WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/DS441/1 
G/L/992 
IP/D/32 
G/TBT/D/41 
23 July 2012 
 (12-4027) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
AUSTRALIA – CERTAIN MEASURES CONCERNING TRADEMARKS,  
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS AND OTHER PLAIN PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS 
APPLICABLE TO TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND PACKAGING 
 
Request for Consultations by the Dominican Republic 
  
 The following communication, dated 18 July 2012, from the delegation of the Dominican Republic to the delegation of Australia and to the Chairperson of the Dispute Settlement 
Body, is circulated in accordance with Article 4.4 of the DSU. 
 
_______________ 
 
  I have received instructions from my country's  authorities to request consultations with the 
Government of Australia pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures 
Governing the Settlement of Disputes , Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
1994 ("GATT 1994"), Article 64.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights  ("TRIPS Agreement "), and Article 14.1 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to 
Trade ("TBT Agreement ").   
 
A. Measures at issue  
 
The measures at issue are: 
 
 Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 , Act No. 148 of 2011, "An Act to discourage the use of 
tobacco products, and for related purposes";   
 
 Tobacco Plain Packaging Regulations 2011 (Select Legislative Instrument 2011, No. 263), as 
amended by the Tobacco Plain Packaging Amendment Regulation 2012 (No. 1) (Select 
Legislative Instrument 2012, No. 29); 
 
 Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Act 2011 , Act No. 149 of 2011, "An 
Act to amend the Trade Marks Act 1995 , and for related purposes";  and 
 
 Any related measures adopted by Australia, incl uding measures that implement, complement 
or add to these laws and regulations, as well as any measures that amend or replace these laws and regulations.   
 
These measures apply to the retail sale of cigare ttes, cigars, and other tobacco products.  The 
measures establish comprehensive regulation of the appearance and form of the retail packaging of 
tobacco products, as well as of the tobacco products themselves.  Among others: 
 WT/DS441/1, G/L/992,  
IP/D/32, G/TBT/D/41 Page 2 
 
 
   with respect to the retail packaging of t obacco products, the measures (i) regulate the 
appearance of trademarks and geographical i ndications, including by prohibiting the display 
of design and figurative features, including tho se forming part of these intellectual property 
rights; (ii) prescribe that the brand and variant names forming part of trademarks appear on 
the front face, top and bottom of the package in a uniform typeface, font, size, colour, and 
placement;1 (iii) prohibit the display of other words (except for basic information, including 
country of origin and manufacturer contact deta ils); and (iv) mandate a matt finish and drab 
dark brown colour (Pantone 448C) for retail packaging;  
 
 the measures establish that individual cigarett es may not display trademarks, geographical 
indications or any other marking other than an alphanumeric code for product identification 
purposes;   
 
 the measures provide that individual cigars ma y carry:  the brand name, variant name, country 
of origin, and an alphanumeric code; these must be displayed in a uniform typeface, font, size, 
and colour on a single band in a drab dark brown colour (Pantone 448C);2 
 
 the measures regulate other aspects of both tobacco  packaging and tobacco products, such as 
the following requirements: (i) a retail packag e for cigarettes must be in a prescribed size, 
form, and material; (ii) cigarettes must be white;3 and (iii) a cigar tube must be cylindrical, 
rigid, and have an opening of at least 15 mm.  
 B. Legal basis of the complaint 
 
 These measures regulating the plain packaging an d appearance of tobacco products for retail 
sale appear to be inconsistent with Australia's obligations under the following provisions of the TRIPS 
Agreement , the TBT Agreement  and the GATT 1994:  
 Article 2.1 of the TRIPS Agreement , which incorporates the provisions of the Paris 
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property , as amended by the Stockholm Act of 
1967 (" Paris Convention "), in particular, (i) Article 6 quinquies  of the Paris Convention , 
because trademarks registered in a country of origin outside Australia are not protected "as 
is"; and, (ii) Article 10 bis of the Paris Convention , because Australia does not provide 
effective protection against unfair competition, for example, creating confusion between the 
goods of competitors; 
 Article 3.1 of the TRIPS Agreement , because Australia accords to nationals of other Members 
treatment less favourable than it accords to its ow n nationals with respect to the protection of 
intellectual property; 
 Article 15.4 of the TRIPS Agreement , because the nature of the goods to which a trademark is 
to be applied forms an obstacle to the registration of the trademark;   
                                                      
1 The brand name and variant must be displayed in Lucida Sans typeface; no larger than 14 points for 
the brand name and 10 points for the variant name; with only the first letter capitalized; in regular font; in the 
colour Pantone Cool Gray 2C; and below the graphic health warning on the front surface of cigarette packs. 
2 They must appear only once on the band and be displayed in Lucida  Sans typeface; no larger than 10 
points in size; in regular font; and in the colour Pantone Cool Gray 2C.  The brand and variant name should be 
placed horizontally along the length of the band so that  they run around the circumference of the cigar.   
3 However, a cigarette may include an imitation cork  tip that is printed brown, and is placed over a 
filter tip.  WT/DS441/1, G/L/992,  
 IP/D/32, G/TBT/D/41 
 Page 3 
 
 
   Article 16.1 of the TRIPS Agreement , because the measures prevent owners of registered 
trademarks from enjoying the rights conferred by a trademark; 
 Article 20 of the TRIPS Agreement , because the use of trademarks in relation to tobacco 
products is unjustifiably encumbered by special  requirements, such as (i) use in a special 
form, for example, the uniform typeface, font, size, colour, and placement of the brand name, 
and, (ii) use in a manner detrimental to th e trademark's capability to distinguish tobacco 
products of one undertaking from tobacco pr oducts of other undertakings;    
 Article 22.2(b) of the TRIPS Agreement , because Australia does not provide effective 
protection against acts of unfair competition w ith respect to geographical indications, for 
example, creating confusion  among consumers with respect to the origin of goods; 
 Article 24.3 of the TRIPS Agreement , because Australia is diminishing the level of protection 
it affords to geographical indications as compared with the level of protection that existed 
prior to 1 January 1995;   
 Article 2.1 of the TBT Agreement , because the technical regulations at issue accord to 
imported tobacco products treatment less favourab le than accorded like products of national 
origin;  
 Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement , because the technical regulations at issue create 
unnecessary obstacles to trade because they are more  trade-restrictive than necessary to fulfill 
a legitimate objective; and,  
 Article III:4 of the GATT 1994, because the measur es at issue accord to  imported tobacco 
products treatment less favourable than accorded like products of national origin. 
 The Dominican Republic reserves the right to raise additional claims or matters during the 
course of these consultations, and in any future request for panel proceedings.  
 The Dominican Republic looks forward to Austra lia's response to this request, and to fixing a 
mutually acceptable date for consultations.     
 
__________