. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
IP/C/W/576 
3 September 2012  
 
(12-4738) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM 
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS 
 
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION 
AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)  
   At its meeting of 5 June 2012, the Council fo r TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update th e information on their technical and financial 
cooperation programmes relating to the im plementation of the TRIPS Agreement. 
 The present document reproduces the inform ation which has been received from the 
Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OEC D) by means of a communication dated 
24 August 2012. 
 Communications from other intergovernmental or ganizations will be circulated as addenda to 
this document. 
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  While the OECD undertakes a range of activities relating to intellectual property rights (IPRs) 
and relevant to the TRIPS Agreement, the OECD has not separately targeted implementation of the 
Agreement as a specific focus for technical coope ration.  The OECD does not operate financial 
cooperation programmes related to the im plementation of the TRIPS Agreement. 
 Several projects underway or recently complete d may be of interest, however, as they touch 
upon TRIPS-related topics:   
 
 The OECD Innovation Strategy : Following release of the key findings report from this 
initiative at the OECD's May 2010 Meeting of Council at Ministerial Level, the OECD continues to work on follow-up activities covering such areas as business innovation policies.  
The follow-up builds on findings that recognise the role and importance of IPRs in the innovation process.  Various published material s from this initiative are available online 
(http://www.oecd.org/sti/innovation ).  In addition, several ongoing strands of work warrant 
highlighting in the IPR context:   
 
- Knowledge Networks and Markets :  this ongoing project is examining the 
measurement and policy implications of emerging mechanisms for transferring and 
co-creating new knowledge for innovation.  A policy conference on the topic will be 
held in Paris on 26-27 November 2012 ( http://www.oecd.org/sti/knowledge ). 
 
- New Sources of Growth: Knowledge-Based Capital : this ongoing work is examining 
the measurement and policy implications  of growing business investment in IP/C/W/576 
Page 2  
 
  knowledge-based assets, including innovative property.  It highlights the importance 
of well-designed IPRs, as well as the related need for new policy-oriented research. Interim findings were presented at the OECD's May 2012 Meeting of Council at 
Ministerial Level (MCM) 
 ( http://www.oecd.org/sti/innovationinsci encetechnologyandi ndustry/50498841.pdf ).  
The project's empirical and policy conclusions will be presented at the MCM in 
May 2013. 
 
- National IPR systems in emerging countries : Another ongoing project more 
specifically addresses the role of nati onal IPR systems in the socio-economic 
development of middle- and low-income countries, notably through their impact on 
innovation and the diffusion of knowledge. It will develop a general methodology 
that identifies the key mechanisms for IPR to support development objectives and 
produce, based on the framework country studies of Colombia and Indonesia. 
 
 Trade-related aspects of intellectual property :  
 
- An OECD Trade Policy Working Paper was recently released on Trade and 
Innovation, developing cross-cutting and sector-specific conclusions from a multi-
year project:  " http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/trade/trade-and-
innovation_5k9gwprtbtxn-en;jsessionid=c9njdqrfu8u3.epsilon"  
 
- An earlier OECD Trade Policy Working Paper on Policy Complements to the 
Strengthening of IPRs in Developing Countries can be found on-line here: " http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/trade/polic y-complements-to-the-strengthening-
of-iprs-in-developing-countries_5km7fmwz85d4-en" . 
 
 Intellectual property rights and the environment :  The OECD has an on-going research 
programme in the area of the environment th at considers such issues as co-invention, 
technology transfer and other aspects of in tellectual property that are relevant to 
implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  Recent publications can be found here: 
http://www.oecd.org/environment/innovation . 
 
 Patent Statistics : The OECD has a range of work underway concerning methodology and 
database development related to patent statistics.  Back to back with the Knowledge Networks 
and Markets conference (referenced above), a conference on Patent Statistics for Decision 
Makers  is planned for 28-29 November 2012, at th e OECD Conference Center, Paris, France, 
and is being organised in co-operation with Eurostat, JPO, KIPO, NSF, USPTO and WIPO. 
Further information on OECD and pa tent statistics can be found here: 
http://www.oecd.org/sti/ipr-statistics . 
 
 Further information on OECD activities related to  IPRs in the fields of science, technology 
and industry can be found on the OECD web site at http://www.oecd.org/sti/ipr .  Recent work 
covers such issues as the OECD Patent Database, patent quality and collaborative 
mechanisms for intellectual property management in the life sciences. 
 
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