfer (as tech transfer requires active involvement and 
trust of both sides).   
230.  The successful  technology transfer  depends on a number of factors as adequate  infrastructure  
and production system, education and training of personnel , openness to international trade and 
investments as well as predictability of regulatory and legal fra meworks and enabling  governm ental 
policies which all contribute to the absorption  capacity of the recipient country . The EU is working 
with LDCs to strengthen their absorption capacity. We are happy to provide more information on 
specific programmes. The c ontacts are systematically mentioned in the description. We will go more 
in details at the workshop next year, just after the Council for TRIPS.  
11.4  Australia  
231.  Australia was pleased to again submit its annual Article 66.2 report.  We acknowledge the 
important role that technology transfer plays in supporting all WTO Members, particularly 
least-developed country Member states, to develop and achieve greater prosperity.  We recognise 
the need for developed countries to continue our ef forts to support technology transfers, including 
in response to COVID -19, to ensure that least -developed countries can develop the sovereign 
capabilities that are necessary to manage impacts and support their populations. We take our 
Article  66.2 reporting  very seriously, and this year our report focuses on Australia 's efforts to help 
least-developed countries to create the conditions that are essential to allow the transfer of 
technology, including the technology necessary to assist Members of responding to COVID -19. 
11.5  Switzerland  
232.  Switzerland 's 2023 report contains an updated list of the measures and programs that 
Switzerland is implementing to incentivize technology and knowledge transfer to least -developed 
count ries. The report lists the projects financed by Swiss official development assistance as funded 
by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the State secretariat for Economic 
Affairs. We would like to briefly introduce one example of a current six-year project listed in our 
report. This project is about Reducing Food Losses through Improved Post Harvest Management.  
233.  Its main objective is the transfer of know -how and technologies for the purpose of improving 
food and nutrition security and income  of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia through reduction of 
post-harvest losses by promotion of technologies, complementary policies and institutional 
innovations. So far, more than 5,000 farmers benefited from improved post -harvest handling 
technologies whil e around 5,600 farmers benefited from the knowledge and information 
disseminated. Post -harvest losses were reduced by up to 40% in a given crop season in the four 
value chains considered which are maize, wheat, sorghum and haricot bean.  
234.  Switzerland will continue to make available relevant information on the incentives it provides 
under 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, in a transparent, consistent, and comprehensible manner. We 
would like to highlight a follow -up from the discussions at the 66 .2 workshop that took place earlier IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 39 - 
 
  this year. LDCs identified as one of the key challenges of taking full advantage of technology transfer 
being the lack of technical skills, training and human capacity. A particular effort was made by 
Switzerland in last  year's activities reported now to address this particular need. In our projects, we 
also undertake efforts of building absorption capacity in precisely these critical areas. We look 
forward to participating in the next dedicated workshop on Article 66.2 s cheduled before the first 
regular Council for TRIPS in 2024. We look forward receiving the preparatory information ahead of 
the workshop in order to allow for adequate preparation.  
235.  Switzerland remains actively committed to engage in the TRIPS Council 's discussion on the 
implementation of Article 66.2 and to encourage technology and knowledge transfer to LDCs, 
thereby increasing LDC partner capacities to create an enabling environment to promote investment 
and attract technology and knowledge transfer.  
11.6  Norwa y 
236.  Norway is committed to provide incentives to enterprises and institutions for the purpose of 
promoting and encouraging technology transfer to LDC Members. Norway has submitted its report 
under TRIPS Article 66.2 detailing the  different programs provided in this regard by our eight 
agencies. These programs include over 100 agreements with governments, research institutions, 
NGOs and multilateral organizations. We will present our report in further detail in the spring 
meeting.  
11.7  United Kingdom  
237.  The United Kingdom remains committed to promoting and encouraging technology transfer to 
least developed country Members, fulfilling Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. We believe it is 
important to make  technology transfer as effective as possible – our paper, as discussed under 
agenda item3 is part of this effort. We thank Members again for their helpful engagement and 
informative statements on this agenda item.  
We welcome this opportunity to share inf ormation about one of our projects, the Global Research 
Partnership.  The Global Research Partnership programme (GRP) was established to address global 
development challenges, utilising the best of UK and Indian science and developing country 
experience fro m Asia and Africa. The programme provides an innovative way to extend the 
established UK -India cooperation in research and innovation, to new tripartite partnerships with 
other developing countries in Asia and Africa. The programme is supporting the genera tion of 
high-quality research outputs that are addressing global development challenges in the areas of 
food, health and women. It is enhancing the research capacity and capability in Low Income 
Countries (LIC s) and contributing to the establishment of str onger research networks between UK, 
Indian and LICs to generate tools and products that support evidence -based policy making in these 
sectors.  
238.  The partnerships have increased collaborations between researchers in the UK, India and 
partner developing countr ies in South Asia and Africa on issues of global development. A key 
commonality seen in many of the projects is that they have led to the establishment of sustained 
networks across the partner country organisations. This has enabled leveraging of funding f rom 
other sources to enhance partnerships and high impact results, contributing to improving thousands 
of lives. On many occasions the research findings have been made available in formats other than 
the standard outputs like research papers. For example, in the form of videos, disseminations 
through targeted meetings and workshops attended by policy makers, development practitioners, 
researchers and end -users.  
239.  The GRP programme is a good example of innovative programming, in which different UK 
funders hav e collaborated with the Government of India to implement an equitable partnership with 
researchers from other developing countries, in areas of common interest. The programme has 
produced high quality research outputs, bringing in expertise and data from t hese countries. This 
unique model has multiplied the positive impacts of projects, through comparison of findings that 
are being used to address global development challenges of relevance in other regions. The UK looks 
forward to further discussion on thes e matters at the workshop on technology transfer in 2024.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 40 - 
 
  11.8  Canada  
240.  Canada is pleased to report on its work in providing incentives to enterprises and institutions 
to promote and encourage technology transfer to least -developed co untry Members in order to 
enable them to create a sound and viable technological base. As part of our commitment to the 
implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, Canada 's 2023 report 
(document  IP/C/R/TTI/CAN/4 ) provides updates on a range of noteworthy projects and initiatives 
undertaken by Canada over the past year. Note that Canada 's report focuses primarily on 
non-market projects, as financed by Canadian departments, agencies, and inst itutions, through 
official development assistance (ODA), grants, and other concessional financings.  
241.  By way of notable highlights  and in addition to updates on existing projects, this year 's report 
includes information on a number of  recent ly launched  projects. For instance, a new project intitled  
Development of an Attenuated Live Heartwater Vaccine for use in Domestic Ruminants, was recently 
launched in Malawi in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Council and funded through the 
Livestock Vaccine Innovation Fund. This project will optimize the processes of producing and scaling 
up a new attenuated tissue culture -derived heartwater vaccine that does not rely on ultra cold 
storage and is more accessible to smallholder farmers. In a similar vein, the project Community One 
Health Empowerment in Rwanda and Senegal was launched with Veterinarians Without Borders and 
in partnership with the University of Global Health Equity, aims to improve health outcomes in rural 
communities by applying a One Health app roach to preventing and responding to zoonotic diseases, 
as well as increasing access to needed resources for zoonoses control, including vaccines, testing 
supplies and treatments . 
242.  This year 's report also includes information on the project Strengthening R esilience of Women 
to Climate Change in Chad. Through collaboration between Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian 
Cooperation Society for International Development, this project aims to increase the adaptation of 
young rural women and their communities to  climate change in the Guéra province of Chad. It will 
increase the capacity and effectiveness of these groups towards developing climate -smart food 
systems; the direct beneficiaries are 5 ,000 young rural women (mainly peanut and sesame 
producers) and comm unity members, as well as 30 producer groups and cooperatives.  
243.  Finally, Canada remains committed to developing new incentives to promote and encourage 
the transfer of technology to LDCs. This is reflected in the recent engagement of Canada 's 
international development practitioners at Global Affairs Canada on the inclusion of provisions on 
technology transfer to LDCs in the standard terms and conditions for development financing, 
modelled  on Article 66.2 of TRIPS. We are confident that as these terms and con ditions are included 
in development financing arrangements, it will result in valuable proactive mechanisms to ensure 
that technology transfer to LDCs is taken into account in Canada 's international development 
initiatives, including those with private sec tor partners. We would be pleased to provide further 
information on these and other technology transfer projects contained in Canada 's 2023 , report upon 
request. Canada also invites interested delegations to consult Global Affairs Canada 's searchable 
"International Development Project Browser " for further information on these and other initiatives.  
11.9  Bangladesh  on behalf of the LDC Group  
244.  Bangladesh delivers this statement on behalf of the LDC Group. The LDC Group welcomes the 
annual reports on the implementation of the provisions of TRIPS Article 66.2 and the reporting 
Members ' most sincere efforts to help create a sound and viable technological base in the LDCs. 
There are important programmes which  are truly helpful for the LDCs. As the LDC Group, we 
appreciate the good gestures from our developed country partners . 
245.  We could not go through the reports in detail, because most of the reports have been very 
recently circulated. However, i n some reports th ere are several entries similar to providing technical 
cooperation, which should be reported under TRIPS Article 67: for example, financial management 
training, SME loan management, providing money to use gas for household cooking, training for 
legal draft ing, training for understanding IP rights and so on. Of course, these are  very important 
support for many LDCs, however, we face challenges in identifying the actual technology that has 
been inscribed as 'transferred to LDCs ' through these reported programmes. Many projects do not 
list dedicated website from where we can gather more information.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 41 - 
 
  246.  Of course, t hese are some quick remarks on the reports. After examining these reports, the 
LDC Group will provide detailed feedback t o the respective reporting Members. We believe that our 
feedback in the past was useful for the reporting Members to understand the technology needs and 
current realities of the technological base in the LDCs.  
247.  In the reporting template ( document IP/C/W/668)  proposed by the LDC Group, we underscore 
the need for information about the specific incentives, the incentives recipient enterprises and 
institutions, and the specific technology that has been transferred to the LDC and the name of the 
beneficiary LDC Member. This will always help acknowledge the substantive contributions of the 
developed country Members with evidence and precision.  
248.  Our group welcomes the annual workshop on the implementation of Article 66.2 of the 
TRIPS  Agreement as an excellent opportu nity. We expect that next year 's workshop in March  2024 
will bring more practical inputs for an informed dialogue between the reporting Members and the 
LDCs. The LDCs hope that the technology needs identified by the LDCs will be prioritized by the 
develope d Members in their forthcoming programmes and schemes on implementation of 
TRIPS  Article 66.2.  The LDC group stands ready to engage constructively in this regard.  
12  TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY -BUILDING  
12.1  European Union  
249.  The European Union submitted its annual report on technical and financial cooperation 
programmes carried out between July 2022 and June 2023 by the EU and EU member States in 
favour of developing and least developed countries, with the objective to facilit ate the 
implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. Our programmes can be found in the e -TRIPS Portal. The 
EU carried out 145 technical cooperation activities during the reporting period and also the EU 
member States contributed to the report. Bulgaria, France,  Sweden, Spain, Lithuania, Germany and 
Italy delivered programmes in this context. As for our report on transfer of technology, we tried to 
present as representative picture as possible of our technical assistance towards the developing 
countries . Contact points are systematically mentioned for more information if necessary.  
250.  Let me take a step back to describe how our support to implementation of the 
TRIPS  Agreement fits into our overarching development cooperation strategy. The EU 's 
Neighbourhood, Developm ent and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe  (NDICI - 
Global Europe)  – was adopted for the 2021 -2027 period and aims to support countries most in need 
to overcome long -term developmental challenges, with an overall allocation of EUR 79.5 bil lion. It 
contributes to achieving the international commitments and objectives that the E U has agreed to, in 
particular the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.  
251.  For the period 2021 -27, the EU defines its cooperation pr iority areas and specific objectives 
for most neighbourhood partner countries and regions in multi -annual indicative programmes. These 
strategic documents are prepared in an inclusive dialogue and consultation with partner countries, 
EU member States, civi l society, women and youth organisations, local authorities, private sector 
and other donors. They contain indicative financial allocations, objectives, results and indicators 
(with baseline and targets) to measure EU intervention effectiveness.  
252.  This dialo gue is key to ensuring that the efforts are effective,  and resources used in the most 
efficient way. For this reason, setting the priorities and implementing them in the most effective way 
is underpinned by four central principles: country ownership, inclusiveness, transparency and 
flexibility. This mirrors the EU 's commitments to development effectiveness principles, in relation to 
the Busan Partnership Agreement for Effective Development Cooperation, enshrined in the 
NDICI --Global Europe r egulation.  
253.  Even more recently, the EU has adopted the Global Gateway strategy: the new European 
approach to boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and 
to strengthen health, education and research systems across  the world.  Global Gateway draws on 
the new financial tools in the EU multi -annual financial framework 2021 -2027, notably NDICI -Global 
Europe which allows the EU to leverage public and private investments in priority areas, including 
connectivity which is at the heart of Global Gateway.  It aims to mobilise up to  EUR 300 billion in 
investments through a 'Team Europe approach ' which brings together the EU, its member States IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 42 - 
 
  and their financial and development institutions to mobilise the private sector to lev erage 
investments for a transformational impact.  Global Gateway, drawing on NDICI -Global Europe, is 
equally built on ownership, inclusive partnerships and focus on results, as well as transparency and 
mutual accountability to ensure development effectivene ss.  
254.  Tomorrow  we will participate in the first workshop dedicated to technical assistance and we 
will have the opportunity to explain  our policy  in more details and illustrate it  through an example.   
12.2  Japan  
255.  The delega tion of Japan would like to briefly describe this year 's report on Japan 's technical 
cooperation, document IP/C/R/TC/JPN/4 , which was also submitted through the e -TRIPS submission 
system. This report consists of the main body and its annex. The main  body highlights recent 
technical activities, while the annex lists the details of each activity. This report categorizes 
cooperative activities into four areas, namely:  
a. industrial property,  
b. copyrights,  
c. plant varieties,  
d. and border measures.  
256.  The Japan Pate nt Office  (JPO)  organized 16 training courses for both government and private 
sector officials in the area of industrial property during the fiscal year 2022. More than 300 people 
attended in total. Moreover, based on the JPO 's long history of conducting t raining courses, alumni 
associations have been established in the trainees ' home countries. The Japan Patent Office 
continues to support the alumni associations by holding follow -up seminars in the Asian region. 
Japan will continue to make utmost efforts t o fulfil its obligation under Article 67.  
12.3  United States of America  
257.  I am Pete Mehravari and I am the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office 's 
Global I ntellectual Property  Academy. It is my pleasure to deliver today 's remarks regarding how 
the United States views and implements technical cooperation under TRIPS Article 67. We continue 
to believe that technical cooperation to improve IP protection and enforcement infrastruct ure is 
critical to countries ' economic development and is directly linked to contributing to foreign 
investment and voluntary, private sector -led technology transfer on mutually agreed terms in 
developing countries and to fostering the ability for developi ng country innovators, creators, and 
entrepreneurs to capitalize on their work.  
258.  This past year , the USPTO 's Global I P Academy, returned to holding in -person programs 
through careful COVID -19 mitigation policies, while still hosting a large number of virtua l programs. 
By combining virtual and in -person program, we have been able to increase the office 's ability to 
execute large scale multilingual hybrid programming, and thereby bring our IP training and capacity 
building to broader and more diverse audiences  around the world.  Last year, the Global IP Academy  
conducted 105 IP programs for foreign governments. These programs included over 4,600  foreign 
IP officials from  a total of  122 countries, including 22 least developed countries.  
259.  These programs also sought  to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones between 
the global IP community as IP continues to be an ever -growing priority for creators, entrepreneurs, 
inventors, and designers.  These programs provide a technical cooperation to the next genera tion of 
IP leaders and officials from around the world on a wide range of IP topics, including IP Office 
administration, patent and trademark examination, copyright protection and enforcement, 
anti-piracy, anti -counterfeiting strategies, trade secret prote ction, and more.  This US government 
technical assistance is driven by demand and individual priority of beneficiary countries. The diversity 
of needs and interests identified by beneficiary countries results in tailored technical assistance 
activities on s pecific areas of interest.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 43 - 
 
  260.  In particular, as the Director of our Global IP Academy, and in my previous roles as the US IP 
Attaché for the Middle East and North Africa and other roles, I have over a decade of first -hand 
experience creating, delivering, and overseeing technical cooperation and I would like to share some 
observations from that experience.  
a. First, a successful technical cooperation initiative must have mutual commitment from 
both the reporting member and the beneficiary.  
b. Second, with mutual comm itment, we believe the principle of "quality in equals quality 
out" should be properly applied for all technical cooperation.  
261.  What does "quality in " look like? For the beneficiary, we believe a successful and high -quality 
technical cooperation should have political will about the importance of the technical cooperation, 
have dedicated resources and personnel to meaningfully participate in the technical cooperation, 
and that the beneficiary 's personnel taking part in the technical cooperation should be empow ered 
or have the authority to implement what they learned from that program . For the reporting member, 
"quality in " means they too should have the political will and resources to create and meaningfully 
implement a technical cooperation initiative, but the y should also be able to provide authentic 
experience and expertise and knowledge tailored to the needs of the beneficiary.  
262.  And what does "quality out " look like? We believe this means that the lessons, skills, and tools 
learned through the technical cooperation are actually put to use and implemented, and that those 
lessons, skills, and tools are sustainably captured by the beneficiary, even if personne l or 
administrations inherently change overtime.  If this "quality in equals quality out " model is not 
followed and mutual commitment does not exist, it puts the resources, personnel, and time 
dedicated to create and implement the technical cooperation at r isk of being wasted. It may also 
discourage the reporting member and beneficiary from planning future technical cooperation.  
263.  With my remaining time I would like to share one example of where mutual commitment and 
the principle of "quality in equals quality  out" worked and one example where it did not.  In spring 
of 2020 , whilst based  in the M iddle East, I was approached by Ms Shaikha Al Fadhel, Director of 
Small and Medium Enterprise  Development at Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Kingdom 
of Bahrain  and Dr Moham med Qader, Dean of Graduate Studies & Scientific Research at the 
University of Bahrain. The two asked for the USPTO 's help to create the first technology and 
innovation transfer office in the Kingdom that would be based out of the University o f Bahrain.  Ms 
Fadhel and Dean Qa der not only shared that this was a priority for the Kingdom 's broader economic 
objectives, but they would both personally put their political will, resources, and personnel behind 
making this project a success, including se lectively choosing two university professors  to be the co -
leaders of this future cent re and one senior ministry official in charge of SMEs to be the participants 
in whatever program I could create.  
264.  Knowing I had the "quality in " from the beneficiaries, now it was my time to create the "quality 
in" from my side. Over the course of four months, I met virtually with the three officials for nearly 
3 hours every week. For each session I prepared tailored training materials covering IP  policy, 
strategic IP capture, ownership considerations and more, including lectures, case studies and even 
assigned homework that would be due at the next session. In all, I likely spent six hours each week 
preparing for our three -hour lessons and develop ed nearly 40 hours of content over the course of 
those four months.  
265.  Each week the three officials joined me online, had their cameras on, and actively participated 
through the sometimes a long and gruelling  three hours at the end of an often -busy week. Eac h 
week their leadership gave them time to complete their assigned homework. Each week they had 
probing questions. And each week their confidence in the subject matter grew.  And sometimes 
Ms Fadhel and Dean Qa der would even drop by to see how their team was  progressing – again 
showing be their commitment to make this technical cooperation a success.  At the end of those four 
months the three "graduated " from the course and as promised, the two professors later become 
the co -directors of the first ever Bahrain  Innovation and Technology Transfer Centr e based in the 
University of Bahrain and the third official became the chief of startups and entrepreneurship 
enterprises at the Bahrain Ministry of Commerce and Industry.  In all, carefully following the quality 
in equals quality out principle and having clear mutual commitment ma de this example of technical 
cooperation effective and impactful.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 44 - 
 
  266.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case. A few months after finishing the program with 
Bahrain, another country requested  a similar program as their country was also looking to grow their 
SME and entrepreneurship ecosystem and they wanted to train a number of their officials throughout 
the government on innovation and technology transfer related to IP.  This time the second country 
selected 13 officials who would take part in the class. This time, attendance at the months long 
training program was inconsistent, sometimes only 4 or 5 would attend and rarely did participants 
turn on their cameras  on, ask qu estions, or complete the homework assignments.  The four -month 
program ended with little fanfare from the countries senior officials who initially asked for the content 
or next steps that would show that these 13 officials now had authority to put their ski lls and 
knowledge to practice. And while I was glad to provide the technical assistance , I will admit that the 
US Government may be less encouraged to spend significant resources and time with that second 
country in the future.  
267.  I hope these two examples il lustrate the importance of mutual commitment and implementing 
the "quality in equals quality out " principle when it comes to delivering high -quality and impactful 
technical cooperation under TRIPS Art icle 67. The team and I look forward to participating in  the 
TRIPS  Article 67 workshop on Wednesday  where we welcome open and honest discussions about 
how reporting countries and beneficiaries can enhance and build upon our existing technical 
cooperation initiatives for the strengthening of all IP systems.  
12.4  Switzerland  
268.  Well, to our own report then, as  is given evidence Switzerland actively engages in the 
knowledge dissemination and capacity building activities in the IP field through bilateral cooperation 
projects. Cu rrently 10 projects are being implemented with partners on 4 continents. Two long -term 
projects were concluded, and  3 new projects are in the planning phase.  
269.  We continue to believe that the most effective way to increase the awareness of the role of 
intellectual property for development purposes is implementing long -term projects with field 
presence and sufficient time for implementation. The Swiss Global Program on  Intellectual Property 
Rights (in short: GP IPR), which aims to promote economic development , and assist our partners in 
the implementation of their rights and obligations under the TRIPS Agreement, is able to provide 
such long -term assistance. Thanks to this program, addressed to developing and least developed 
countries, as well as emerging econ omies, Switzerland has the necessary resources to plan and 
implement tailor -made projects, which offer a lot of flexibilities to the stakeholders to adjust the 
objectives within project duration, if found desirable by the beneficiar ies. 
270.  Whereas the Swiss S tate Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO ) is the main funder of the 
majority of projects through its Global Program for Intellectual Property Rights (GPIPR), the Swiss 
Federal I ntellectual Property  Institute acts as the executing agency to implement the  GPIPR. After 
five years of implementation of the GPIPR - an external evaluation of the GPIPR was conducted in 
2023 and we would like to briefly share the main findings from that evaluation.  The delivery of 
technical cooperation under the GPIPR  program  was confirmed as highly relevant and consistent in 
its approach. With its clear and measurable objectives,  the program  as evidenced by specific country 
evaluations, was found to respond well to beneficiaries ' needs. The evaluation found the GPIPR to 
be highly satisfactory in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.  
271.  The alignment of Swiss cooperation with the recipients ' priorities prior to project start, the 
high level of expertise of the  IPI including the in -house experts and its vast network of external 
experts as well as  the flexibility to adjust the goals made possible under the GPIPR framework are 
strong factors for success.  Strong ownership of beneficiaries and counterparts is a key factor for 
technical cooperation to produce successful impact. It is thus important to evaluate the level of 
ownership and overall availability and as well the absorption capacity of recipients before launching 
a joint project, without which results cannot  be reached or will not be sustainable.  Even with the 
impact of the past COVID -19 pandemic still being noticeable, an increase of activities in 2022  and 
this year  was reported. Implementing country projects remotely only, however, was clearly 
considered  unsatisfactory for partner countries . There is a critical need for in -country inception phase 
in and with the partner country. With C OVID -19 restrictions now released, we notice the 
intensification of implementation activities in all our projects.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 45 - 
 
  272.  The positi ve evaluation of the GPIPR shows the commitment of Switzerland under its 
obligations under Art icle 67 of the TRIPS  Agreement . Switzerland continues its efforts to be a reliable 
partner in delivering technical assistance in the field of intellectual propert y and contributes through 
its technical cooperation projects, among others, to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for 
Sustainable Development.  
273.  With regard to the announced Article 67 TRIPS workshop  to be held i ndeed on Wednesday , 
Switzerland will be tak ing an active role by making a presentation. Following the workshop, 
Switzerland requests the Secretariat to present to Members the main results of the workshop, so 
that Members can then take stock of the situation  and decide on next steps.  
12.5  Norway  
274.  Norway has submitted our report under TRIPS Article 67, as has been described therein. 
Norway is currently in the process of evaluating our existing programmes and we are considering 
how to proceed.  
12.6  Canada  
275.  Canada is pleased to have submitted its report on the implementation of Article 67 under 
document number IP/C/R/TC/CAN/4 . Canada 's 2023 report provides an update on Canada 's 
activities concerning IP -related technical and financial cooperation for developing and LDC Members. 
We thank the Secretariat in advance for efforts in circulating Canada 's report following this session.  
276.  Canada undertakes a number of technical cooperation activities at the multilateral, plurilateral 
and bilatera l levels, which are outlined in this year 's report. We would like to briefly take the 
opportunity to highlight a few notable activities from the past year. In particular, we would like to note 
two initiatives under Canada 's Expert Deployment Mechanism for Trade and Development (EDM), 
which provides technical assistance to help developing countries undertake trade and investment 
agreements with Canada and to contribute to more inclusive and sustainable development. Under the 
EDM, Canadian and international t echnical experts are deployed based on specific country needs, at 
any or all stages of the negotiations, including while exploratory talks are underway, during formal 
negotiations, and following the conclusion and ratification of the agreement .  
277.  This year,  Canada 's report on the implementation of TRIPS Article 67 highlights two notable 
projects under the EDM. First, the EDM is supporting the IP office of Viet  Nam in the implementation 
of the WIPO Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition and Deposit of Microorganisms for 
the Purposes of Patent Procedure, to fulfil Viet  Nam's commitments under the Comprehensive and 
Progressive Agreement for Trans -Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This initiative includes the design and 
presentation of a seminar and a study guide for officials of the IP Office of Viet  Nam and related 
agencies within the Ministry of Science and Technology of Viet Nam. This will include : 
a. review of the obligations of the CPTPP with respect to the WIPO Budapest Treaty;  
b. mapping the legal and admin istrative measures necessary to establish a national 
depository authority under the Treaty;  
c. facilitating an exchange of experiences in the implementation of the Treaty with Canadian 
and other depository authorities;  
d. and reviewing the obligations of the CPT PP and Budapest Treaty.  
278.  The EDM is also providing technical assistance in respect of the registration and protection of 
IP rights in key CPTPP markets  such as through support  for the development of  a guide on the 
registration of IP rights in key CPTPP mark ets, including the registration procedures and strategic IP 
rights protection issues relevant to each market. With respect to Viet  Nam, this project will include 
the design and delivery of a workshop to present this guide, a discussion on best practices on  IP 
rights protection for Vietnamese small and medium -sized enterprises, and ongoing dialogue between 
Canadian and Vietnamese IP officials and stakeholders.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 46 - 
 
  279.  In addition, Canada would like to highlight an initiative in our most recent report on the O pen 
African Innovation Research Network, or OPEN AIR. Open AIR is a unique collaborative network of 
researchers across Africa and Canada, which addresses the interface between IP and access to 
knowledge, and seeks to understand how knowledge -based businesses can take advantage of global 
opportunities, while sharing the benefits of innovation throughout society. Open AIR is funded by 
Canada 's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). A new phase which started in 2018, 
implemented in collaboration with the U niversity of Cape Town, South Africa, is researching how 
Africa 's high -tech hubs are facilitating the adaptation and adoption of emerging technologies in 
Africa, including artificial intelligence  as well as  how maker communities facilitate inclusive 
innova tion, especially by empowering women and girls and benefitting members of marginalized 
groups; and finally, how to build confidence in indigenous populations to effectively participate in 
collaborative knowledge production with optimal and equitable benefi ts. 
280.  Further details on these and other activities can be found in Canada 's 2023 report under 
document IP/C/R/TC/CAN/4 . Canada would be pleased to discuss our report with any interested 
Member. And Canada remains interested in hearing views from dev eloping country and 
LDC Members on the successes and challenges of technical assistance and cooperation, as well as 
how priority needs have changed since Members ' TRIPS implementation, and where gaps in technical 
assistance might remain. Canada looks forwa rd to further discussion on this topic, including at the 
upcoming workshop on TRIPS Article 67 later this week.  
12.7  United Kingdom  
281.  The United Kingdom is committed to sharing its knowledge and experiences in helping 
members build up their IP systems. We welcome this opportunity to briefly share an example of 
recent technical cooperation between IP offices, with mutually beneficial outcomes.  In June 2023, 
Patent Examiners from the UK and Chinese Intellectual Property Offices, took part in a virtual 
technical exchange. The aim of these exchanges is for examiners to have the opportunity to discuss 
technically challenging areas, comparing and contrasting national approaches to build knowledge, 
ensure  lessons are learned and facilitate improvement.  
282.  Key discussions were between patent examiners from two areas of technical subject matter. 
These were: Hybrid Electric Vehicles, both mechanical and battery; and Mining and Hydrocarbon 
Drilling Technology. E xaminers shared: national legal requirements; best practice and approaches, 
and following the exchange reflected that they found it to be a very informative and valuable 
experience.  Through mutual sharing and exchange of knowledge and experience, we all le arn, which 
ultimately helps to improve services to our customers – an important and fundamental objective.  
283.  The Virtual Technical Exchange was launched during the pandemic as an adaptation of the 
Patent Exchange. This is now the third year it has taken pla ce in a virtual format and facilitated a 
successful exchange with positive outcomes. Previously we have discussed topics such as medical 
devices, telecoms, machine tools, computer implemented method of diagnosis and artificial 
intelligence. Whilst we are n o longer , thankfully,  limited to engaging on a virtual basis only, this 
method allows a much wider scope of engagement from both the UK and China, therefore allowing 
much more expertise and knowledge to be shared. This is a really good example of how adapt ation 
due to necessity can deliver improved results – and has resulted in us sharing even more expertise, 
contributing towards developing a first -class global IP system.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 47 - 
 
  12.8  Australia  
284.  I will just take this opportunit y to provide a short example of Australia 's technical cooperation 
and capacity building. From July 2022 to June 2023, IP Australia designed and delivered Phase 3 of 
the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area Enhancement of Trademark Quality Management  
Project . It is a long title.  Phase 3 of the program took a deeper dive into specific trademark 
examination quality principles that ASEAN IP offices could then incorporate into their quality 
management systems. Notably, the risk -based product sampling, con tinuous improvement and 
training and customer centricity. We have been working with ASEAN members and New Zealand on 
this proposal to improve the regional architecture for trade by giving businesses greater confidence 
on trademark quality standards in the region. And this includes delivering virtual tailored mentoring 
sessions for some ASEAN members in 2023 to explore and implement trademark quality 
management systems, hosting a regional workshop in Singapore in 2022 to discuss concepts and 
present differen t methods to increase consistent outcomes and provide more certainty for traders. 
And finally, feedback on the project has been positive with participants learning a great deal from 
each other.  
12.9  New Zealand  
285.  New Zealand also was pleased to provide information in our recently circulated notification of 
19October on some of the technical cooperation that we have been engaged in with Members. In 
particular, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand  (IPONS ), provides ongoing technical 
assistance on requests to developing and least -developed countries. I will not go through the 
notification in detail because Members can read it. But like my Australian colleague, I was also going 
to profile some of the work that we  have been doing together with partners from ASEAN and Australia 
under the ASEAN -Australia -New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and its Economic Cooperation 
Program. In particular, in the 2023 Economic Cooperation Work Plan, the program will deliver a 
number o f projects focused on intellectual property over the coming year, including strengthening 
intellectual property knowledge for women 's enterprises, supporting women -led businesses to 
develop their trademark design and registration, and supporting women 's enterprises to participate 
in the IP week 2024, as well as knowledge -sharing activities and research on the competencies and 
skill sets of ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand 's intellectual property services professionals.  
12.10   WTO Secretariat  
286.  Document IP/C/R/TC/WTO -OMC/4  contains a comprehensive report on the technical 
assistance activities in the field of TRIPS that the WTO Secretariat conducted between 
1 October  2022 and 30 September 2023. The cover note in the document  provides a general 
overview o f trends, available resources, specific activities, and contributions to broader technical 
assistance initiatives with a focus on the TRIPS component. The Annex in the document mentioned 
provides detailed accounts of the activities carried out.  
287.  Throughout the review period, the Secretariat 's technical cooperation activities which related 
to the TRIPS Agreement continued to prioritize assisting Members and Observers to understand their 
rights and obligations under the Agreement. Additionally, Members and Obs ervers continued to 
receive tailored assistance regarding notifications and reviews of national legislation. These activities 
are demand -driven, originating from developing and least -developed Members, as well as 
governments preparing to accede to the W orld Trade Organization . 
288.  I also take this opportunity to re-introduce myself. I am Roshan Khan,  I recently joined the 
TRIPS team, though not new to the WTO , and I am  responsible for coordinating and managing 
TRIPS -related technical cooperation. Members and ob servers wishing to learn more about TRIPS -
related technical assistance can reach out to me through the contact details provided in the 
document mentioned earlier . 
289.  Shifting our focus to the key highlights of the Secretariat 's Technical Assistance activities , it is 
noteworthy that our continued priority in the reporting period has been responding to the needs of 
Members concerning the COVID -19 pandemic response and preparedness. This includes , but it is 
not limited to : IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 48 - 
 
  a. The flagship WTO workshop on "Trade and Public Health ", held from 28 November to 
2 December 2022 . This workshop had  a special emphasis on pandemic preparedness and 
response, as requested by Members and Observers. Th e workshop involved substantive 
discussions on the Ministerial Declaration on the  WTO response to the COVID -19 Pandemic 
and Preparedness for Future Pandemics and the Ministerial Decision on the 
TRIPS  Agreement, both adopted at MC12.  
b. The second update of the extract "Integrated health, trade, and IP approach to respond 
to the C OVID -19 p andemic, " which covers challenges faced during the COVID -19 
pandemic, responses, and initiatives taken  is also published and it is available online .  
c. The WHO -WIPO -WTO Trilateral Symposium on "COVID -19 Pandemic: Response, 
Preparedness, Resilience " was held in December 2022 . The Symposium  examined key 
challenges of the C OVID -19 pandemic within the frameworks of health, trade, and IP, 
fostering an informed discussion on preparing for future pandemics.  
d. A trilateral workshop on "Innovation and Access to diagnost ics for C OVID -19 and beyond, " 
was conducted in October 2022 . It explored health, IP, and trade issues related to 
diagnostics, with the aim to better understan d innovation and equitable access in this 
sector.  
e. Lastly, a trilateral webinar on "Technology Transfer from the Perspectives of Practitioners " 
was held in June 2023 . This webinar  brought  together technology providers and their tech 
transfer recipients to share practical experiences and best practices for facilitating 
technology transfer to developing economies  and expanding access to medical 
technologies.  
290.  All information on these activities is available on the WTO website. Other activities include 
partnerships and coordination with other intergovernmental organizations and key stakeholders 
specifically i n cooperation with WIPO, the WTO organized two flagship activities:  
a. The "Colloquium for Teacher s of Intellectual Property ", was organized in November 2022 
and mainly target ed researchers and academics.   
b. In March 2023, the "Advanced Course on Topical Intellectual Property Issues ", was held 
and was meant to equip government officials with the tools to develop and apply domestic 
policies that contribute to the IP development process and the achievement of domes tic 
policy objectives.  
291.  Moving on and building on the discussion of this afternoon, as we have heard, we also  
organized  a workshop on the "Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement: incentives 
for technology transfer to LDC ". Following the guida nce and consultations from LDC Members, the 
workshop was devoted to specific fields of technology transfer critical for sustainable development . 
These include  public health, agriculture and the environment. The workshop featured highlights of a 
WTO survey on LDC needs and priorities for technology transfer, as well as  being rooted in a 
summary of developed country Members ' annual reports on actions taken or planned under 
Article  66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement.  These reports  provide a wealth of information . 
292.  Moving on, Members and Observers continue to receive tailored assistance on request, 
including on the transparency work of this Council, which has been enhanced in line with the 
opportunities provided by the e -TRIPS Submission System and the e -TRIPS Gatewa y.  
293.  I would like to c hange gears, and mov e towards forward -looking and forthcoming technical 
assistance,  some of which has already been referenced. First,  I would like to draw Members ' 
attention to a workshop on Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement that will be held this week on 1 n 
and -2 November from 11h00 to 16h30 at the WTO  in room S2 . The workshop aims to enhance 
dialogue between beneficiary and reporting Members and intergovernmental organizations, improv e 
overall coordination and program alignment with priority needs. We encourage Geneva -based 
delegates to attend in -person and hope that their capital -based colleagues will join us virtually.   IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 49 - 
 
  294.  Moving on to the Trilateral Cooperation on Public Health, IP and Trade.  On 12 September 2023, 
the Directors -General of the W orld Health Organization , World Intellectual Property Organization , 
and the WTO agreed on future directions for  the trilateral cooperation. They shifted the focus from 
responding to the COVID -19 pandemic to increasing and broadening support for the effective and 
sustainable use of flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement , with the overall goal, to improve access to 
health technologies and be better prepared for future pandemics.  
295.  To align with this broader focus of trilateral cooperation and respo nd to Members ' and 
Observers ' evolving needs, the Directors -General agreed to expand the use of the WHO -WIPO -WTO 
COVID -19 Technical Assistance Platform beyond COVID -19. So, please watch this space , more 
information will be shared in due course on the revam ped trilateral assistance platform.  
296.  I also briefly draw Members ' attention to the Trilateral Symposium entitled "Facing the Future: 
Human health and climate change ", which will be hosted by WHO on 14 November 2023 , which is 
in a few days ' time at the "palais". The event will take place in hybrid format and will be open to 
government representatives and other stakeholders. Details of the symposium including the program 
and the themes it will touch upon, is available on the partners ' website, trilateral part ners' website . 
297.  Lastly, speaking to f orward looking TA  as part of the broader efforts by the WTO Secretariat 
to ensure that technical assistance remains responsive to the evolving needs and priorities of both 
Members and Observers, the Secretariat propose s for consideration by Members and Observers  that 
the Secretariat prepares and disseminates an "Information Note by the Secretariat " outlining WTO 
TRIPS -related Technical Assistance activities planned for 2024. This information could  be shared 
during the fi rst TRIPS Council meeting of the year.  The proposal to prepare a comprehensive 
information note on Technical Assistance is rooted in the WTO 's Institute for Training and Technical 
Cooperation 's questionnaire, which was circulated among beneficiary Members and Observers. This 
questionnaire sought feedback on various aspects related to potential technical assistance and 
training activities for the upcoming biennium.  Among the various areas identified by respondents 
from all regions , one of the areas that was ranked as highest priority for technical assistance related 
to WTO Agreements  was TRIPS and Transfer of Technology (under the umbrella of the TRIPS 
Agreement) . However, what we see on the side of the Secretariat is that this has still not been 
translated a nd we do not see an equivalent demand or requests coming from Members and 
Observers.  
298.  In light of this, we propose that t he Note prepared by the Secretariat will serve as a 
comprehensive guide, offering a "one-stop resource " on how to access various types o f 
TRIPS  -related technical assistance activities provided by the WTO, including:  
a. The new, revamped, e-Learning Courses and micro learning courses related to the 
TRIPS  Agreement  
b. Planned National and Regional workshops on the implementation of the TRIPS Agre ement  
c. The annual Workshops on Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement  
d. Trade and Public Health Workshops  
e. And our c ollaborative activities with WIPO  
299.  This note will potentially contain deadlines to apply, eligibility criteria, so on and so forth.  
300.  I would like to take this opportunity to remind Members that they are welcome to request 
national activities from the Secretariat at any time  in the year.  I encourage Members to maintain an 
ongoing dialogue with us regarding their priority needs for capacity building. We are committed to 
working closely with Members to ensure that our technical assistance, which involves all of my 
colleagues, is supported by empirical foundations, remains finely attuned to their evolving needs 
and priorities  of Members and Observers . Our g oal is to enhance their capacity for policymaking in 
the various domains of intellectual property, trade, and related policy areas . IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 50 - 
 
  12.11   World Intellectual Property Organization  
301.  The Worl d Intellectual Property Organization would like to thank you for giving us the 
opportunity to present our technical cooperation activities as contained in document 
IP/C/R/TC/WIPO/4 , as circulated. These activities were carried out between August 2 022 and 
September 2023, in line with Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement.  
302.  WIPO has a simple but bold vision: a world where innovation and creativity from anywhere is 
supported by IP for the good of everyone. Our technical cooperation activities support member 
States in line with this vision. Our activities provide them with some of the necessary tools, 
knowledge, and expertise to establish IP frameworks that meet policy objectives. In this way, IP can 
support the creation of jobs, attract investment, driv e enterprise growth, and ultimately develop 
economies and societies for a better and more sustainable future.  
303.  Our technical cooperation and capacity -building activities continue to cover a wide spectrum 
of IP areas, including patents, trademarks, copyrigh t, industrial designs, and building respect for IP. 
This year, WIPO has remained focused on providing on the ground, impact -driven technical 
assistance. From Bolivia to Chile; Brunei Darussalam to Cabo Verde; Tanzania to Jordan, and more, 
we delivered new projects that aim at bringing IP to the grassroots, engaging with youth, women 
entrepreneurs, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We have successfully provided over 600 
technical cooperation activities. These activities have focused on enhancing the c apacity of women 
entrepreneurs, young innovators, SMEs, and indigenous and local communities to make effective 
use of their greatest resource, their creativity and innovation. In 2022 -2023 the WIPO Academy 
courses reached over 233,830 participants includin g 6 new master's degree programs and new fields 
of training, including an IP Training Program for Diplomats and Trade Officials, a Master Class Series 
for Women in eTrade and Creativity and Innovation Camps for the Youth.  
304.  Another good example of our vision  in practice is "WIPO 's Graduation Support Package for 
LDCs" developed in consultation with LDCs at the initiative of the WIPO Director General Daren Tang. 
Since the launch of the Package, WIPO has developed country programs for Angola and São Tomé 
and Prí ncipe, which we are beginning to implement this year. We look forward to providing further 
information on this support package for LDCs as it continues to be implemented.  
305.  Acknowledging the importance of equal participation of all in the innovation ecosyste m and 
the under -representation of women in many areas of IP, WIPO has been actively providing training, 
capacity building, courses, and mentorship opportunities to women entrepreneurs. These activities 
have resulted in many women being able to harness thei r innovative ideas and transform them into 
successful business. For instance, with its project on IP and women entrepreneurship in Jordan, 
WIPO has provided for the first time in the Arab region, customized one -on-one coaching to 
50 participants on IP and IP for business. This project had the objective of further advancing the 
participants ' knowledge on IP and the procedures for IP rights registration in Jordan.  
306.  Recognizing that young people will be key to solving current global challenges and to shaping 
our future, WIPO has emphasized technical assistance activities related to youth engagement. The 
idea is to equip young people with essential IP knowledge and tools to encourage them to explore 
their innovative ideas. For example, in February 2023, WIPO lau nched its project for Cabo Verde on 
catalysing  youth entrepreneurship through IP with the organization of a hackathon and public 
presentation of young IP ambassadors. This three -day marathon brought over 320 young Cabo 
Verdeans together to look at how IP c an be used to address their country 's developmental priorities, 
in particular boosting tourism development and empowering local communities through IP.  
307.  Supporting SMEs ' embrace of IP is key to the economic future of many Member States. SMEs 
are a major sou rce of innovation and substantially contribute to the world 's economy. To that end, 
WIPO has been providing SMEs with various national training and mentoring sessions giving them a 
better understanding of the crucial role of IP for their businesses. Notabl y, WIPO has been engaging 
with SMEs through its mentorship program for managers of creative start -up companies and SMEs 
in the audio -visual  sector , including training and discussions with selected SMEs and start -ups in 
Brunei Darussalam.  
308.  WIPO remains commi tted to supporting member States to ensure IP is used as a tool to 
strengthen economies, support communities, and drive sustainable post -pandemic recovery. WIPO IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 51 - 
 
  has provided COVID -19 related services and support, including a response package tailored to 
respond to individual needs, priorities, and challenges. In addition, WIPO has reinforced its trilateral 
cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 
pandemic preparedness , as  mentioned by Roshan . WIPO remai ns committed to providing technical 
cooperation and capacity building programs that respond to the needs of members  States  as they 
seek to fulfil their TRIPS obligations.  
12.12   World Health Organization  
309.  World Health Organization communication summarizes the technical cooperation activities of 
the World Health Organization in the area of public health, innovation and intellectual property that 
have taken place since the last report in October 2022. The overall objective of WHO 's technical 
cooperation is to strengthen the capacity of developing countries in the areas of innovation, access 
to medicines and management of intellectual property. WHO 's technical cooperation is based on its 
mandate derived from  the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and 
Intellectual Property, as known as GSPAPHI, as well as other relevant resolutions of the World Health 
Assembly, including the one on improving access to transparency of markets for me dicines, vaccines 
and other relevant products, the resolution on COVID -19 response, the resolution on strengthening 
local production of medicines and other health technologies to improve access, and the last one on 
the extension of the timeframe of the Glo bal Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation 
and Intellectual Property, among others.  
310.  The Local Production Resolution, among other things, requests the WHO Director General to 
continue to provide technical support as appropriate upon reques t in collaboration with other 
competent international organizations, in particular WIPO and WTO, including to policy process and 
to countries that intend to make use of the provisions contained in the TRIPS Agreement, including 
the flexibilities affirmed b y the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and public health in order 
to promote access to pharmaceutical products.  
311.  In relation to the trilateral collaboration, WHO, WIPO, and WTO launched the second  update 
of the extract, as my colleagues mentioned.  I think I  am not going to, in the interest of time, go  
through the list because my colleagues already mentioned the workshops and the different initiatives 
that we did together.  But I will highlight that on 12 September, the Directors General of WIPO, WHO, 
and WTO met in Geneva to agree on future directions for the trilateral collaboration. And they have 
agreed that members should fully implement at the domestic level the wide range of available 
options to secure timely and equitable access to health technolo gy. 
312.  On April 2023, WHO together with UNITAID jointly published a briefing document for member 
States on improving access to novel COVID -19 treatments.  The document explains some of the legal 
instruments that WHO member States can use to promote public heal th and access to COVID -19 
therapeutics in the framework of their multilateral trade obligations and rights and according to the 
national legislations and level of development.  In relation to the COVID -19 Technology Access Cool 
(C-TAP), in July 2023, it received  three new licences with three technology developers, Medigen 
Vaccine Biologics, the Spanish Research Council and the University of Chile.  Two of these licences 
are COVID -19 vaccine candidates and the third licence is for COVID -19 diagnosis. In August 2023, 
C-TAP launched the WHO Technology Access Pool database to provide wide -ranging information on 
selected therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines and other health products to tackle COVID -19 and 
other endemic diseases.  This publicl y available database includes inter-alia information on clinical 
trials, patents and live printing, manufacturers and regulatory status of key health products for 
informed decision making.  I think this is in line with some of the requests that member state s put 
forward morning to WHO.  
313.  To secure voluntary transfer of additional health technology, C -TAP has been collaborating 
with other public health institutes to ensure cooperation and understanding for the efficient transfer 
of essential health technology. In order to further  explore  incentives for technology holders to 
voluntarily license their IP and know -how for timely global equitable access, WHO launched a study 
on strategies to facilitate sharing of technology and knowledge. The discussion conta ined the study 
is intended to inform all actors involved in the process of introducing or amending legislation, 
regulations, guidelines, and procedures to implement incentives for voluntary transfer of critical 
health technologies to reduce the dire effects of he alth emergencies globally.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 52 - 
 
  314.  A review of C -TAP was undertaken by WHO to assess the successes, challenges, and possible 
areas for improvement of the mechanism based on experience s till date . WHO is preparing to share 
findings of the new review of C -TAP and pr opose a new model for an evolved technology access tool. 
Finally, on 5 May 2023, more than three years into the pandemic, the WHO Emergency Committee 
on COVID -19 recommended to the Director General , who accepted the recommendation that given 
the disease wa s by now well -established and ongoing, it no longer fits the definition of a pandemic 
health emergency of international concern. However, this does not mean that the pandemic itself is 
over, but the global emergency it has caused i s over  for now. Our revi ew committee presented in 
August  2023 long -term standing recommendations for countries on how to manage COVID -19 on 
an ongoing basis and encouraged member states to continue to work towards ensuring equitable 
access to medical countermeasures for COVID -19. Many unknown and uncertainties about 
SARS --CoV-2 evolution and the medium to long -term impact remain. The virus ' ability to mutate 
and create new variants with increased transmissibility, virulence, and or immun ity, escape limits 
our ability to predict the future course of the pandemic and design appropriate public health 
intervention. That is why the WHO remains co mmitted to provide technical assistance to member 
states at their request. We 're already taking note of the requests mentioned this morning by some 
delegates.  
12.13   Gulf Cooperation Council  
315.  At the outset,  I wish you and all participants to the TRIPS Council all the best. The overall 
objective of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) technical cooperation programs in the field of 
intellectual property is to contribute to the capacity building of the officials from the GCC Member 
States and to strengthen their knowledge in many IP technical aspects, including the protection of 
intellectual property rights and supporting invention and innovation.  
316.  The GCC technical cooperation in IP is based on its mandate derived  from Article 20 of the 
GCC Economic Agreement (2001) which states that "Member States shall develop programs 
encouraging talented individuals and su rrounding  innovation and invention; cooperate in the field of 
intellectual property and develop regulations  and procedures ensuring protection of intellectual 
property rights; and coordinate their relevant policies towards other countries, regional policies and 
international and regional organizations ". 
317.  As reflected in the GCC technical cooperation report for 2 023, the activities which undertaken 
by the GCC Secretariat General, or in cooperation with other parties, covers the period from 1 
September 2022 to September 2023. The technical cooperation activities during the said period 
focused on various IP aspects such as cooperation in patent examination, supporting innovation and 
invention as well as enhancing the awareness of the importance of the Intellectual Property Rights 
and its role in stimulating innovation among the public including the school 's students in the GCC 
member states. These activities were conducted in the form of on -job training, workshops, hosting 
the participation in international invention exhibitions.  
318.  For example, cooperation with WIPO and some other IP offices continues to contribute to t he 
GCC technical assistance efforts in various IP areas. In this regard, it may be worth to mention that 
the GCC Secretariat General, in coll aboration with  WIPO organiz ed a workshop for patent examiners 
from GCC Member States titled "Examination of Patent Applications " from 20  to 23 November 2022. 
Also, the GCC Secretariat General has worked with a number of IP offices and associations in the 
GCC member states to organize capacity building activities in several IP areas, including patents, 
trademarks and IP  as a tool for enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium size enterprises  
such as conducting through GCC IP Training Cent er, a workshop in cooperation with the Emirates 
Intellectual Property Association, titled "Intellectual Property as a tool for the development of small 
and medium enterprises " from 4 to 5 of October2022.  
319.  The GCC Secretariat General has participated in the Malaysian  International exhibition of 
Inventions 2023 from 11 -12 May 2023. The GCC Secretariat General 's participation aims to facilitate 
the marketing of GCC inventions to investors. Through this exhibition, the GCC Secretariat General 
hosts and supports inventors from all the GCC Countries.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 53 - 
 
  12.14   Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group  
320.  The Delegation of Bangladesh delivers this statement on behalf of the LDC Group. The 
programmes reported today are helpful for the LDC Members. The LDC Group thanks developed 
country Members and IGOs for their sup port under TRIPS Article 67. The Group also appreciates the 
Secretary 's initiative for an informal workshop on the implementation of technical cooperation under 
TRIPS Article 67. We look forward to participating in this informal workshop this week.  
13  PARAGRA PH 8 OF THE MINISTERIAL DECISION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT ADOPTED 
ON 17 JUNE 2022  
13.1  Uruguay  
321.  Since 2020, Uruguay has consistently supported the general consensus that in the event of 
health crises, vaccines an d medicines need to be provided in the shortest possible time frame, in a 
manner that is affordable and equitable. In our view, therefore, frank and effective tripartite dialogue 
between governments, patent developing laboratories and producer laboratories , whether holding 
voluntary licences  or use agreements supported by public policy, should be led by governments, 
who should ensure the adequate supply of vaccines and medicines for diagnostics and therapeutics 
in collaboration with the private sector.  
322.  From the discussions that have taken place in the Council for TRIPS, we can see that the 
opacity, discretional nature and selectivity of the process of implementing voluntary licensing 
contracts pose a challenge, as noted by many Members. Yesterday we held dis cussions on the 
document circulated by the United Kingdom and, in previous sessions, on documents circulated by 
the African Group, which have presented us with various perspectives and attempts to reach 
agreement on what we all recognize is a problem: time ly and affordable access, in this case, to 
therapeutic medicines and diagnostics in times of crisis. In other words, the tools stipulated in the 
TRIPS Agreement are lax enough to be interpreted in a manner that is suitable to each crisis; and 
here we can t ie in the proposal put forward by Colombia yesterday.  
323.  In our view, the crux of the matter is not necessarily the issue of access to patents through 
voluntary licensing, but an issue we already discussed at MC12 : market access and restrictive trade 
policies . This has been reflected in the Declaration on the WTO Pandemic R esponse from MC12, 
which Uruguay wishes were more ambitious and perhaps a binding decision. We are concerned about 
matters such as export bans, unnecessary technical standards and inefficien t customs procedures. 
Authorizing exceptions to the TRIPS Agreement for developing Member countries and least 
developed countries  without the technical and human capacity to make use of such exceptions makes 
it clear that the way out of this problem is to improve pharmaceutical companies ' model contracts 
and remedy the lack of technology transfer to destination markets. Technology transfer not only 
builds national capacity to be more self -sufficient when responding to a crisis, but is also of interest 
to the private sector. This is already clear from the number of laboratories that are able to make 
use of the patents in question, thus increasing their profits.  
324.  Uruguay wishes to support any ideas that will help the membership to come to some sort of 
agreement  that is practical and reasonable for all parties involved as we look towards the Ministerial 
Conference in February  (2024). We would not like to enter into a tiresome process of informal 
sessions of this Council to deal with a matter on which there is no consensus to date, even though 
we have a mandate; and for Uruguay, a basically systemic country, this weighs very heavily on our 
heart.  
325.  I believe that we can reinterpret the mandate and reach a decision that is channelled through 
the interpretation of the provisions already in force in the TRIPS Agreement, with, for example, 
guidance for action or guidance for work relating to voluntary licensing model contracts, and perhaps 
a "best endeavour s" clause for compulsory licensing, and, especially, deal with iss ues relating to 
market access for medicines, in this case for those responsible for diagnosing and treating COVID -19 
and possible future viruses.  
326.  Our idea is to try not to continue insisting on paths we have already taken, where no further 
progress can be made and there are opposing positions that cannot be reconciled. Let us look for 
another solution that is more consensual and addresses the practi cal problems of Member s that were IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 54 - 
 
  unable to obtain vaccines during the last pandemic and may not be able to obtain the necessary 
medicines in future pandemics. We believe that the crux of the matter is not necessarily access to 
patents, but market access m easures and how we use patents and regulate their use with the 
legislation in force.  
13.2  South Africa on behalf of the African Group  
327.  I have the honour of delivering this statement on behalf of the African Group. Thank you  again  
for the useful thematic workshop that you had arranged . The discussions in the workshop confirmed 
the dynamics around the extension debate that we have witnessed  since we received the Ministerial 
mandate at MC12. In our view t hey are as follows: large pharmaceutical multinational cooperation s 
are opposed to extension. Their opposition is not based on the content of the Decision itself. For 
instance, during the the matic session, they were asked to engage with the content of the 
MC12  Decision but did not. These corporations are supported by consultants that work for them and 
by a small handful of delegations whose positions are informed by pharma talking points.  
328.  On the other hand, and as observed by Dr Perez of Colombia, during the thematic session, 
organizations that have been engaged in providing access to health products in low- and middle -
income countries ( LMICs ) during the pandemic have a very different perspect ive that is not coloured 
by privilege. It is informed by the reality of being at the back of the cue when it comes to access – 
something that African countries are very familiar with. It was very instructive during the thematic 
session to hear  the view s of the most neutral party in the discussion,  namely  the academics. 
Professor  Fisher of Harvard has been one of the foremost authorities on intellectual property right s 
for decades. Among the various remarks he made in support of extension were the following:   
a. This should not be characterized as a general "weakening " of IP protection.  
b. Voluntary licences  have failed to address fully the health needs of LMICs.  
c. Extension of the waiver to diagnostics and therapeutics could help alleviate COVID -19 and 
future pand emics in two ways:  
i. enable LMIC governments to use compulsory licences  to fill gaps when IP holders 
refuse to use voluntary licences ; and  
ii. increase incentives for innovators to use voluntary licences .  
329.  The extension decision is long overdue. In our view this is not an MC13 issue. By the 
December  (2023) General Council  we will have missed the deadline by a full year. Finally, in recent 
times we have heard a lot about a concept of responsible consensus.  I think those wh o attended 
the Senior Officials Meeting  would have heard this a few times.  These calls have not prevented 
proponents of such an approach from using domestic processes or circular discussions as delaying 
tactics. We urge Members to draw a line on this matte r and take the decision no l onger  than the 
December GC.  
13.3  Mozam bique on behalf of the ACP Group  
330.  I deliver this statement on behalf of the ACP Group. The ACP Group supports the continuation 
of work to find a solution pursuant to the MC12 TRIPS waiver paragraph 8 on the addition of 
therapeutics and diagnostics as soon as possible before MC13.   
331.  In relation to the informal thematic session for external stakeholder input, the ACP Gro up 
thanks you for your report. The panel was diverse and provided important and rich information 
across organization and industry representatives. We also take note of the session on the findings 
of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC).  We will need to study the information 
that was provided.  
13.4  Mozambique  
332.  Finally, in my national capacity, my delegation supports the statement made by South  Africa 
on behalf of the African Group.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 55 - 
 
  13.5  Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group  
333.  Under this item, the delegation of Bangladesh delivers this statement on behalf of the 
LDC Group and supports the statement of South Africa on behalf of the co -sponsors of 
document  IP/C/W/6 69/Rev.1. We also thank you for your report contained in document IP/C/W/706  
on the informal thematic session for external stakeholder input on this important issue. We also 
thank you for facilitating an informal discussion  with the representatives of the United States 
International Trade Commission  (USITC ) on their report.  
334.  We must admit that WTO could not play its role to address the COVID -19 pandemic in a timely 
manner. Future pandemic s are a threat. We must learn from ou r failures and the same mistakes 
and procrastination should not be repeated. The LDC Group sincerely hopes that without further 
delay, the MC12 Decision on the TRIPS waiver will be extended to cover therapeutics and diagnostic s. 
Along with the LDC Group, B angladesh looks forward to working with Members on this important 
issue.  
13.6  Nepal  
335.  My delegation aligns with Bangladesh, the focal point of the LDC Group and wish es to add a 
few points . My delegation would like to thank Madam Chair for organizing a thematic session inviting 
speakers from various organizations on 28 September 2023. It was useful to hear views from 
different perspective s. My delegation also would like to thank the U nited States International Trade 
Commission for the information session on the progress made after a long hearing process in the 
US. 
336.  In our understanding, the decision was supposed to be concluded earlier . However , we failed 
to achieve it in the given period of si x months. We still see some divergent views among Members.  
In this regard, we should not forget so quickly how devastating the C OVID -19 pandemic was, and 
how we suffered from the devastation. C OVID -19 vaccine s are  part of a set ; the vaccine alone 
cannot s ave lives.  Therefore, we urge all Members to support the extension of the TRIPS waiver to 
the production and supply of COVID -19 diagnostics and therapeutics, which will be important for 
future pandemic s too.  
13.7  Indonesia  
337.  Indonesia would like to associate itself with the statement made by South Africa and other 
IP/C/W/ 669 proposal co -sponsors. We would like to refer to our previous statements on this agenda 
item and remain deeply disappointed in WTO's failur e to agree on the extension of the Decision to 
therapeutics and diagnostics, which has already been mentioned before. It has surpassed the 
targeted deadline of 11 months to be exact. The W orld Health Organization  highlights that even 
though the status of C OVID -19 as a public health emergency of international concern has ended, its 
looming threat still remain s. Prevention, detection and treatment are still essential pillars and none 
of these pillars should be left behind. If we are to learn anything from the  pandemic era, we could 
not depend solely on the free trade of vaccines produced by merely a handful of private companies.  
338.  On the other hand, production of certain valuable goods , such as health technology , should be 
deconcentrated. Such an environment wil l enable developing members and least developed 
countrie s to manufacture viable therapeutics and diagnostic products on their own. With that in 
mind, it is paramount that the WTO, now that we have received facts and evidence from external 
stakeholders as w ell as from the United States International Trade Commission ( USITC ) report, we 
need to decide once and for all to extend the waiver to COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics.  
13.8  Colombia  
339.  In line with the statement delivered by Ambassador Bustamante yesterday, we would like to 
call upon Members to ensure that discussions on this topic always take into account the discussions 
taking place at the W orld Health Organization  and the Pandemic Treaty, because ther e are many 
communicating vessels and many initiatives that could be in synergy and harmony. We would also 
like to highlight one of yesterday 's arguments, which was that the best way to improve voluntary 
licensing is something that several people have menti oned and we all want to work on – compulsory 
licensing. Perhaps the most significant effect of compulsory licensing, more significant than the IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 56 - 
 
  particular effects in a specific case, is that it sets the framework for the discussion of voluntary 
licensing. W hen we work on compulsory licensing, we are going to "set the scene ", we are going to 
"frame " the way in which voluntary licensing will subsequently take place. It is therefore very 
important for us to continue working on compulsory licensing, with a view to improving voluntary 
licensing as well. And for that reason, it is very important that we continue working, in particular on 
subparagraph (f) of Article 31 – not subparagraph (k), subparagraph (f) – and that we continue to 
work specifically on that issue , as well as others, but more specifically on that issue, as proposed by 
the waiver.  
13.9  China  
340.  First of all, China comm ends the informal thematic discussions organized by Madam Chair and 
the Secretariat at the e nd of September 2023, as well as the summary report IP/C/W/760  presented 
by the Chairperson. It emphasizes the importance of such thematic discussions in assisting Members 
to objectively and comprehensively analyse waiver issues based on facts, data, and evid ence from 
various perspectives, including international organizations, non -governmental organizations, 
experts, scholars, and business communities. With the aim to establish a solid foundation for 
Members ' negotiations and discussions, China encourages the  continued exchange of information, 
sharing of experiences, and dynamic discussions in similar manners in the future.  
341.  Secondly, China has always actively participat ed in the discussions on the issue of the TRIPS 
waiver . Our substantial commitment on the w aiver of COVID -19 vaccines safeguarded the successful 
conclusion of the MC12 Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement. Although the COVI D-19 
pandemic no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), as 
mentioned by some other Members today, it still marked a significant outcome of the world 's joint 
response to the pandemic. However, it needs to  be noted that the announcement only means a 
transition with regard to the management of COVID -19, from the p revious emergency mode to the 
same kind of mode  with which we  cope with other similar infectious diseases. At present, COVID -19 
still poses a threat to global health. Developing Members still face profound challenges in accessing 
COVID -19 diagnostics and t herapeutics. At the current stage, fighting the pandemic hand -in-hand 
remains an important task for the international community.  
342.  Recently, Members have actively made factual information exchanges regarding COVID -19 
diagnostic s and therapeutics. China takes  notes of and welcomes the report released by the United 
States International Trade Commission ( USITC ) on 17 October 2023. We appreciate the extensive 
information, data, and evidence provided in the report, and we are currently conducting a thorough 
study of its contents due to its length and depth. The USITC report highlights that research and 
development of diagnostic s and therapeutics is primarily concentrated in developed countries, while 
production occurs in countries across all income levels, except t he less developed countries. The 
report also acknowledges that voluntary licensing is an important channel but excludes Members of 
certain income level s. Furthermore, the USITC report recognizes the significant disparity among 
countries of different income  levels in accessing COVID -19 diagnostic and therapeutic products, with 
intellectual property  being one contributing factor and a cause for constructive solutions to be sought 
by all Members involved. China calls on Members to continue to advance consultat ions on this basis 
and make early decisions in accordance with the MC12 Ministerial mandate to address th is legitimate 
concern of developing Members with regard to finding solutions to the accessibility and affordability 
of COVID -19 diagnostics and therape utics.  
13.10   Nigeria  
343.  We support the statement made on behalf of the African Group and the ACP  Group . The current 
TRIPS waiver Decision of June 2022 is of limited scop e. Vaccines alone have been found to be 
inadequate to manage the COVID -19 pandemic. A holistic approach in this context is necessary to 
save lives . Diagnostics and therapeutics are indispensable  tools required to tackle the COVID -19 
pandemic . Evidence shows that the production of therapeutics and diagnostics is concentrated in 
high-income countries which results in over -reliance on imports in low - and middle -income countries. 
This has resulted  also in scarcity, high prices and restricted access  in developing countries and least 
developed countries . According to Prof essor  Fisher during the thematic sessions, voluntary licences  
have failed to address fully the health needs of low - and medium -income countries . He goes further 
to state clearly the benefits of exte nding the waiver Decision to diagnostics and therapeutics.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 57 - 
 
  344.  We recall that paragraph 8 of the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement provides that 
"no later than 6 months from the date of the Decision Members will decide on its extension to cover 
the production and supply of COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics ". The decision on the extension 
of the TRIPS waiver Decision has been delayed for too long , and if approved would constitute a 
holistic approach to combatting the C OVID -19 pandemic. It would  enable developing countries to 
address those intellectual property  barriers that prevent the expansion and diversification of 
production and increase access to COVID -19 tools. As a way forward , and looking ahead to MC13 , 
we are therefore of the view that a decision in line with the paragraph 8 mandate be taken by the 
December General Council . 
13.11   Cambodia  
345.  At the outset, my delegation would like to align ourselves with the stat ement delivered by 
South Africa on behalf of the African Group and the L DC Group statement delivered by the delegation 
of Bangladesh. We would like to reiterate our statement in the previous meeting on th is agenda 
item. Similar to most Members ' sentiments,  we regret that agreement could not be reached on 
paragraph 8 of the Decision to extend the coverage to include therapeutics and diagnostics by the 
original deadline. L east developed countrie s (LDCs) have been disproportionately impacted by the 
COVID -19 pa ndemic, which is still ongoing and may affect most of our economies.  
346.  The extension of the TRIPS Decision would have provided L DCs better access to all essential 
medical products in fighting against the current pandemic and improve readiness for the next or  
future pandemics. We also join the others call ing for agreement so that we can make it by the 
December G eneral Council . Lastly, my delegation appreciates and supports your initiative on 
thematic discussions.  
13.12   United States of America  
347.  I would like to start out by thanking the Secretariat for organizing an all -day thematic session 
on 28 September 2023, where we heard from a variety of speakers across the spectrum of business, 
academia, civil society, intergovernmental organization s, and data collection and analysis firms on 
this very important topic. Many panellists gave us new facts or presented facts in new and different 
ways, and this new information will hopefully make future conversations more focused.  
348.  The United States of America a lso thanks the Secretariat for taking the initiative to reach out 
to the United States International Trade Commission to organize a briefing of its report to this 
Council, which occurred on 19  October  2023. I participated virtually, and it looked like a go od 
number of delegates had already started reading and engaging with the report. I was also pleased 
to see a high level of interest and engagement by you, as well as the Secretariat. As we have 
mentioned previously, on 16  December  2022, we asked the Intern ational Trade Commission to 
launch an investigation into COVID -19 diagnostics and therapeutics and to provide information on 
market dynamics to help inform the discussion around supply and demand, price points, and the 
relationship between testing and trea ting and production and access. The Commission is known for 
its expertise in studying markets and its robust, transparent processes for soliciting input from a 
wide variety of stakeholders.  
349.  Some specific topics that we asked the Commission to investigate i nclude:  
a. the range of definitions for diagnostics and therapeutics in the medical field ; 
b. for relevant COVID -19 diagnostics and therapeutics, an overview of the production and 
distribution, including key components, the production processes, key producing 
countries, major firms, operational costs, a description of the supply chain, and the level 
of geographic diversification within the supply chain ; 
c. information on market segmentation of global demand and consumption, which may be 
delineated by low -income coun tries, lower -middle -income countries, upper -middle -income 
countries, and high -income countries ; and  
d. information on availability and pricing of the products.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 58 - 
 
  350.  We also asked the International Trade Commission to solicit comments from the public and 
hold a hea ring to gather input on a number of important topics, such as : 
1. how the TRIPS  Agreement promotes innovation in and or limits access to COVID -19 
diagnostics and therapeutics ; and  
2.  successes and challenges in using existing TRIPS flexibilities . 
351.  On 17 October  2023, the International Trade Commission published its report titled "COVID -19 
Diagnostics and Therapeutics : Supply, Demand, and TRIPS Flexibilities ". This report is available to 
the public on the Commission 's website. We are pleased to hear many Members reference the 
International Trade Commission report during their interventions yesterday and today. We hope that 
the facts in the report and the record that the International Trade Commission meticulously gathered 
will help inform a thoughtful and c onstructive policy discussion and deliberative  process around the 
world and at the World Trade Organization on matters so critically important to global public health 
and economic resilience. We are very interested to hear reactions to the report.  
13.13   Egypt  
352.  We also thank you for arranging the thematic workshop on 28 September  2023. Egypt align s 
itself with the statement delivered by the distinguished delegation of South Africa on behalf of the 
African Group and o ther statements delivered by the co -sponsors of the extension of the TRIPS 
waiver decision. It was apparent that some considerable views from the thematic workshop 
confirmed that mechanisms like voluntary licen ces and donations, tiered pricing have signifi cant 
shortcomings and are inadequate to address access needs in low- and medium -income  countries. 
And actually these views were highlighted by some other views in the United States International 
Trade Commission  (USITC ) report.  
353.  We reckon that both the thematic workshop and the USITC report were so useful in the context 
of analysing  the market 's dynamics during the pandemic. In terms of demand and supply, among 
other factors that might be useful to understand and benefit from the lessons learned during the 
pandemic. Nevertheless, this discussion  did not dive deeply toward the ongoing negotiation 
concerning whether the extension of the TRIPS Decision itself will enhance the resilience of health 
system s in low - and middle -income coun tries. 
354.  I would like to point out in this context that if we face a similar challenge in the short - and 
medium -term future, it will be extremely difficult to rely on some mechanism that is deemed to be 
sufficient and effective in some opponents ' view, takin g into account the difficult financial situation 
that some low - and middle -income countries are experiencing at the present time, which may 
consequently add burdens to the imports budget and the rising cooperation and partnership with 
major pharmaceutical companies.  
355.  If the membership continues to depend on some analysis and views that are based solely on 
criteria which might be misrepresent ative three years from the outbreak of the pandemic and the 
severity of virus lessons, this organization woul d not be a ble to depart its place on the track of the 
preparedness for future crisis and pandemics. Bearing in mind that we do  not know when the next 
crisis would hit and people even in the high -income level countries will not tolerate that the 
commercial interest a nd profitability criteria of big pharmaceutical companies  have been prioritized 
by some Members at the expense of public health.  
356.  Finally, we urge the membership to deliver on this overdue issue. We believe that the decision 
should be taken in advance of MC 13 during the meeting of the G eneral Council  next December  
(2023) . 
13.14   Switzerland  
357.  Let me first thank the Chair for the sweet Halloween surprise you distributed among TRIPS 
delegates. You make us go strong, at least till lunch break.  Switzerland would like to thank the Chair 
of the Council for TRIPS for organizing the thematic session on  paragraph 8 with external 
stakeholders and for the report of the Secretariat from the session , which is a very useful document . 
It was particularly useful to hear from those speakers with a practical background, bringing into the IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 59 - 
 
  policy discussion the exp erience and lessons learned from those  that did the important groundwork 
during the pandemic.  
358.  In stark contrast to what the delegate from South Africa seems to have understood from the 
presentation at the session, to my delegation, the facts and figures pr ovided confirmed that the 
TRIPS Agreement and the international intellectual property system worked as enablers in the 
COVID -19 pandemic for the hundreds of research and development partnerships that produced the 
new, effective vaccines and therapeutics. I t confirmed a view that was also highlighted by Mexico 
and Switzerland in their joint submission , document IP/C/W/693  of 1 November 2022 , and supported 
therein with respective data from the ground.  
359.  In the COVID -19 pandemic, licensing of patented innovation w orked as a bridge for the 
cooperation between innovative and generics manufacturers and with public -private partnerships 
such as the Medicines Patent Pool. Trusted collaboration, legally safe transfer of technology and 
know -how were made possible by the re liable international IP system and was key to the scaling -up 
of the manufacturing of COVID -19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to address global needs 
at record speed.  
360.  This said, my delegation sees value in analysing further all things, including sho rtcoming and 
gaps identified, in relation to voluntary licences  as an approach which , overall , has m et its test in 
the pandemic, as highlighted in our statement under agenda item 3. Topics to be addressed could 
be, among others, the promotion of geographic al diversification in production and manufacturing 
capacity in medical pandemic products, and the regional scope of voluntary licences . 
361.  This said, this delegation remains convinced that an extension of the June 2022 TRIPS Decision 
to COVID -19 diagnostics a nd therapeutics is not the right approach to respond to these challenges 
and risks , indeed , to undermine rather than promote preparedness and our effective response to 
future pandemics. To conclude, let me also thank the distinguished delegate from Uruguay  for his 
useful and constructive statement on how the Council for TRIPS could address its work under this 
agenda item more usefully.  
13.15   Japan  
362.  Japan appreciates the efforts made by the Chair and the Secretariat to continuously provide 
us with opportunities to discuss this important matter.  In order to prepare for future pandemics, it 
is necessary to have mechanisms that provide strong incentives for the research and development 
of vaccines, diagnostic s and therapeutics. From this perspective, intellectual property rights and the 
TRIPS Agreement play a crucial role in the research and development of vaccines, diagnostics and 
therapeutics.  
363.  With regard to paragraph 8 of the Ministerial Decision, Japan bel ieves that consideration and 
discussion about its extension to diagnostics and therapeutics should be based on facts and evidence 
regarding the multifaceted impact of IPRs and the TRIPS Agreement upon the production and supply 
thereof, within the context o f COVID -19. In this regard, we understand that various facts and 
evidence have been shared among many stakeholders so far, and we appreciate these efforts.  
364.  In the thematic session held on 28 September  2023, for example, a speaker pointed out that 
the rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and polymerase chain reaction ( PCR)-based tests in widespread 
use for COVID -19 were based on older technologies, and that the IP -related barriers largely existed 
in the lack of transfer of such older technologies.  Some stakeholders  shared the fact that although 
many COVID -19 therapeutics were available for free or at affordable prices, many have not been 
utilized in reality. We would again like to express our gratitude for the efforts made by the Chair and 
the Secretariat to organiz e the session and the report in document IP/C/W/706 .  
365.  The United States International Trade Commission ( USITC ) report also provides various facts.  
For example, the following has been reported with regard to the supply of diagnostics : 
a. First, non-profit  organi zations and industry representatives generally agreed that patents 
did not act as a primary barrier limiting global access to the two main types of COVID -19 
diagnostic tests ( namely  PCR and rapid antigen tests).  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 60 - 
 
  b. Second, more than 2000 test kit products hav e been produced by 900 manufacturers 
operating in 53 countries, including high-income countries  (HICs), upper -middle -income 
countries  (UMIC s), lower -middle -income countries (LMICs) and lower -income countries  
(LICs). 
c. Third, the trend in daily testing rates has steadily declined since 2022 in HIC s, UMIC s, 
LMICs and LIC s. 
366.  Also, the following has been reported with regard to the supply of therapeutics.  
a. First, a very large number of therapeutics for COVID -19 were made available for UMIC s, 
LMICs and LIC s through multilateral programs.  
b. Second, originator companies have made or committed to donations of many COVID -19 
therapeutics.  
c. Third, therapeutics are manufactured not only in HIC s, but also in UMIC s and LMIC s.  
d. And fourth, the scarcity of resources has led to delays in obtaining regulatory approval, 
and many LICs and LMICs have been limited in their ability to accept existing COVID -19 
treatments, even though such treatments were offered at no cost.  
367.  Based on such facts and evidence, Japan is of the view t hat there is no common understanding 
among all Members that there is concrete evidence supporting the ne ed for the paragraph 8 
extension to diagnostics and therapeutics.  On the other hand, we also recognize issues pointed out 
in the USITC report. For examp le, many UMICs are excluded from the covered territories under MPP 
licences  or bilateral licen ce agreements where COVID -19 therapeutics can be offered for sale, which 
could have made it difficult to access pharmaceutical products at affordable prices. Rega rding such 
issues, practical and effective solutions should be discussed in order not to undermine the incentive 
toward innovation provided by the current IP system.  
368.  Japan welcomes the sharing of additional beneficial facts and evidence among Members, alon g 
with continued discussion in order to reach a consensus. Japan will also continue to contribute toward 
such constructive discussions.  
13.16   European Union  
369.  The European Union is prepared to continue to constructively engage in the discussions on 
whether to extend the scope of the Ministerial Decision to COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics.  
We note the recent efforts to provide more facts and evidence to this ongoing debate.  In this regard, 
we would like  to thank the Chair and the Secretariat for the Informal Thematic Session of 
28 September  2023, which brought together a wide range of external stakeholders and provided us 
with valuable evidence , as well as presented a diversity of views.  
370.  As we have highlighted in previous meetings, the understanding of the matters behind the 
supply, demand, produ ction and distribution of COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics is crucial in 
the discussion on the extension of the TRIPS Decision to these products.  
371.  The informal thematic session  confirmed the information on certain key aspects of the 
discussion that ha s been presented to delegations previously, including through the submissions of 
various Members . The key takeaway from the informal thematic session  for us  is that the situation 
on access to and uptake of COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics globally is complex and the 
factors that drive it are very diverse.  
372.  Similarly, we thank the delegation of the United States of America for the presentation of the 
key findings of the report by the U nited States International Trade Commission (USITC). This 
extensive r eport includes information on the wide array of COVID -19 diagnostics and therapeutics, 
factors affecting demand, market segmentation of global demand and consumption, availability and 
pricing, barriers to accessing diagnostics and therapeutics, and actions  taken by WTO Members to 
use compulsory licences for pharmaceuticals and any alternatives.  As other Members, the EU is also  
now carefully reviewing the findings of th is report.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 61 - 
 
  373.  We have also continued our engagement  and analysis  of the various factors that  affect the 
access to and up take of COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics globally . These factors  are very 
diverse and country -specific . They include regulatory matters, distribution, funding, the role of 
global, regional and national initiatives to promot e equitable access, forecasting and demand issues. 
We will continue to look into this matter and contribut e to this discussion. The EU remains committed 
to finding a way to advance the discussions on the extension of the TRIPS Decision to COVID -19 
therapeu tics and diagnostics.  
13.17   United Kingdom  
374.  The U nited Kingdom  thanks you  and the Secretariat for your continued efforts under this 
agenda item. We would also like to extend  our thanks to the United States Inter national Trade 
Commission ( USITC ) for delivering its report. The UK continues to analyse information within the 
USITC report and acknowledges it as a non -partisan account documenting information related to 
whether or not the MC12 decision is extended. We would like to share some reflections that the UK 
has b ased on the USITC presentation provided from 19  October  2023, noting that these are 
important to be reaffirmed, but are not novel in this debate.  
375.  The presentation stated the pandemic 's evolving context and subsequent influence it has had 
on demand for bot h COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics, especially in light of the W orld Health 
Organization 's announcement of 5 May 2023, declaring that COVID -19 is no longer a global health 
emergency. The presentation reasserted how access to therapeutics and diagnosti cs is broader than 
just intellectual property  including, but not limited to, the manufacturing landscape, competing 
healthcare priorities, price, last -mile delivery, and regulatory approval processes. Highlighting the 
broader factors necessary in a pandemi c response should help with deliberations on whether or not 
the Decision is extended. Further, findings show compulsory licensing has been used during the 
pandemic to access therapeutics, but not for vaccines or diagnostics. It may be useful for Members 
who have made use of existing TRIPS flexibilities to share their experiences in doing so.  
376.  The report 's findings also confirm that the sharing of intellectual property and know -how 
through voluntary licensing arrangements has increased affordability and acces s, whether bilaterally 
or through the Medicines Patent Pool. It also notes the successes and challenges embedded within 
different forms of licensing agreements, which is of great relevance to this Council 's ongoing 
discussions regarding IP, voluntary licen sing, and technology transfer.  The UK wants to advance 
conversations on how to address the challenges affecting voluntary licensing and technology transfer 
partnerships and appreciates Members sharing their national experiences so far.  
13.18   Norway  
377.  We welcome the report provided by the United States International Trade Commission  
(USITC ), as well as the presentation given to Members outlining the main findings of the report. It 
is an extensive report, and we will  need time to review it. Norway 's point of departure is that we 
have to strike a balance between, on the one hand, ensuring that intellectual property rights do not 
constitute a barrier to solving the current or future health crisis, and, on the other hand , preserving 
incentives for innovation. This was our position ahead of MC12, and it remains our position in the 
present discussion of a possible extension of the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement.  
378.  An important element in understanding the effect s and consequences of a possible extension 
concerns the scope of the mechanism, and most importantly, its product coverage. We have heard 
other Members raise questions concerning definitions, and we understand those that seek further 
clarity on this matter . We do see possible challenges posed by an open -ended mechanism. The lack 
of definitions or a clearly defined scope can lead to legal uncertainty for governments and businesses 
alike.  
13.19   Korea, Republic of  
379.  First, we appreciate Members for their contribution to the discussion. Despite the rounds of 
the continued discussion on paragraph 8 of the MC12 Ministerial  Decision for over one and a half 
years, it is our observation that we still have not reached a common understanding on whether 
intellectual property rights serve as a major obstacle in ensuring access to COVID -19 therapeutics 
and diagnostics.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 62 - 
 
  380.  In this regard, we remain unchanged in our position. We need to continue discussion based 
on facts and evidence to identify the role of IP along with other potential elements , such as domestic 
regulations, logistics, and funding capability in ensuring access to COVID -19 ther apeutics and good 
diagnostics. The Council for TRIPS  meeting with external stakeholders and comprehensive report 
recently published by the United States International Trade Commission ( USITC ) could provide 
several meaningful facts and evidence for further discussion, as mentioned by several Members 
today. We look forward to further discussion on this issue with other Members ahead of MC13.  
13.20   Singapore  
381.  Thank you for organizing the  thematic session on 28 Sept ember  2023, and the briefing by the 
United States International Trade Commission ( USITC ) on its repor t. These were very useful 
contributions towards promoting evidence -based discussion on the issue . As a first step, we should 
ascertain whether there is sti ll demand for COVID -19 diagnostics and therapeutics , which is part of 
what this decision seeks  to address. For example, t he USITC 's investigation found that current levels 
of manufacturing far exceed purchases. As of July  2023, out of 2.2 million courses o f molnupiravir 
offered under the Access to COVID -19 Tools Accelerator (ACT -A) partnership, only about 150,000 
have arrived in country. The report also found that by the second quarter of 2023, testing appeared 
to have mostly stopped in upper - and lower -middle-income countries , and data was no longer 
reported for low -income countries. As a result , several manufacturers are no longer pursuing 
regulatory approval or have stopped production altogether.  
382.  That said , we recogni ze that there are indeed barriers to access to diagnostics and therapeutics 
which can impact developing and least developed country Members more than others. These include 
pricing, regulatory approval processes, lack of harmoni zation, limited resources and expertise, 
competing health priorities, and last mile delivery  issues . Hence, it is important that we adopt a 
holistic approach towards ensuring a sustainable solution to this problem. We note that t he USITC 
report also highlighted that  voluntary licences , such as those facilitated by the Medicines Patent Pool 
(MPP) allow for production of licensed products that are lower -priced.  However, as my colleague 
from Switzerland mentioned earlier, some upper -middle -income countries are excluded from these 
licences,  and we agree that there is room to explore this issue further to improve access. At the 
same time, we feel that these efforts should be complemented with technical assistance, 
prioriti zation by governments to improve their healthcare services delivery and  infrastructure, and 
also a commitment by Members to lift any export restrictions.  
383.  Finally, we would also like to echo the point raised earlier  that the intellectual property system 
has enabled innovation and the rapid response to the COVID -19 pandemic. A s such, our response 
should be aimed at preserv ing the IP ecosystem, so that we can better prepare ourselves for future 
pandemics. Singapore remains committed to continuing discussions based on facts and evidence to 
reach a sustainable and consensus -based decision on this issue . 
13.21   India  
384.  We echo the views of co -sponsors who spoke before me and align with the statement made 
by South Africa on behalf of the co -sponsors of document IP/C/W/669/Rev.1 . It is regrettable that 
we are unable to deliver on such a critical issue despite a clear mandate from our Ministers that we 
received at MC12. The co -sponsors have remained actively engaged on this issue and this has bee n 
extensively and widely discussed in this Council as well as in the G eneral Council  and other fora for 
over three years now.  
385.  Several submissions have been made on this issue, responding to all questions raised and 
clarifications sought by Members, which h ave also been reported to this Council. The thematic 
session held on 28 September  2023 on extension was helpful to respond to the various queries 
raised by non -proponents . Our key takeaways from the discussions were : 
a. Foremost and the most important one , that was emphasi zed by the WHO , that the 
pandemic is not over yet. Therapeutics and diagnostics still are critical to combat infections 
and inequities in their access and affordability therefore need to be addressed.  
b. Point two, an extension decision would not disincentivi ze the intellectual property  
ecosystem as it is limited in scope and makes clarifications of existing TRIPS flexibilities.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 63 - 
 
  c. Point three, demand is an offshoot of several reasons and thus lack of uptake of existing 
therapeutics and diagnostics can be attribut ed to different factors , like exorbitant pricing.  
d. And finally, that voluntary licences are not a panacea that can address all access 
challenges.  
386.  We also heard from our colleagues from Colombia that there are challenges in securing any  
volunt ary licences, thus underscoring the business -as-usual  approach and challenges inherent in 
voluntary licen ces during times of crisis like COVID -19, which calls for all policy tools to be made 
available to Members to combat this pandemic. We heard no opposit ion to the extension decision 
across the panellists that were present that day or any data or evidence provided by any of the 
panellists that the extension decision would lead to disincentivi zing innovation. In fact, many 
panellists stated that the existin g decision is not broad in scope, rather it consists of clarifications of 
existing flexibilities along with a waiver of one provision in the context of COVID -19. And therefore, 
we saw several of the concerns and arguments raised by non -proponents got answered with facts 
and evidence during that thematic session.  
387.  Having said this, w e must avoid entering protracted and circular discussions again on this 
issue. Members have had sufficient time to complete  their internal processes and consu ltations , and 
thus we urge all Members to engage with a view to arrive at an outcome on this critical issue by the 
last General Council of this year, if not earlier.  
13.22   Brazil  
388.  Allow me first to express our app reciation for your role in coordinating and organizing , with  
the Secretar iat, the thematic sessions with external stakeholders and with the United States 
International Trade Commission ( USITC ). They have provided the membership with important pieces 
of information for the current discussion under this item of the agenda.  
389.  Brazil understands that Members should work towards achieving a decision on the extension 
of the TRIPS waiver to COVID -19 therapeutics and diagnostics before MC13. In our view, the decisio n 
taken at MC12 was balanced and guided by consensus, and those same principles should be applied 
to the discussions on extending the waiver to diagnostics and therapeutics. A WTO response to the 
COVID -19 pandemic is essential in order to meet the principl es enshrined in the Doha Declaration 
on TRIPS and Public Health and in the preamble of the Marrakesh Treaty.  The waiver extension 
should be crafted in order to increase the availability o f and affordable access to relevant COVID -19 
pandemic therapeutics an d diagnostics where they are most needed, in particular in developing 
countries.  
390.  Before I finish, I would like to make two quick comments. One is that I would like to express 
our support for what has been said before by the delegate from Colombia , in term s that the WTO 
should take, particularly here in the Council for TRIPS , into full account the ongoing process at the 
World Health Organization . They are not only running in parallel, but they should converge towards 
a common and balanced objective that will help all of us be prepared to respond to future pandemics. 
The WTO has a critical role on this.  
391.  Second , based on what I have heard today, I would not want to sound naive or quite optimistic, 
but I think that we may have passed th e stage in which we ne eded more data and more information . 
I think that we finally have enough data and information on both sides, as we have heard from 
previous delegations, that should help us in taking a decision on this matter in the coming months.  
13.23   Australia  
392.  Australia supports a consensus outcome on whether to extend the TRIPS waiver to COVID -19 
therapeutics and diagnostics, and urges all Members to seek a viable outcome on this. We 
acknowledge the importance of the TRIPS waiver outcome to developing countries, including those 
in the Pacific, and we thank the US for its recent contribution to discussions in the United States 
International Trade Commission ( USITC ) report, which is currently being reviewed in our capital.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 64 - 
 
  13.24   Chair  of the Council for TRIPS  
393.  I am not going to summarize the discussion because everybody has heard what others had to 
say. I see my job on this issue primarily as getting Members to work harder and I would like to see 
more engagement on this issue as well as on the response to future pandemics. Just thinking aloud, 
I may be a little naïve or maybe overly optimistic - maybe like my Brazilian colleague - but I observe 
that there is i nterest from all sides, proponents and others, to engage in discussion on the substance 
of the pandemic issues, be it COVID -19 or future pandemics more generally. I think this is one 
encouraging factor I have seen. The second thing is that there seems to b e a conflation of the two 
issues now. We are talking about the decision on paragraph 8 to extend the Decision to cover COVID -
19 diagnostics and therapeutics, and also the issue that we are meant to discuss under another 
mandate, namely the one on the respo nse to future pandemics.  
394.  Members are taking up these issues together. I am not saying that that is a bad thing, we 
have to do both tasks anyway - we have to make a decision, but we also have to analyse, report 
and submit our deliberations on the future pa ndemics as well. So, I believe that what we are 
discussing will be useful and we should work on both issues at the same time. The mandate for 
discussing the response to future pandemics is based on requests by Members. In this regard, we 
have had one submi ssion at least from the UK and Members have started discussing issues related 
to voluntary licensing - whether or not you support them, whether or not you see the use – and I 
take that as a sign that there is interest of Members to start engaging on the is sue of future 
pandemics. So, these are the two tasks that we have to do.  
395.  I have also heard some specific suggestions from Members, like Uruguay, Switzerland, 
Colombia, and Brazil Jana and UK - to discuss or maybe 'deep dive' into some issues such as 
volun tary licensing, the TRIPS flexibilities, the geographical impact and limitations, which Colombia 
referred to as the sandwich countries. I think this is a good sign. We can either discuss among 
ourselves only on some of the key issue or we can invite outsid e stakeholders to provide more 
information.  
396.  So I would like to propose for your consideration and comment some steps, procedures, not 
just substance, to take care of this work, because I think it is the right time and we have to start 
working harder on pa ragraph 8 and on the response to future pandemic. First, I will be available for 
consultations next week, for bilateral or you can come to see me in groups. We can provide you with 
some time slots and you can let the Secretariat know when you want to see m e. Second, I would 
also propose that you consider discussing some thematic issues, like the ones that you have 
mentioned specifically. This would have to be done in parallel to get a better understanding on the 
information we got from outside stakeholders as well as study on the USITC. We are running out of 
time, so we have to do several things in parallel. We have consultations and, in parallel, Members 
should spend more time reading and understanding the materials on topics that you said you would 
like to  treat. So we can, as an option, have discussions among ourselves or include outside 
stakeholders, even maybe inviting WHO to participate on this. I know I am taking a risk here. I am 
just thinking from the top of my head what we can do – but it is for Mem bers to decide.  
397.  A third proposal would be that it may be useful to have a compilation of issues, or a checklist 
of issues that Members have highlighted in their statements today to see what are the themes that 
are of interest to Members. We need to focus a  little bit on the issues. I heard some recurring 
themes, which could inform the scope of the future discussions. These are not exhaustive and this 
will be an ongoing exercise, so that we have these themes at the back of our mind – compulsory 
licensing, vo luntary licensing, flexibility, the impact of the MPP, etc.  
398.  So this is my proposal for steps that could be taken in the next two weeks. Next week, I will 
be open to listen to you on what can be done. If you do not want to see me, I may want to see you 
and may invite you. And secondly, think about thematic sessions, more specific topics, does not 
have to be too many in the meantime. Thirdly, we could do a compilation or checklist of issues that 
are of interest to Members. This could eventually be submitted t o the General Council and to MC13 
as part of our mandate on the deliberation on the response to future pandemic. And following 
consultation, then maybe we have some more ideas for to how we organize the work.  
399.  Before I open the floor, I wanted to note the i ntervention by Uruguay this morning. This was 
very interesting to me. He mentioned several specific things like guidance or working guidelines, or IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 65 - 
 
  contract clauses - very, very specific. I hope to maybe get in touch with the delegate of Uruguay, 
but I am s ure his statement will be reflected in the record of the minutes of the meeting today. So 
maybe we can also take a look at that. But I am not discriminating, and anybody's ideas are equally 
important, but his statement talked about many detailed suggestion s. So, I would invite Members 
to get in touch with each other and also get in touch with me or the Secretariat, if you wish to see 
me for consultations.  
400.  Also, from the administrative perspective, as we are not able to reach a consensus on this 
issue today , we would want to leave this agenda open for possibly reconvening the meeting. Is that 
agreeable to all Members? Now I open the floor for comments.  
13.25   European Union  
401.  Thank you, Chair, for presenting these ideas. I have to say that we may not have understood 
all of them yet. So I request, before we proceed with further steps, to first go through these 
consultations so that we understand better what exactly is proposed. I think that we should not lose 
focus of our main mandate, which is paragraph 8. And we would like just to make sure that we 
concentrate on these issues. But we would be very happy to, of course, participate in these 
consultations with you and understand b etter these steps that you have outlined to also provide a 
proper contribution on this and input on the best way to take it forward.  
14  THE ROLE OF TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY IN RESILIENCE BUILDING: 
REINVIGORATING THE DISCUSSIONS IN THE WTO ON TRADE AND TRANSFER OF 
TECHNOLOGY  
14.1  South Africa on behalf of the African Group  
402.  I will be making this statement on behalf of African Group . Our communication, which is a 
follow up to the Afr ican Group submission made in the General Council earlier this year, aims to 
reinvigorate discussions within the WTO on the critical topic of transfer of technology.  And in this 
regard, we  would cert ainly like to thank the distinguished Ambassador of Chile  for her role in 
reinvigorating the discussions within the working group on trade and technology transfer . 
403.  The African Group welcomes the opportunity to engage in discussions on the role of tech 
transfer in resilience building. We believe that enhancing th e transfer of technology is crucial for 
addressing the multiple crises and challenges that our global economy is currently facing, including 
the COVID -19 pandemic, food security, climate change, and the digital divide.  
404.  As we reflect on the relationship bet ween trade and t ech transfer , it is important to recognize 
the significance of technology transfer in promoting economic development. In today 's 
interconnected world, technology is a catalyst for growth, innovation, and prosperity. It is a powerful 
tool th at can help bridge the developmental gap between and within countries and promote 
sustainable development. As we address the polycrisis, the role of technology transfer becomes ever 
more vital. Now, allow me to outline some of the key themes and objectives  of our communication:  
a. TRIPS Agreement and Technology Transfer:  The COVID -19 pandemic has underscored the 
importance of flexible intellectual property rules to respond effectively to crises. The 
pandemic has further highlighted the impact of intellectual p roperty protections on 
technology transfer, particularly in the pharmaceutical and medical sectors. We propose 
deeper discussions within the Council for TRIPS on the promotion and dissemination of 
technology, particularly in the pha rmaceutical and industri al sectors. In this regard, we 
believe that discussions in the Council for TRIPS should delve deeper into the relationship 
between the promotion and dissemination of technology, and how the "flexibilities " in the 
TRIPS Agreement can better support developing and least developed countries in 
responding to crises.   
b. Under Digital Technologies in Trade Facilitation:  In the context of digital technologies, we 
recognize the growing importance of digital trade facilitation and its implicati ons for 
technology transfer, particularly in developing and least developed countries. The impact 
of digital technologies on trade, especially  in developing countries, is significant. We need IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 66 - 
 
  to explore how IP protections and regulatory factors affect tech nology transfer in the 
digital era.  
c. Agricultural Resilience:  Agriculture is a cornerstone of many developing economies. In the 
agricultural sector, for instance , technology has revolutionized trade by improving 
productivity and enabling countries to build  agricultural resilience. We encourage 
discussions on the role of international and regional agricultural research cent res in 
promoting and disseminating technology, as well as exploring issues related to water 
management, nitrogen usage, and food waste re duction   
d. Climate Change: Climate change mitigation is a global priority. We will assess the 
application of WTO rules to technology transfer for climate change technologies, including 
compulsory licensing. Addressing climate change requires a comprehensive assessment of 
the application of existing WTO rules on technology transfer for climate change 
technologies. Discussions in the WTO should aim to build deeper coherence and 
coordination to support existing mechanisms and frameworks, taking into account the 
principles of environmental law including the Common but differentiated responsibilities 
(CBDR ), and the polluter -pays principle . Certainly we see quite a number of synergies and 
complementarities between these ideas and those expressed by India in its sub mission to 
be presented shortly.  
e. Electronic Commerce:  The safety and cybersecurity of digital systems are paramount. We 
will delve into the balance between accessibility to source codes and to secure technology 
environment.  
405.  To facilitate these discussions,  we propose the following modalities:  
a. Analysing  the relationship between technology transfer and economic development.  
b. Assessing the use of Information and Communications Technology to promote  tech 
transfer.  
c. Evaluating the role of "flexibilities " in the TRIPS agreement in promoting technology 
transfer.  
d. Examining technical assistance and capacity -building programs for technology transfer.  
e. Identifying incentives provided by developed countries to promote technology transfer.  
f. Empowering  micro, small, and medium --sized enterprises (MSMEs) in technology transfer.  
g. Studying the effects of patents on prices and welfare, particularly in pharmaceuticals 
including therapeutics and diagnostics.  
406.  We also encourage Members to share their domestic ex periences on trade and transfer of 
technology, fostering knowledge exchange and best practices. To facilitate these discussions, it is 
essential to collaborate with external  organizations such as the WIPO, FAO, and the World Bank. 
Their expertise and persp ectives can contribute significantly to the development of recommendations 
on trade and transfer of technology.  Moreover, we recognize the crucial role of stakeholders, 
including academic institutions and the private sector, in technology transfer. Their i nput and 
experiences can inform our discussions and help us better understand the practices employed to 
transfer  of technology, particularly to companies in developing countries.  
407.  This communication, along with specific issue -based submissions, will contrib ute to a 
comprehensive examination of this vital subject. Together, we can harness the potential of 
technology to promote resilience, prosperity, and more equitable development for all WTO Members. 
The A frican Group proposes the immediate reinvigoration of discussions on trade and transfer of 
technology within the WTO and particularly  within the Council for TRIPS. We look forward to fruitful 
deliberations on the proposed themes and outcomes, and we are committed to c ontributing actively 
to this important agenda.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 67 - 
 
  14.2  India  
408.  Thank you, Chair, for this opportunity to introduce our submission document JOB/IP/70 . The 
COVID -19 pandemic has highlighted the adverse impact of intellect ual property monopolies on the 
availability and affordability and equitable access of life -saving health technologies, particularly in 
developing and least -developed countries. During MC12, WTO Members recognized the importance 
of a robust framework for th e transfer of crucial health technologies to developing countries in a 
timely and equitable manner.  
409.  Similarly, IP monopolies present barriers to the transfer of environmentally sustainable 
technologies, or ESTs , to developing countries, which are essential  to effectively address climate 
change. As explained by the United Nations Environment Program me, ESTs are technologies that 
have the potential for significantly improved environmental performance relative to other 
technologies and  can also be defined as t otal systems that include know -how, procedures, goods 
and services, and equipment, as well as organizational and managerial procedures for promoting 
environmental sustainability.  
410.  We see a plethora of unilateral trade measures currently being undertaken by many 
WTO Members in the name of climate change or environment. These measures tend to use a stick 
approach to penalize the developing countries for being a few steps behind the developed countries 
in their journey towards prosperity. These measures do not foster a spirit of international 
collaboration, and often tend to be more trade restrictive than necessary in achieving their stated 
trade and environment objectives.  
411.  We seek to move away from this unilateral approach and shine the spotlight on the key iss ue 
faced by developing countries. This key issue is lack of optimal finance at affordable rate and for the 
right duration, lack of access to the right technology, and lack of capacities, which can help combat 
the global climate change and environmental iss ues. There have been solutions proposed on these 
fronts in the multilateral environment agreements. However, the commitments made by the 
developed countries in these Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs ) have largely remained 
on paper, and the instr umentality of their operationalization has been in serious doubt.  
412.  The challenge of developing green or environmentally sound technologies and of disseminating 
them to where they are needed the most brings intellectual property, too, to the forefront of the  
discussion. The TRIPS Agreement, as enumerated in Article 7, is expected to contribute not only to 
the promotion of technological innovation, but also to the transfer and dissemination of technology 
in a way that benefits all stakeholders. As incentives a re needed for companies and institutions to 
invest in research and development in the relevant technologies, an effective and robust framework 
is needed to support the diffusion and transfer of such technologies.  
413.  The flexibilities, therefore, in the TRIPS Agreement are significant, though insufficient for 
affordable access to ESDs. IP monopolies tend to impede the transfer of technology to developing 
countries, as the bargaining power is tipped in favour of the IP owners, who gets to dictate aspects 
like th e cost of the proprietary product and the countries and manufacturers covered by the licensing 
agreement. Developing countries do not have the necessary institutional and financial resources to 
negotiate licensing agreements under such prohibitive terms, m aking access to technology difficult. 
While compulsory licensing, too, has its own limitations, as it does not include the know -how 
associated with a patent, which is protected as a trade secret. Additionally, many developing 
countries encounter legal, tec hnical, and institutional barriers in issuing compulsory licences  within 
their own systems.  
414.  The TRIPS Agreement has certain non -binding provisions that relate to facilitating technology 
transfer, like the preamble to the TRIPS Agreement, Article 7, 8.2, an d Article 40. However, these 
provisions have, by and large, failed to increase technology flows to developing countries due to 
their non -binding nature. In the same way in share, Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement calls upon 
developed countries to grant i ncentives to their firms to facilitate technology transfer to LDCs. 
However, LDCs, as we  have heard, have repeatedly called for the effectiveness of this provision, 
citing the lack of technology transfer from developed countries, despite its mandatory natu re. 
415.  Additionally, the TRIPS Agreement lacks a general exceptions clause, which can be found in 
the GATT and GATS. Instead, it only has a narrowly defined security exception, which restricts IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 68 - 
 
  Members ' ability to waive their obligations under the agreement fo r public policy purposes. Through 
this paper, we urge the WTO Members to consider a MC13 declaration or an outcome document 
paragraph on transfer of ESDs for addressing climate change. This MC13 outcome can then lead to 
a work program, which can address th e following interventions:  
a. First, financial mechanisms.  
b. Secondly, database for ESDs and link with the technology transfer platform.  
c. Third, streamlining licensing practices.  
d. And fourthly, enabling developing countries to use TRIPS flexibilities.  
416.  While these  are preliminary ideas for a work program, and we are open to discussing the 
design of the work program post -MC13, the discussions on climate change and TRIPS are not new 
in this Council and in the WTO as well. To explain that the ideas presented in paper represent a 
continuity of discussions in the WTO as well as MEAs, the paper lists the previous discussions on 
technology transfer for addressing climate change in great detail.  
417.  We look forward to constructive engagement on this paper with all WTO Members and hope 
that those who embarked on their development journey ahead of the developing Members will not 
shy away from using these WTO levers to push for real solutions to a crisis of global commons. 
Finally, we encourage all Members to go through our  submission and provide us their valuable 
feedback. This paper  is also being discussed in WTT and the CTE and has received a very positive 
response from membership, and we are thankful for that. We will be delighted to have more 
co-sponsors for this paper as our discussions on MC13 outcomes evolve and mature.  
14.3  Bangladesh  
418.  Bangladesh delivers this statement in its national capacity. Our  delegation thanks the 
African  Group for its communication ( document  IP/C/W/700  and IP/C/W/701 ) on the role of transfer 
of technology. We appreciate the communication IP/C/W/700  for proposing practical approach 
sharing of the experience and ideas among Members on the role of technology transfer in resilience 
building, particularly  for trade. The submission also elaborates its objective clearly. There are several 
key themes identified by the proponents as possible fields of technology transfer and cooperation. 
The thematic discussions target priority areas like TRIPS,  public health,  trade facilitation, agriculture 
and food security, climate change,  e-Commerce  including the cross -cutting role of the ICT and so 
on. We are convinced that there will be more such topics in future as we continue discussion.  
419.  Our delegation welcomes the modalities proposed by the proponents to make progress through 
examination, analysis, assessment, and experience sharing on technology transfer where 
governments and private sectors have important stakes. Exchanges of ideas will  help us make 
informed decisions. Likewise, we also appreciate the proposal for collaboration of WTO with the 
relevant IGOs, for example with FAO and WIPO. In future, the list could include other relevant 
organizations like ITU, ITC and so on. Proposal to listen to the academia and private sector for 
informed dialogue is helpful. However, we are mindful of the external stakeholder 's engagement in 
the works of the WTO.  
420.  Bangladesh also welcomes the African group 's document IP/C/W/701  proposal that proposes 
discussions at the Council  for TRIPS  to harness the potential of WTO instruments like 
TRIPS  Agreement  to render technologies accessible and affordable on fair and reasonable terms. 
With the same spirit, Bangladesh appreciates India 's communication  (document JOB/IP/70 ) that 
proposes exploratory discussions on how the IPR system can be operationalized in the best way 
possible with regard to transfer of environmentally sound technologies for developing countries to 
address climate change. This is a timely proposal. O ur capital is currently examining this.  
421.  On the way forward, for the three papers under this item, we know  that the proposals are 
doable. A precise pathway may be worked out and agreed by Members to attain progress on this 
issue between MC13 and  MC14. Our delegation  looks forward to working actively with the proponents 
and other interested delegations.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 69 - 
 
  14.4  Brazil  
422.  We would like to thank both South Africa and India for their papers which have been also  
examined in other bodies here at the WTO and it is in our view that intellectual property rights should 
contribute have an important role in term of transfer and dissemination of new technologies 
particularly in the environmental area. And I think it is i mportant for the Council for TRIPS to see 
and examine on how IP can make those technologies more accessible particularly to the developing 
world. And it is important also to see this issue from the perspective  of the IP rights here at the 
Council for TRIPS  in connection to other discussions related to subsidies and other exceptional 
measures that are being discussed within the WTO . Because  if we are trying to envisage an 
exceptional regime vis à vis  some particular areas we think the general WTO normative b uilding, we 
should also see it then vis à vis  its implications to IP rights  – and that we can think of in several 
ways. For example, if a good is produced based on exceptional rules under the subsidies agreement, 
what would be the potential implications to the IP rights in terms of time, in terms of disclosure of 
information and sufficiency of information . The fact that the new good was produced on the basis of 
an exception to another WTO rule in terms of subsidies, for example, should also have implications 
for the general IP rights. So , I think it is interesting also to connect exceptions that are being 
discussed in othe r bodies here at the WTO, particularly when we are talking about the environment, 
to look at them also from the perspective of IP rights.  
14.5  China  
423.  China holds a positive and open attitude towards the communica tion raised by the 
African  Group regarding the re -invigoration on trade and technology transfer within the 
TRIPS  Council and other relevant WTO bodies. China calls upon all Members to review the feasibility 
and find specific ways -out of utilizing technolog y transfer to assist developing Members in achieving 
development and addressing challenges, taking consideration of the new dynamics and challenges 
with regard to  the global economic development  recently . Hence , the trade and technology transfer 
could beco me an important part in the outcomes of the MC13  in regard to the development areas . 
14.6  United States of America  
424.  We thank the African Group for its papers and its engagement in other WTO Cou ncils on this 
topic. We also thank India for its recent communication. It is valuable to talk about how Members 
differ in their goals and policy approaches. By doing so, we can better identify specific opportunities 
to address particular development needs,  to address the impacts of unfair trade practices on 
development, and to avoid enabling Members with significant market shares to take advantage of 
flexibilities that they do not need.  
425.  We must make clear that no discussion of additional flexibility is poss ible if that additional 
flexibility would uniformly apply to all self -declared developing country Members. I would also like 
to refer to our intervention on agenda item 11, where we detailed the efforts of the 
United  States  of America to foster the necessa ry environment to encourage the effective and 
voluntary transfer of technology to LDC Members on mutually agreed terms. The United States 
believes that for TRIPS Article 66.2 to function effectively, there must be a robust dialogue between 
developed countr ies and LDC Members so that we can remain responsive to the self -identified 
technology transfer interests and needs of LDC Members. The United States encourages LDCs to 
have conversations with us about environmentally sound technologies if that is how they  would like 
us to prioritize our Article 66.2 activities.  
14.7  Japan  
426.  We would like to express our appreciation to African Group 's efforts for their submissions of 
proposals. Japan attaches the importance to the discussion based on facts and evidence, and 
welcomes sharing of the experiences and observations to identify challenges in the existing 
mechanisms of technology transfer referred  in the document IP/C/W/701 . In addition, the role of 
IP in technology transfer licensing or technology information differs depending on the characteristics 
on areas of the technology or market, and we believe those differences should be taken into 
consideration in the discussi on regarding their proposals. Japan appreciates the contributions made 
by India through its submission of document JOB/IP/70 . We also understand the importance of 
addressing climate change.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 70 - 
 
  427.  On the other hand, we doubt the appropriateness of the arguments presen ted in ANNEX 1 of 
this paper as the possible MC13 outcomes. For example, the section on "Database for ESTs and link 
with a Technology Transfer platform ", paragraphs 9 -16 of ANNEX 1, proposed establishment of a 
WTO web portal to provide information on envir onmental technologies and create synergies with 
existing platforms. However, the purpose and structure of the WTO platform is unclear in this 
proposal. In addition, as mentioned in this paper, various platforms including WIPO GREEN are being 
developed. Tak ing into account this situation, the WTO web portal proposed in this paper should 
avoid functional overlap with such existing platforms. Also, it is proposed to include a section on 
'Enabling Developing Countries to use TRIPS Flexibilities ' in paragraphs 2 5-27 of ANNEX 1, but Japan 
cannot support the inclusion of such content in the post -MC13 roadmap.  
428.  Intellectual Property plays a central role in incentivizing Research and Development, and 
adequate Intellectual Property protection is an essential element to  facilitate sustainable technology 
transfer by private entities. Undermining the protection of intellectual property rights for ESTs 
through measures such as exemption from patentability or waiver of patents, as mentioned in 
ANNEX  1, would reduce incentive s for Research and Development in environmental technologies and 
could also discourage companies from investing in environmental technologies. In other words, such 
measures would be counterproductive for the development of environmental technologies and th e 
promotion of technology transfer.  Japan believes that the appropriateness of the arguments 
presented in ANNEX 1, including other issues, should be carefully considered.  
14.8  European Union  
429.  The E uropea n Union wants to thank the African Group for their Communications on the role of 
transfer of technology in resilience building. We would like also to thank India for the 
document  JOB/IP/70  which we are currently analysing. The EU is committed to foster innovati on as 
well as promote and facilitate technology dissemination. To that end, the EU and its member States 
actively promote and finance technology transfer programmes worldwide.  For example, the EU is 
the biggest donor to the UN Climate Technology Centre and  Network which helps developing 
countries to develop and deploy climate friendly technologies. In the context of the WTO, as other 
developed Members, the EU, and its member States , provide multiple technology transfers 
programmes, in particular to least developed countries, in areas such as health, climate change or 
agriculture.  
430.  The submissions of the African Group in the variety of fields show that technology transfer is 
a complex matter which require adequate conditions to be successful. One of them, also discussed 
at the Informal Thematic Session of 28 September  2023, is an effective national and international 
Intellectual Property framework. Such framework not only foster innovat ion but also creates a 
platform for cooperation and investment between technology providers and recipients, based on 
legal certainty, predictability,  and mutual trust.  In addition to an effective IP framework, a successful 
technology transfer requires that  the recipient has the capacity to apply the new technology in 
practice, which was also confirmed at the Informal Thematic Session in September  2023.  
431.  Therefore, a successful use of a new technology involves, among other things, adequate 
infrastructure and  production system, education,  and training of personnel, usually on an ongoing 
basis, openness to international trade and investment as well as predictability of regulatory and legal 
frameworks and enabling governmental policies.  The EU shares the premise  of the African Group 
submissions that the transfer of technology is an important element to address existing global 
challenges. Therefore, the EU is open to discussions - in the relevant WTO bodies – on how to build 
or boost partnerships that result in su ccessful technology transfers, what are the most efficient ways 
of incentivising technology transfer  are or how to enhance absorption capacities of beneficiary 
countries.  
432.  In our view, t his discussion should focus on  a thorough analysis of practical example s and best 
practices of partnerships that lead to successful technology transfers, as well as those which did not 
produce satisfactory results. We have a vast set of collaborations to look into, from the partnerships 
formed during the COVID -19 pandemic, to  other, dedicated to green or digital transformations. In 
this context, it would be particularly useful to learn from the beneficiary countries, based on their 
experiences, or approaches that  are the most effective in terms of technology transfer and capac ity 
building, and those that  did not result in satisfactory outcomes.  Such thorough assessment and 
in-depth discussions among Members on the complex underlying themes, real -life examples, best 
practices and multiple factors at play is required before we ca n draw any conclusions on why under IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 71 - 
 
  which conditions technology transfer works and under which it does not, and before we make any 
recommendation on the way forward.  We look forward to continuing to engage with the African 
Group, India and all Members on t hese important topics.   
14.9  India  
433.  India would like to compliment Africa Group for their recent comprehensive submissions on 
this issue. This issue has gained renewed significance, especially in the current context of the global 
polycrisis. This discussion is a cross -cutting one, and we suggest that the possibility of having a joint 
session of various bodies aiming for cross -pollination of our work could be explored.  
434.  Indeed, a technology transfer plays a prom inent role in the development of inclusive trade and 
integration of developing countries, including the LDCs, in the multilateral trading system and global 
value chains. We welcome the suggestions made in this submission that proposes ways of taking 
this d iscussion further by way of experience -sharing, collaboration with relevant international 
organizations and collaboration among stakeholders, including an outcome at MC13 with some 
possible recommendations for the future. In any discussion on technology tr ansfer, there is a need 
to explore the possibilities of Article 66.2 of TRIPS, which mandates the developed Members to 
incentivize enterprises and institutions in their territories for promoting and encouraging technology 
transfer to LDCs.  
435.  Any discussion to further the technology transfer thus must focus on how Members can 
implement and operationalize the obligations under Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. My 
delegation remains interested and open to further in -depth and granular discussi ons on the 
technology transfer issue.  
14.10   Switzerland  
436.  Switzerland would like to thank the African group and India for their communications 
documents IP/C/W/700 , IP/C/W/701 and JOB/IP/70 , addressing the highly important but vast topic 
of technology transfer. As this delegation noted at the informal Council for TRIPS  meeting on 
9 October  2023 and at the more recent meeting of the Working Group o n Trade and Transfer of 
Techno logy: it is the interaction – and combination - of many factors which determine whether a 
specific market or country provides a conducive business environment which will attract technology 
transfer.  Among these factors are:  
a. a viable business opportunity,  
b. presence of the necessary infrastructure  
c. the availability of qualified personnel,  
d. sufficient absorption capacity of the relevant market,  
e. a well -functioning, reliable, safe and enforceable regulatory framework in fields such as 
direct investment, financin g, customs, tax and - the availability of adequate and effective 
protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs).  
437.  IPRs do play an important role in managing the contractual relationship between the transferor 
of the technology and the transferee by esta blishing the legal rights and obligations of the parties, 
enabling them to build a solid and trusted relationship. I refer to the relevant points my delegation 
made in this respect in our statement under  agenda items 3 and 13  but which are in fact applicab le 
also more generally to the domain of technology transfer.  The absence or suspension of IP protection 
will not, in the view of this delegation,  contribute to technology transfer or pr omote it, indeed to the 
contrary . Ultimately, it is regularly the priva te sector, which is the holder of technology. They will 
decide, and they need in fact to  careful ly analysis and on the basis of the factors just referred to, 
where and with whom the sharing of their technology is promising a viable and mutually beneficial 
partnership.  
438.  We agree that there is still a lot to be learned about the factors that matter in practice for 
technology transfer  to actually happen , the interaction of these factors and what really matters for IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 72 - 
 
  partnerships in practice when sharing technolog y and  know -how between each other . Therefore, 
additional analysis, exchanging views and sharing experience  among Members  is useful in order to 
gather and discuss evidence, and get a better understanding on the relationship between national 
and internationa l trade rules and technology transfer.  
439.  These discussions should build on, and not duplicate, discussions ongoing in other bodies  or 
outside this organisation. As concerns the work of the Council for TRIPS, I refer to the vast body of 
information containe d in Members ' reports under Art icle 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement in relation to 
technology transfer  to LDCs and also the information resulting from the annual workshops held for 
a number of years now.  
440.  As concerns the Indian submission discussing more specifically T echnology Transfer  in the area 
of Environmentally  Safe Technologies , I refer for the WTO to the CTE and the WGTT  – the work ing 
group in technology transfer . Outside the WTO the UNFCCC, the United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change should be mentioned , which has established a specific mechanism 
for the transfer of EST relevant technology and holds discussions on cli mate change and technology 
transfer on a regular basis.  As concerns the Council for TRIPS, it seems important to this delegation 
to also learn from the experience of the private sector, as they are the holders and transferors of 
technology. Listening to th em will allow to discern what matters in practice and in the real world.  
441.  Finally, we note that the communications from the African Group and India also address a 
number of issues that are beyond the intellectual property and outside the domain of this Coun cil. 
These should be discussed in the relevant WTO bodies. I already referred to the Committee on Trade 
and Environment, given that this committee is the relevant body to conduct substantial discussions 
on trade and environment issues. The discussions ther e and in this Council need to be given the 
necessary time before recommendations can be contemplated.  
14.11   Nigeria  
442.  We welcome the statements made by South Africa on behalf of the African Group with respect  
to the proposal. We also thank the delegation of India for their proposal. We are of the view that 
technology transfer plays a crucial role in resilience building. The deficiency of relevant technologies 
due to its concentration in one part of the world, continue to negatively impact on the developing 
countries that require technologies to save lives and ensure food  security  and implement various 
policies. The impact of evidence at the peak of the COVID -19 as we witnessed that no country was 
spared from th e crisis that ensued from the COVID -19 pandemic  which became a shared global 
problem.  
443.  Due to the lessons learned , as a result of the  COVID -19 pandemic, technology transfer to 
developing countries has become even more urgent to ensure preparedness in future  medical 
emergencies. Therefore, there is value in reinvigorating the discussions at the Council for TRIPS  on 
trade and transfer of technology in the area including pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. The 
TRIPS flexibilities contained in the T RIPS Agreement  warrants a review to ensure that they are 
effective and fit for purpose and that they are easily accessible to developing countries and LDCs to 
support their efforts to build resilience and ensure preparedness in the case of a global crisis. In 
addition, to ensure food security towards building resilience in the case of global emergencies, many 
developing countries like Nigeria require technology transfer to ensure a smooth transition to 
mechanised farming so as to increase productivity and to reduce over -reliance on foreign imports of 
food.  
444.  Finally, technology transfer to assist developing countries and LDCs, in their various policies 
on climate change mitigation and adaptation, is an  important  factor to be explored in further 
discussions within the Counc il for TRIPS.  
14.12   Nepal  
445.  My delegation would like to thank African Group and India for their important submissions. We 
welcome the proposals. Our technology transfers play the important roles in the development 
process of LDCs. Therefore, we are urging for the adequate transfer of technology. The issues and 
areas identified in the papers presented today are relevant and important for the further discussions 
in the WTO relevant bodies, including th is Council . My delegation wishes to engage constructively.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 73 - 
 
  14.13   United Kingdom  
446.  The United Kingdom would like to thank the African Group and India for adding to the 
discussion on technology transfer, wh ich is a subject of growing importance at the WTO. We are 
currently still analysing the India paper and will feedback in due time. The UK has stressed that 
technology and innovation have a key role to play in achieving the sustainable development goals, 
and we recognise that developing countries often face barriers to adopting innovations.  
447.  We would like to ask the African Group and India to outline what they envision as next steps 
on deliberating tech transfer across the WTO, and in particular the role of the Working Group on 
Trade and Transfer of Technology in relation to the other committees. We have noted before that, 
while there is relevance to this Council as matters relate to IP, we must be cautious to not task this 
Council with matters outside of its  remit and expertise. We note that the Chair provided a similar 
steer yesterday, and we value her leadership . 
448.   Once again,  the UK invites all Members to engage with our paper on the subject, particularly 
developing and least developed Members, and share th eir national experiences to identify 
commonalities, understand different perspectives, and begin a dialogue. We also think it would aid 
discussions to have a shared understanding of what technology transfer means in a trade context, 
and in the context of t he WTO, given that it is such a broad and widely used term across several 
different issues and contexts.  
14.14   South Africa  
449.  Before responding to the specific question from the distinguished delegate of the U nited 
Kingdom , I want to thank all the colleagues for the useful feedback that was received. For us, really, 
this is the start of the conversation here in the Council  for TRIPS , and we value the feedback that 
was received here today. And i t is certainly, for us, the beginning rather than the end of the 
conversation, and we  have noted a great degree of openness from delegations across the board to 
share experiences, deliberate upon facts and evidence in this regard, and we thank delegations for 
that. 
450.  With regard to the UK, indeed, we thank you also for your paper, which I think we engaged 
with quite extensively today in this Council, as well as in the Working Group on Trade and Technology 
Transfer a couple of weeks ago. In terms of next steps , as we  have indicated, both in the Working 
Group on Trade and Technology Transfer and here in our closing remarks when we  were presenting 
the paper, we have an overarching paper in the Working Group on Trade and Technology Transfer 
that speaks to broader principles.  And then subject -specific papers, such as the one specific to the 
Council for TRIPS today. The idea is that the specific subsidiary bodies would deliberate upon the 
specificities in the various subject matter, such as, for instance,  in the CTE for environmental issues, 
in the COA  for agriculture issues, TRIPS for IP-related issues, etcetera, and that the Working Group 
on Technology Transfer, led by Professor Bo za, would play an overarching role  distilling the content 
of the discussions in the various committees and helping us to coordinate and take the work forward. 
So certainly,  for us, the work in this particular committee  and other subsidiary bodies would be 
complementary and feeding into the broader, overarching role of the Working Group on Trade and 
Technology Transfer.  
15  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS ' 
SUPPORT OF START -UPS OPERATING IN A CROSS -BORDER ENVIRONMENT.  
15.1  Switzerland  
451.  On behalf of the Friends of Intellectual Property ( IP) and Innovation  Group  (FOII), Switzerland 
is honoured  to introduce submission document IP/C/W/705  entitled "IP and innovation: Incubators 
and accelerators ' support of start -ups operating i n a cross -border environment ", as co -sponsored by 
Canada ; the European Union ; Hong Kong , China ; Japan ; Singapore ; the Separate Customs Territory 
of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu ; the United Kingdom ; and, the United States of America.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 74 - 
 
  452.  We recognize the importance of start -ups in fostering innovation and economic growth.2 
Figures from the O rganization for the Economic Cooperation and Development  show that companies 
younger than five years are responsible fo r nearly 50 % of new jobs created.3 We consider incubators 
and accelerators as critical support entities for these emerging companies. Start -ups set out with 
limited resources and require thus support from various stakeholders to develop and integrate into  
the cross -border economic marketplace. Incubators and accelerators have emerged as essential 
partners on this journey, and it is critical to understand their role, particularly when it comes to the 
support they provide in terms of intellectual property. I n this respect, the following questions may 
help Members to discuss this high -potential topic at this Council for TRIPS:  
1. What IP challenges do start -ups face when they are involved in cross -border collaboration?  
2. Do Members or their regional organizations h ave specific IP policies to encourage their 
start-ups to collaborate beyond national borders? If so, are incubators and accelerator 
programs part of these policies?  
3. Is IP one of the tools used by Members ' incubators/accelerators and, if so, does it play a 
role in cross -border collaboration and how?  
4. What types of restrictions may start -ups face if they wish to license their IP to foreign 
entities (or conversely, how is this facilitated by incubators/accelerators) ? 
5. Are the programs offered by the incubators a nd accelerators located in the territories of 
the Members strictly national or regional?  
6. If incubators are housed within universities, do these universities have collaboration 
programs with universities in other countries?  
7. What plans do incubators and acce lerators have to better support start -ups in terms of 
IP? 
453.  The co -sponsors of this submission hope that there will be a good exchange of experiences 
between Members  today at this meeting . I would now like to deliver Switzerland 's intervention.  
454.  In Switzerlan d, entrepreneurs can benefit from various types of incubators and accelerators . 
So, as you can see on this map, we have a very lively ecosystem and incubators and accelerators. 
It is not an exhaustive list, but you can find it and sorry, the slide is a lit tle bit small, but you can 
find it on this map at the top right. At the government -funded  Innosuisse4 , for example, start -ups 
can benefit from mentoring or work on joint projects with research partners. Incubators and 
accelerators also exist at universit ies in Switzerland . As an example, the Swiss Federal Institute of 
Technology Lausanne (EPFL) offers to its student entrepreneurs a fast -deploying startup program 
called Blaze Startup Accelerator, which is by the way mentioned in our FOII Submission. It 
specifically targets technology start -ups launched at EPFL and provides them access to a vibrant 
network, mentorship, guidance, coaching, and funding. Blaze Startup Accelerator is part of the 
"Startup Launchpad " of EPFL , which is a comprehensive multi -service s initiative that provides 
entrepreneurs with the skills and resources they need to launch and grow their start -ups.5 Due to 
the high percentage of international students at these universities, these entities have a  real 
international impact.6 
455.  For Switze rland, incubators and accelerators play a key role in supporting start -ups, 
particularly when it comes to IP protection and management. Some Swiss incubators offer training 
programs on IP management and strategy development.7 This helps align the IP roadm ap with one 's 
 
2 E.g. p. 40: https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/dam/sbfi/de/dokument e/webshop/2021/startup -
oekosystem.pdf.download.pdf/dok1.pdf  
3 https://economiesuisse.ch/de/print/pdf/node/47225 ; p. 2.  
4 https://www.innosuisse.ch/inno/de/home/forderung -fur-internationale -projekte/eureka.html ; 
https://www.innosuisse.ch/inno/en/home/support -for-start-ups.html  
5 https://www.epfl.ch/innovation/startup/  
6 https://ethz.ch/en/the -eth-zurich/education/figures.html  
7https://www.venturelab.swiss/index.cfm?cx=002234294460331172355%3Adm8h3cxt_ee&cof=FORID
%3A10&ie=UTF -8&page=137617&q=ip  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 75 - 
 
  business plan and the market position of competitors.8 Start-ups can also benefit from 
industry -specific workshops on types of IP protection, such as in software or life sciences. Some 
Swiss accelerators provide access to legal experts and IP consultants who can help start -ups 
navigate complex IP issues (such as enforcement of these rights in case of infringement).9 
Ultimately, these programs empower start -ups to overcome the hurdles presented by differences in 
legal systems, language barriers and cultural differences by providing start -ups with access to legal 
experts, language services, and cultural training .10 
456.  To conclude , from our perspective, incubators and accelerators are critical for start -ups to 
protect their ideas and foster international collaboration. Switzerland 's diversity of incubators and 
accelerators landscape is a testament to our commitment to helpi ng start -ups grow, bridge borders 
and connect globally. Incubators and accelerators help start -ups to be better positioned to succeed 
in a global environment, which in turn benefits both the local economy and the global innovation 
community. That is why it  is important for start -ups to know more about the existence of these IP 
programs and to have access to them. More could be done to support incubators and accelerators 
themselves to develop even better IP coaching. We are particularly looking forward to he aring from 
other Members experience and from WIPO, which will be presenting today its thoughts and actions 
in this area.  
15.2  United States  of America  
457.  The United States of America thanks Switzerland  for drafting today 's discussion paper. We 
look forward to hearing more from Members on the unique opportunities that start -ups and 
incubators offer for innovators and innovation in cross -border environments. As the paper notes, 
many new entrepreneurs are unaware of their options when it comes to IP protection as well as the 
potential benefits it can yield for their product or business. Others lack resources in pursuing such 
protection. Regarding startup resources generally, the US Patent and Trademark Offi ce (USPTO) 
offers a hub for startup resources that can help address intellectual property challenges specific to 
startups, including securing funding and guarding against costly infringement litigation.  
458.  The USPTO also offers a wealth of information on IP f undamentals, such as filing a patent or 
registering a trademark, specific to inventors and entrepreneurs. While start -up support offered by 
the US Government is generally geared towards US companies, there are a variety of resources to 
assist US companies,  including startups, in doing business abroad. For example, IP Attachés located 
in posts around the world provide assistance in all areas of IP to US rights holders. This includes 
entering new foreign markets, resolving issues related to obtaining IP right s in foreign jurisdictions, 
and helping address IP enforcement challenges abroad. Likewise, the US International Trade 
Administration maintains a series of IP toolkits, featuring specific industries and specific countries, 
to assist companies doing busines s with a particular country or seeking to enter a particular market.  
459.  In terms of accelerators, some, like the Small Business Administration 's Growth Accelerator 
Fund, are directed towards startups in the United States. The Growth Accelerator Fund targets t he 
unique needs of innovative pre -revenue, science and technology focused startups, with the aim to 
ensure the next generation of science and technology -based innovations develop into thriving 
businesses.  
460.  Others are open to international applicants. The p ublic-private partnership LAUNCH was 
founded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of State 
together with NASA and NIKE. The LAUNCH program helps identify and foster breakthrough ideas 
for a more sustainable world.  LAUNCH Innovators gain access to a world -class network of investors, 
pioneering companies and mentors from our LAUNCH partners – including IKEA, NIKE, eBay, and 
other leading global organizations  help scale their innovations. This network of industry profess ionals 
helps innovations succeed and achieve sustainable growth.  In 2018, the LAUNCH program saw 
125 applications from 36 countries.  
461.  In terms of private accelerators, start -ups have a wealth of opportunities in the US, with many 
offering funding, physical office space, and mentorship opportunities  which also come with IP 
 
8https://www.venturelab.swiss/index.cfm?page=137303&event_id=9942&cfid=144999959&cftoken=36
38231f17fe4cba -68460ADF -B079-3611-95A5616CC2D53C01  
9 https://www.innosuisse.ch/inno/de/home/begleitung -von-start-ups/startup -coaching.html  
10 https://inc42.com/resources/incubators -accelerators -can-facilitate -cross-border -partnerships/  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 76 - 
 
  training . Many offer assistance and opportunities for both US and non -US based innovators, and still 
others partner with other countries through various programs. For example, Tech Ranch, a n 
accelerator based in Austin, Texas is a venture accelerator comprised of a global ecosystem of 
entrepreneurs, businesses, investors and community leaders.  In 2019, Tech Ranch launched a 
partnership with the Federal Government of Mexico and university Tecnológico de Monterrey  and 
INCmt to help Mexico 's most promising entrepreneurs grow their innovative technology start -ups in 
the United States. The Innovation Bridge Mexico -Austin amplified 10 Impact Innovation start -ups 
by giving them the opportunity to co me to Austin, T exas, and access resources, introductions, and 
entrepreneur education necessary to grow their ventures and solve global issues.  
462.  In addition, Capria Ventures is a Seattle -based investment firm and accelerator program 
focusing on emerging mark ets. It focuses on investing in tech startups in the entrepreneurial 
hotspots of India, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.  Finally, 500 Global is a large venture 
capital firm that invests in founders building fast -growing technology companies. Locat ed in 
25 countries, it has established partnerships with Cambodia, Egypt, Georgia, and Saudi Arabia, 
among others.  Start-ups, particularly those focused on new technologies, often have products and 
services that are global in nature, and can likewise benefit from local and global expertise. This 
handful of examples illustrate that startups, wherever they are located, have access to both public 
and private resources and opportunities.  
15.3  United Kingdom  
463.  The United Kingdom would like to thank the Chair for this opportunity to share our experiences 
of the "Role of intellectual property in Incubators and Accelerators across borders " and our 
colleagues in Switzerland for drafting this interesting and informative the paper. The UK has an 
ambition to ensure that the IP system supports and inspires innovators, creators and entrepreneurs 
so they, and society, get the most out of their ideas both in the UK and internationally. We want 
businesses to recognis e IP as a valuable asset and take effective strategic decisions about managing 
and using their IP to help their business thrive and grow.  
464.  To achieve this, the UK Government works with innovation and business support providers 
across the UK to embed IP supp ort within their business and innovation programmes. This approach 
ensures businesses can access the right IP information at the right time in their development, so 
they can make informed decisions about their IP assets.  Research -based spin -out technologie s and 
companies form an important part of the economy and the long -term plan to create innovation -led 
growth. UK universities are at the centre of research and development and innovation, and the UK 
Government works with universities, inventors, founders a nd entrepreneurs to support taking 
innovations to market to increase socio -economic benefit.  
465.  Internationally, the UK Government supports UK exporters and helps to shape international IP 
systems that work for UK businesses. We provide support to UK business es to develop, protect and 
commercialise their IP in overseas markets. Last year, we updated our business support work into 
the new International IP Service – a comprehensive resource, ranging from country specific IP guides 
to direct business support from  our network of IP attachés. The International IP Service aims to 
encourage businesses to "know before you go " so that they understand the steps they should take 
to protect IP before entering the market. To support this, we have also developed guidance and  
training for business advisors through an IP Masterclass and online training resources. The UK 
Government also provides funding to innovative SMEs on innovation programmes so they can access 
IP professional advice to grow their business.  
466.  Our aim has been  to integrate IP into policy thinking at regional and national levels, to ensure 
that decision makers recognise the importance of IP to businesses and both local and national 
economies. Our approach has allowed us to build strong and effective partnerships  and embed IP 
across multiple ecosystems.  
15.4  Japan  
467.  Thank you for the opportunity to share our experiences and national policies regarding this 
agenda item. First of all, we would like to thank the delegation of Swit zerland for introducing our 
concept paper.  As stated in the concept paper, Japan considers the development of start -ups as 
important to the facilitation of agile and flexible innovation, and recognizes the importance of support IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 77 - 
 
  for those that are resource limited. In addition, as further stated in the concept paper, intellectual 
property can be useful for such start -ups to not only protect and promote their products but also 
attract investments by presenting their potential value.  
468.  In other words, investors can make safe investments by IP that serves as a benchmark in an 
evaluation of a start -up's technology and its potential value, and also provides exclusive protection. 
Furthermore, IP enables start -ups whose major assets consist only of few inventions or i deas not 
only to attract investments, but also to safely disclose their information to investors or major 
companies, and negotiate with them on equal footing.  In this regard, in addition to the government, 
Japanese universities and private companies have b een offering a variety of incubation and 
acceleration programs.  
469.  As start -ups frequently lack sufficient financial or human resources, despite their 
understanding of the importance of IP, it is quite often not realistic for them to obtain IP rights that 
cover the entire scope of their business. Even if they do acquire some of the IP rights they seek, 
they will have difficulty in assessing or determining what kinds of and how many rights they should 
obtain, and how to make full use of their rights. This indic ates that start -ups need an effective IP 
strategy compared to larger businesses.  In this context, the government of Japan not only develops 
and improves comprehensive support for start -ups, but also, especially with respect to IP, conducts 
initiatives that  enable start -ups to build IP strategies that fit their business strategy, as well as 
promoting effective investment in start -ups through strengthening connections between investors 
and IP and other experts.  
470.  Today we would like to introduce an overview of these initiatives.  Firstly, I would like to 
mention an initiative called "Global Acceleration Hub " which is led by a government -related entity, 
JETRO, the Japan External Trade Organization. This program offers vast support for Japanese 
start-up companies t hat intend to expand overseas or seek funding from overseas, including 
providing office space, consultation opportunities with mentors such as entrepreneurs or investors 
all over the world, and financial and strategic advice for start -ups. Furthermore, thi s program also 
offers field -specific or geographically specific expansion support programs, that enable tailor -made 
support to fulfil the various needs of start -ups. 
471.  Secondly, I would like to look at two IP -focused acceleration programs provided by the 
Japanese government.  Considering that intellectual property such as new technology or ideas plays 
a core role in a start -up's business, the Japan Patent Office launched a program called 'IPAS', the 
Intellectual Property Acceleration program for Startups, to help start -up companies establish an 
effective IP strategy linked to their business strategy.  In this program, after selecting a target 
start-up company via application, a mentoring team composed of a business expert and an IP expert 
is sent t o the target company. The mentoring team consults with the start -up to build up an IP 
strategy based on its business strategy, encouraging them to accelerate growth by making strategic 
use of IP.  
472.  Because of the intensive and tailor -made support needed for each start -up the number of 
target companies is limited. Even so, this program has supported dozens of start -ups in filing 
hundreds of patent applications since its launch in 2018, and a number of achievements have been 
made. Furthermore, in addition to th e advantage to the start -ups themselves, it is also expected 
that experts can develop their skills and gain a deeper understanding of both business management 
and IP through working with other experts from different fields. IPAS also provides a knowledge 
sharing program and a case study booklet in which experts share their knowledge and experience 
acquired through the IPAS mentoring process. We believe this program will be useful in facilitating 
future incubation  and acceleration activities that involve IP strategy.  
473.  The other IP -focused acceleration program launched this year, is called "VC-IPAS, " Venture 
Capital collaborating on Intellectual Property Acceleration program for Start -ups. It has a similar 
name to IPAS but in this program, IP experts are sent to venture capital firms where they provide 
support to investors in developing IP strategies specifically for start -ups. Which means, experts 
collaborate with investors in supporting investee start -ups before and after investment by helping 
them establish an IP strategy consistent with their marketing strategy. This will provide safer 
investment o pportunities for investors through IP due diligence based on the experts ' research, and 
facilitate connections between investors and IP experts. If an investor, through these experiences, 
becomes an accelerator able to provide more effective support for st art-ups, this would be beneficial 
for both the investor and start -ups. IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 78 - 
 
  474.  As well as those listed above, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan publishes 
a list of support programs and initiatives for start -ups including help with government fun ding, tax 
or acceleration programs, so users can make a choice of support programs that best suit their 
purposes.  In conclusion, i t goes without saying that the development of start -ups is essential for 
agile innovation, and effective supports from incubat ors and accelerators play a crucial role in 
achieving such development. We would like to emphasize that the IP system can play a major role 
in accelerating this process. We believe that the initiatives we mentioned here are some of the ways 
that IP can be utilized to facilitate the rapid and efficient growth of start -ups. We understand that 
the significance of IP for start -ups holds true all the more for the countries which are now in the 
process of economic development. We hope that this presentation will be useful for other Members, 
and we look forward to listening to their experiences as well.  
15.5  Singapore  
475.  I would like to thank Switzerland for preparing and introducing  the paper on behalf of the 
co-sponsors  and for the Members who earlier shared their experiences . This is a topic that resonates 
strongly with Singapore given that we are home to 252 incubators and accelerators which support 
a large number of our more than 4,000 startups.  According to the Singapore  Intellectual Property 
(IP) Survey conducted in 2023, one in three companies seek to expand into other ASEAN countries. 
However, more than 60% of them face significant IP -related challenges. Their top three IP -related 
challenges include the high costs of o btaining IP protection, counterfeiting issues, and navigating 
individual requirements of IP offices abroad. Some of these challenges start -ups and enterprises 
face in their business journey can be supported by incubators and accelerators, which provide 
start-ups with key support infrastructure, networks and resources.  
476.  Recognising the growing importance of IP to enterprises, incubators and accelerators in 
Singapore have included IP or Intangible Assets (IA) elements in their support rendered to start -ups. 
The Hatchery, Singapore 's leading incubator for agri -food technology, industrial & synthetic biology 
and human and veterinary sciences, offers start -ups services on IP and commercialisation strategies.  
Another example is SGInnovate, which is a deep tech ecos ystem builder and investor supported by 
the Singapore Government . SGI provides IP -related webinars to educate start -ups in their local and 
cross-border expansions.  
477.  Universities in Singapore also play a pivotal role in further developing Singapore 's innova tion 
ecosystem through establishing their own incubators and R&D commercialisation arms. The National 
University of Singapore 's entrepreneurial arm, NUS Enterprise, launched the Lean LaunchPad 
programme which helps research scientists and engineers commerc ialise their inventive 
technologies. In addition to providing entrepreneurial researchers with education on 
commercialisation of technologies, graduating teams are eligible for up to USD 10,000 in grants to 
support market validation work overseas, in pursu it of accessing overseas markets.  
478.  Start-ups wishing to collaborate beyond borders can also tap on Singapore 's extensive patent 
network and patent work -sharing programmes to gain competitive advantage globally. The Patent 
Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a work -sharing arrangement which helps businesses to use their 
patent search and examination (S&E) report from an earlier office to accelerate patent prosecution 
in another jurisdiction. This translates to a shorter time for patent grants and higher quality pate nts. 
Singapore has also established patent re -registration programmes and the Collaborative Search and 
Examination programme with several ASEAN partners, providing start -ups and enterprises with a 
variety of options that best suit their business needs. To date, IP Office of Singapore ( IPOS) has 
built networks with close to 40 markets, including the key IP markets like ASEAN, China, Europe, 
Japan, South Korea, and the USA.  
479.  Singapore remains committed to working with incubators, accelerators, and other partne rs in 
supporting start -ups in their cross -border collaboration efforts. We believe that developing our 
innovation ecosystem through collaboration between various stakeholders will enable us to forge 
ahead and help our start -ups overcome their unique challe nges.  
15.6  Chinese Taipei  
480.  Thank you, Chair, and colleagues, for giving us this opportunity of sharing our experience on 
this topic in today 's meeting.  The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 79 - 
 
  also appreciates Switzerland for drafting this informative paper.  The Separate Customs Territory of 
Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu encourages innovation and entrepreneurship, and strives to 
help startups access international resources. Our goals are to raise IP awareness and to resolve 
relevant issues for start -ups. 
481.  Funding shortages are a common problem in the early stages of a business. As patents are 
territorial rights, startups need to  file and obtain applications in each country to ensure protection 
for their innovation in that country or region. The cost of filing multiple applications is significant. 
Cross -border start -ups are often unfamiliar with foreign legal systems. To avoid dis putes, start -ups 
seek legal counsel for cross -border investment assessments. However, this places an extra financial 
burden on start -ups. 
482.  To raise IP awareness, incubators and accelerators mainly provide start -ups with training by 
inviting external experts  to give lectures on IP -related knowledge or encouraging their employees 
to join seminars and online courses offered by the government, as well as to obtain certifications. 
Incubators and accelerators also help arrange consultations for start -ups on how to  secure 
intellectual property rights and protect trade secrets.  With regard to patent licensing, university -
based  incubators can be seen as a good example. They will first make an inventory of patented 
technologies owned by themselves . Then, when a start -up is interested in using a particular 
technology, the university incubator will assist in patent licensing and cooperate on product 
innovation. If the start -up itself is the inventor, they will assist with application filing, portfolio 
management, and cros s-border market and product evaluation.  
483.  Through start -up industry clusters, our government assists start -ups to forge international 
collaborations. Local or overseas start -ups are able to partner with each other, exchange personnel 
training, explore opport unities to develop in different markets, and attract potential customers. Our 
government also regularly leads delegations composed of start -ups to participate in international 
events. We also cooperate with incubators and accelerators to help start -ups net work with 
multinational corporations, seek opportunities for exposure, and attract investment.  
484.  With the help of incubators and accelerators, our startups will be aware of the importance of 
IP, and therefore leverage IP effectively to facilitate cross -borde r cooperation. We look forward to 
learning from Members for sharing their policies and experiences on assisting incubators and 
accelerators to support cross -border start -ups. 
15.7  European Union  
485.  The E uropean Union delegation is very pleased to co -sponsor this agenda item . The EU would 
like first to thank the Swiss Delegation for its lead in the drafting of the document submitted today 
to the Council  for TRIPS  and we also thank the U nited States of America  more generally for their 
involvement in the coordination of the Group.  In our intervention in the last Council for TRIPS under 
the FOII item, we stressed that efficient intellectual assets management and protection are key to 
accelerate the uptake of innovativ e solutions and to develop new technologies, products, and 
services to address the most pressing societal challenges such as ensuring fair green and digital 
transitions.  
486.  In this context, start -ups play an essential role. They are viewed as engines of econo mic 
growth, with strong potential to address these key global challenges of digitalisation, green transition 
but also sustainability and industry competitiveness through innovation and the leveraging of 
cutting -edge technologies. In this respect, it is wor th recalling for example that the first and the 
most efficient vaccines (messenger RNA) against COVID -19 were developed by startups.  
487.  The paper presented today to the  Council  for TRIPS  together with the FOII members shows 
that start -ups play a key role in innovation. It shows also that IP rights ‒ specifically patents and 
trademarks ‒ play a role in facilitating access to finance for start -ups. The links between the filing 
of IPRs by startups and their success in raising capital are key for the economic dev elopment in 
general. Innovating startups have few assets apart from their intellectual ones to bring to the table. 
In particular they lack competence for product development, manufacturing, legal matters, sales, 
distribution and customer service activities . The protection that IPRs  confers , mainly patents, 
trademarks and sometimes GI, is the exclusive exploitation of innovative ideas in the market, 
thereby enabling the start -up to generate sufficient returns on risky investments.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 80 - 
 
  488.  Furthermore, these IPRs can  also generate a wider range of benefits, such as setting up 
collaborations with other start -ups, large companies, research cent res or universities, nationally or 
abroad, and licensing arrangements with these partners. This type of benefits due to cooperat ion in 
the IP area are particularly significant for innovative startups, as a means to compensate for their 
resource constraints. IPRs play a crucial role in securing investment and facilitating technology 
transactions.  Indeed, licensing IPRs is an effecti ve means for small businesses to attract the 
partners ' assets and expertise with a view to rapidly scaling up their activities, reaching out to new 
markets abroad and generating additional revenues from innovation.  
489.  Available evidence indicates, for instan ce, that European SMEs are willing to license up to 48% 
of their patented inventions, as compared with 16% only for large companies . 
490.  We mentioned in the last Council for TRIPS several elements of the European policy as regards 
the management of intellectual assets for knowledge valorisation. In this framework, the EU and its 
member States foster IP awareness and skills with European associations of start -ups and 
accelerato rs.  
491.  Among the many initiatives in the EU in favour of the start -ups, Ideas Powered for Business 
Network initiated and managed by the EUIPO, is a dynamic network of influential organisations which 
collaborates for the development of cross -border European S MEs, raises IP awareness, and promotes 
the financial and knowledge IP -related support offered to SMEs and start -ups to help them protect 
their innovation in Europe and beyond.  
492.  The Network includes startups and innovative business support organisations. In 2022 the 
Ideas Powered for Business Network activities, such as trainings on IP, communication, knowledge 
sharing, events and webinars, have promoted the benefits of IP for business success and growth 
among over 22 ,000 SMEs, startups, ent repreneurs, and business advisors. But there are other 
cross-border projects on startups. In this respect, I would like to stress that there is a great variety 
of initiatives in Europe at member States level. One such example is the incubators and accelera tors 
activities in Lithuania conducted at the regional level - Vilnius region and Midwestern Lithuania.  
493.  An international agreement has been signed recently (September 2023) with Plug and Play 
Ventures in the Silicon Valley (in the US) which is a leading i nternational early-stage  venture capital  
company for the provision of international accelerator services, primarily focusing on startups 
registered in the Vilnius region. It is planned to implement specialized acceleration programs that 
will focus on the a reas of ICT, EdTech and GameTech industries.  
494.  Another example I would like to refer to is described in more detail in a recent study  "Patents, 
Trade Marks and Startup Finance " published and edited by the European Patent Office ( EPO) and 
the EUIPO.  This stud y adds a further dimension to the body of knowledge on the importance of IP. 
It focuses on how newly started, innovative companies obtain the financing that allows them to 
develop their ideas into products in the marketplace. It also examines how IP rights  facilitate 
successful exit of the providers of initial financing through sale to another company or a flotation on 
the stock market. This report contributes to a better understanding of the role of IP in EU 's society 
and economy, driving home the fundamen tal message that IP is for everyone.  
495.  The example concerns , Marinomed. It is a biopharmaceutical spin -off from the Veterinary 
University of Vienna  in Austria . The company was founded in 2006 to commercialise a proprietary 
technology platform based on Carrag elose which  is a natural polymer isolated from red algae and is 
used in various therapies against respiratory diseases. Drug discovery companies like Marinomed 
rely heavily on IP rights to protect their technology and to secure vital funding to bridge the gap 
between research and commercialisation.  The initial research was funded with public money and 
conducted at the university. When the company was spun out, it set up an agreement under which 
Marinomed would retain all IP rights and award the university a  share in the business.  The three key 
patents are validated in almost 100 countries and supported by a trademark registered in more than 
30 countries . 
496.  As illustrated with these case studies and the initiatives put in place by the EU and the member 
States i n favour of the financing of the innovative startups, the EU and its member States co -finance 
directly certain projects and help startups to exploit their IP portfolio.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 81 - 
 
  15.8  Canada  
497.  Canada would like to thank Switzerl and for drafting the communication for this item and all 
Members that have provided insightful views so far today on the topic of incubators and accelerator 
support of start -ups operating in a cross -border environment. As several delegations have already 
noted today, incubators and accelerators play an important role in supporting start -ups in their 
management of IP, including those operating in a cross -border environment.  
498.  Our research has shown that new businesses that are able to leverage and use their IP  
strategically are more likely to be innovative, to expand domestically and internationally, and to 
experience high growth. In recognition of this, Canada committed significant resources to launching 
a new program in 2021 called Elevate IP. Elevate IP has been designed to help business accelerators 
and incubators provide the tools Canadian start -ups need to understand, strategically manage, and 
leverage their IP. The program accomplishes this by:  
1. increasing IP capacity in the incubator and accelerator ecosy stems in Canada through IP 
education for incubators and accelerators and their client startups,  
2. enabling incubators and accelerators to provide targeted support that are customized to 
their unique requirements of each start -up to help them secure and main tain IP rights.  
499.  The Elevate IP program is designed to complement the existing suite of services offered by 
incubators and accelerators in Canada and to provide targeted IP support. This includes:  
1. increasing IP awareness and educational opportunities for st artups through activities such 
as workshops, programs, conferences, and peer -to-peer learning opportunities so they 
have the foundational IP knowledge required to succeed.  
2. developing IP strategies and providing start -ups with the tools, talents, and suppor t to 
manage and make the most of their IP assets.  
3. implementing IP strategies by enabling startups to realize the objectives of their IP 
strategies.  
500.  In the context of new businesses seeking to enter international markets, accelerators and 
incubators continu e to have an important role to play in helping start -ups to manage and leverage 
their IP. The Canadian Technology Accelerators, CTA, supported by Canada 's Trade Commissioner 
Service, is a global business development program that supports companies in the f ields of clean 
tech, digital industries, and information and communication technologies, as well as life sciences and 
digital health. Located in 12 global tech hubs worldwide, including the United States; Germany; 
Hong Kong, China; India; Singapore; and Ja pan; the CTAs provide Canadian businesses with support 
to refine their international business and market entry strategies, including with respect to IP rights.  
501.  Canada is home to North America 's largest innovation hub, the MARS Discovery District, a 
public -private partnership founded in Toronto and currently made up of a diverse community of 
more than 120 tenants, including research labs and global tech companies.  The MARS Discovery 
District 's goal is to commercialize publicly funded medical research and other technologies  with the 
support of local private enterprises, thereby helping to create successful global businesses from 
Canada 's science, technology, and social innovation. One of the services offered by the MARS 
Discovery District is a start -up tool kit. In addition to topics such as fundraising and market research, 
this toolkit includes a resource for startups on IP. This resource covers both basic topics, such as an 
introduction to patents, copyright, and trademarks, as well as information and advic e on how to 
build a successful IP strategy to protect and leverage IP assets.  
502.  Canada would be pleased to provide updates on any of these initiatives in future discussions 
under this item and would be glad to discuss in more detail with any interested Membe r. Again, we 
thank those Members that have shared their experience on this topic today and look forward to 
further discussion on this and related topics.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 82 - 
 
  15.9  World Intellectual Property Organization  
503.  I would like to first thank the Friends of IP and Innovation for preparing document IP/C/W/705 
on the topic of intellectual property and innovation incubators and accelerators support start -ups 
operating in cross -border environment. We hav e read this paper with interest and it aligns closely 
with WIPO 's priorities and activities. If the paper highlights, start -ups play a key role in economic 
growth, particularly with the rise of the intangible economy, which is now a global phenomenon . For 
example, overall,  in Africa, start -ups raised more than USD 3.3 billion just in 2022. Intellectual 
property has a fundamental role in establishing the competitive edge of start -ups, developing and 
implementing a firm business strategy, and attracting investors.  
504.  Several studies, including by WIPO, have demonstrated that a strong portfolio, a strong IP 
portfolio, provides financiers with valuable indicators that better facilitate attracting investors. As 
the paper rightfully mentions, incubators, accelerators, and other forms of innovation hubs are an 
entry point in which entrepreneurs and startups make their first steps in enterprising their innovative 
ideas.  To break through and succeed, start -ups require support and assistance, specifically as they 
face significant challenges when they are involved in cross -border collaboration. This includes 
support and assistance in a variety of areas, including the following : 
a. Accessing  finance , 
b. securing IP in multiple countries and different legal regimes,  
c. protecting their trade secrets,  
d. talking to potential collaborators and investors,  
e. freedom to operate,  
f. establishing their brand identity,  and 
g. enforcing their IP rights.  
505.  To its IP and innovation ecosystem sector, WIPO has developed and is deploying several 
programs and tools to support start -ups, including via accelerators and incubators. Our dedicated 
programs in this area include IP Management Clinics and Startup Workshops.  
506.  The IP Ma nagement  Clinics program is a one -on-one, deep -dive mentoring and training 
journey in which our experts work together with entry -level companies and guide them in developing 
the specific IP strategy. The program covers all regions and it has grown from two  clinics in 2022 to 
10 clinics in 2023 and the forecast of 19 clinics in 2024. For example, IP Labs in Nigeria benefited 
56 Nigerian startups in 2023 and an IP Management Clinic on Artificial Intelligence ( AI) in the Arab 
region supports 22  selected enterp rises from 10 Arab countries developing products and services 
using artificial intelligence and machine learning. We have also collaborated with the IP Office of 
Singapore to launch the Mentorship for Intangible Assets Transformation, MINT, a pilot program  in 
Singapore which brought together 15 enterprises, supporting them with one -on-one mentorship and 
training them to better use their intangible assets, including IP assets portfolios, to grow their 
business. WIPO is committed to continue the growth of the  IP Management Clinics program as well 
as integrate it into our support to intermediaries, including incubators and accelerators, that can 
then build upon our playbook and materials. The Startup Workshops are one -day workshops for 
start-ups aimed at laying  the first foundation for developing their IP strategy. These workshops 
feature one -on-one interactive sessions with IP experts who discuss potential IP rights based on a 
pre-generated WIPO IP diagnostics report. As an example, which is mentioned in the pa per, WIPO 
recently collaborated with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Luzern EPFL, its Blaze Startups 
Accelerator, to improve the IP strategy of the startups located within the Blaze Accelerator. Based 
on this experience, now we are currently pil oting a virtual engagement program with 
entrepreneurship cent res in developing countries, which will follow the same model and also create 
a platform for information sharing, best practices, and networking opportunities between 
accelerators in both develop ing and developed countries. Both programs are supported by WIPO 's 
tools and materials for businesses and startups. Among our series of IP for Business guides, we have 
a dedicated guide for startups, enterprising ideas, which is also cited in the paper. Th is guide has IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 83 - 
 
  already been translated into more than 10 languages, as well as customized to local legal 
frameworks.  
507.  The WIPO Online IP Diagnostic Tool, which is already available in approximately 15 languages, 
is a basic yet effective online tool which, thr ough a short online questionnaire, a company obtains a 
report with a snapshot on how IP is relevant to its particular business. As of today, more than 
25,000  users have accessed the tool, and we are now working on sector -based adaptations. 
Additionally, in  collaboration with national IP offices, WIPO is engaged in conducting empirical studies 
to analy se how startups are using the IP system and what it provides them with. One study was 
already conducted, and two more will take place in 2024. Last but not lea st, WIPO is also engaged 
in regional and national activities with incubators and techno parks. For example, in cooperation 
with the League of Arab States, WIPO organized a virtual Arab regional meeting on IP and innovation 
for incubators and techno parks. The objective of the meeting was to make an overview of currently 
existing incubators and techno parks in the Arab region, to understand the level of IP services that 
they are providing to their stakeholders, and then come up with follow -up capacity buildi ng projects 
to address their needs in the area of IP.  
508.  More detailed information on all WIPO services, including those for incubators and accelerators 
and startups, could be found on WIPO 's IP for Business website. Thank you, Chair, for the 
opportunity to address this Council, and we very much look forward to working together in our 
shared commitment to fostering the growth of startups through the IP system.  
16  INFORMATION ON RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ELSEWHERE IN THE WTO  
16.1  WTO Secretariat  
509.  In previous instances, and  for the Members ' information, the Secretariat will now provide a 
brief update on the intellectual property policy issues that have arisen in the most recent Trade 
Policy Reviews.  Since our last report during the TRIPS Council Meeting in June, we have cond ucted 
Trade Policy Reviews for Honduras, Fiji, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, 
Jordan, and the Southern African Customs Union. During these reviews, delegations actively 
engaged in discussions and sought further details on the followin g topics:  
a. Domestic implementation of the TRIPS Agreement;  
b. Institutional arrangements for the administration and enforcement of intellectual property;  
c. Copyright and related rights regimes;  
d. Trademark regime;  
e. Protection of geographical indications;  
f. Patent reg ime, and  
g. Enforcement.  
510.  Moving to the Trade Monitoring Exercise, I would like to note that this exercise provides regular 
and up -to-date information on global trends in trade measures and trade policy making. It is the 
only cross -cutting, substantive and sys temic -wide transparency function in the WTO which allows 
the membership to conduct regular and non -legal peer reviews every six months.  
511.  The Secretariat has already prepared the intellectual property chapters for the 
Director -General 's Trade Monitoring Rep orts. These reports encompass the period from mid -October 
2022 to mid -October 2023; and they will be circulated in November and discussed at a special 
meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body.  
512.  We extend our gratitude to the numerous delegations that submitted information through the 
new Trade Monitoring Database. The WTO Secretariat collaborates closely with all delegations to 
collect comprehensive, up -to-date, and accurate information on their trade and trade -related 
measures.  IP/C/M/109/Add.1  
 
- 84 - 
 
  17  OBSERVER STATUS FOR INT ERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS  
513.  No statements were made under this agenda item.  
18  ANNUAL REPORT  
514.  No statements were made under this agenda item.  
19  OTHER BUSINESS  
19.1  Reform by doing  
515.  No statements were made under this agenda item.  
19.2  Council for TRIPS dates  
516.  No statements were made under this agenda item.  
__________