IP/C/W/601/Add.2  
 
17 October 2014  
(14-5942)  Page: 1/2  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
  TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: 
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS 
NEW ZEALAND 
Addendum 
The following communication, dated 7 October 2014, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of New Zealand.  
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 1.  Pursuant to Article 67 of the Agreement on  Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 
Rights (TRIPS), the Council for TRIPS has reques ted reports from developed country Members of 
their technical and financial cooperation programmes in favour of developing and least developed country Members.  The present document reports on New Zealand's activities concerning technical 
and financial cooperation in the area of intellectual property (IP), pursuant to the February 2003 
decision of the Co uncil for TRIPS.  
2.  Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement provides th at "developed country Members shall provide, on 
request and on mutually agreed terms and conditio ns, technical and financial cooperation in favour 
of developing and least developed country Members this shall include assistance in the preparation 
of laws and regulations on the protection and enforc ement of intellectual property rights as well as 
the prevention of their abuse, and shall in clude support regarding the establishment or 
reinforcement of domestic offices and agencies rele vant to these matters, including the training of 
personnel". 
3.  New Zealand has undertaken technical cooperation activities at the multilateral, regional and 
bilateral levels. At the regional level, New Zealand participates in the Asia-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation Intellectual Property Rights Expert's Group (APEC-IPEG), which provides a forum for sharing information and best practices on intellectual property rights. New Zealand's bilateral trade agreements also provide a mechanism for policy dialogue and information exchange on IP with 
developing country Members. For example, New Zealand participates in the ASEAN-Australia-New 
Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) IP Committee, which provides an avenue for regular discussions on a range of IP topics of mutual interest to the participants.  
4.  The primary New Zealand Government agencies that are involved in IP technical cooperation 
activities are the Ministry of Business, Innova tion and Employment (MBIE), of which both the 
Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ ) and Plant Variety Rights Office are business 
units, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). 
1  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF NEW ZEALAND 
5.  The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) provides technical assistance on 
request to developing and least developed countries .  Due to New Zealand's history, cultural links 
and geographic location, requests tend to come from neighbouring Pacific Members. New Zealand 
will continue to support, on request, future work  to improve the intellectual property systems of 
Pacific Island countries. IP/C/W/601/Add.2 
 
- 2 - 
 
  6.  New Zealand participated in the AANZFTA Economic Cooperation Work Programme 
Comprehensive Regional Patent Examination Traini ng (RPET) Project workshop in Kuala Lumpur 
from 18 to 22 August 2013. The workshop includ ed developing the overview and content for the 
delivery of an ASEAN regional pate nt examination training programme. 
7.  New Zealand hosted a WIPO supported study visit in February 2014 for countries including 
Cambodia and Laos PDR. The purpose of the study visit was to assist these countries with their 
preparations for accession to the Madrid Protocol. IPONZ shared practice and information in 
relation to: legal issues including developing regulations; project management (preparing the 
Offices to accede to Madrid); publicity and client engagement material; Office efficiency and workflow management; and staff engagement and culture.  
2  PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS OFFICE 
8.  New Zealand has been a member of the Intern ational Union for the Protection of New Varieties 
of Plants (UPOV) since 1987. New Zealand, through the Plant Variety Rights Office (PVRO), actively participates in the UPOV Technical Committee (TC) and in some of the Technical Working 
Parties (TWP).  
9.  The IPONZ Plant Variety Rights team acts as advisor to the East Asia Plant Variety Protection 
Forum. The team provides technical assistance by  correspondence on request to Forum Members.  
3  NEW ZEALAND MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE'S INTERNATIONAL 
DEVELOPMENT GROUP 
10.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) manages the New Zealand Aid Programme. 
The majority of New Zealand's aid is directed to developing and least developed country Members 
in the Pacific and key partners in Asia. The New Zealand Aid Programme has a core focus on 
sustainable economic development. This includes supporting opportunities for private-sector led growth so that producers can increase the value from their production and resources, including 
their intellectual property. Further detail on programmes of relevance to Article 67 of the TRIPS 
Agreement can be found in New Zealand's report on the implementation of Article 66.2 of the 
TRIPS Agreement. 
New Zealand officials presented at the followi ng regional and international fora in the 
period July 2013 to June 2014: 
Category Date Location Activity Link to further 
details 
Information Exchange 19-22 
August 
2013 Kuala Lumpur, 
Malaysia AANZFTA ECWP _ Patent 
Examination Ideal Training 
Model Brainstorming 
session  
Technical advice 4-7 
November 
2013 Singapore Presented at AANZFTA 
ECWP Project on Accession 
to the Madrid Protocol in 
conjunction with WIPO  
Study visit  17-21 
February 2014 Wellington, New 
Zealand IPONZ hosted WIPO Study 
visit under the FIT initiative to assist Lao P.D.R and Cambodia with 
their Madrid protocol 
accession planning.  
Technical Advice 30 June – 
3 July 
2014 Seoul, Republic 
of Korea Korean International 
Cooperation Agency Plant 
Variety Protection training 
course for developing 
countries   
 
 
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