RESTRICTED  
  
IP/C/M/77  
 
26 November 2014  
(14-6871)  Page: 1/10  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights   
 
  MINUTES OF MEETING 
HELD IN THE CENTRE WILLIAM RAPPARD ON 28-29 OCTOBER 2014 
Chairperson: Ambassador Mothusi Palai (Botswana) 
 
The present document contains the record of the Council for TRIPS meeting held on 
28-29 October 2014. The statements made during the meeting will be circulated in an addendum to the present document.  
_______________ 
 
Subjects discussed 
 
1   NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROV ISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT ........................................ 2  
2   REVIEWS OF NATIONAL IM PLEMENTING LEGISLATION .............................................. 3  
2.1   Review of the national implem enting legislation of Tajikistan............................................ 3  
2.2   Review of the national implementing  legislation of the Ru ssian Federa tion ......................... 3  
2.3   Follow-up to revi ews already und ertaken ...................................................................... 4  
3   REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B) ..................................................... 4  
4   RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON 
BIOLOGICAL DI VERSITY .................................................................................................. 4  
5   PROTECTION OF TRADITIONA L KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE ..................................... 4  
6   REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 8 OF THE DECISION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION 
OF PARAGRAPH 6 OF THE DOHA DECLARATION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND 
PUBLIC HE ALTH ............................................................................................................... 4  
7   NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS ......................................................... 5  
8   REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER 
ARTICLE 71.1 .................................................................................................................. . 6 
9   REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION S UNDER ARTI CLE 24.2 ...................................................... 6  
10   TWELFTH ANNUAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE DECISION ON 
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT .............................. 7  
11   TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING .............................................. 8  
12   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVATION: PROMOTING AWARENESS; 
CASE STUDIES ................................................................................................................. 9 
13   CONCERNS WITH RESPECT TO ME ASURES RELATED TO PLAIN PACKAGING 
OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND THEIR COMPATIBILITY WITH THE TRIPS 
AGREEMENT .....................................................................................................................  9 
14   INFORMATION ON RELEVANT DEVE LOPMENTS ELSEWHER E IN THE WTO ................. 9  IP/C/M/77 
  
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  15   OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANIZATIONS ............................................................................................................. 9  
16   ANNUAL REPORT ....................................................................................................... 9  
17   OTHER BU SINESS .................................................................................................... 10  
17.1   Invitations to  ad hoc ob servers ................................................................................. 10 
17.2   Dates for the Council's meetings in 2015 .................................................................... 10 
17.3   Contribution of intellectual property to facilitate the transfer of environmentally 
sound technology ............................................................................................................. 10 
17.4   Extension of the transition period under Article 66.1 of the TRIPS Agreement for 
Least developed country Members for certain obligations with respect to pharmaceutical products ...................................................................................................................... ... 10
 
 
 1  NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT 
1.1.  The Chairman said that, since its meeting in June 2014, Vanuatu had made its initial 
notification of its laws and regulations. The notification referred to its laws on copyright and 
related rights, trademarks, patents, designs, layout-designs for integrated circuits, geographical 
indications and trade secrets, as well as to a number of secondary acts relating to these laws. 
1.2.  In addition, the Council had received a numbe r of updates to earlier notifications of laws and 
regulations notified under Article 63.2 of the Agreement: 
 Montenegro had notified amendments to its Law on Trademarks; 
 Panama had notified amendments to its Indu strial Property Law and the Law on Plant 
Variety Protection, as well as its approval of  the Budapest Treaty, the PCT, the TLT and 
the International Convention for the Protection  of New Varieties of Plants (Act of 1991); 
 Bahrain's earlier notification of a complete set of laws relating to trademarks, trade 
secrets, geographical indications, patents and utility models, industrial design and integrated circuits had been updated by mean s of a notification of the unofficial English 
translations of these laws; 
 the Russian Federation had notified amendments to its Civil Code; and 
 the Republic of Korea had notified a Presidential Decree that provides for implementing 
rules regarding the expropriation and implem entation of the patent right. The Decree 
included provisions implementing the Paragraph 6 System into domestic law. 
1.3.  These notifications of laws and regulations we re available in the IP/N/1- series of documents, 
and the actual texts of laws in sub-series of documents in electronic form on the Documents Online 
database. 
1.4.  As regards notifications of contact points  under Article 69 for the exchange of information 
and cooperation on trade in infringing goods, si nce the Council's meeting in June 2014, Botswana 
and Lao People's Democratic Republic had submitted their respective contact points. In addition, 
Malta had notified an updated contact point. The information on the Members' transparency toolkit page had been updated accordingly. 
1.5.  As emphasized in informal consultations held on 27 October 2014, he encouraged the 
Members that had notified a new or revised legislative measure, or a new or updated response to 
the Checklist of Issues on Enforcement to briefly inform the Council about the nature of the notified amendment or update.   
1.6.  The representatives of Montenegro; Bahrain;  Colombia; the Republic of Korea; the Russian 
Federation and Panama briefly introduced their respective notified legislative measures. IP/C/M/77 
 
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  1.7.  The Chairman recalled that, at the informal consultations held on 27 October 2014, the 
Secretariat had updated delegations on its work regarding the development of a reporting tool that 
would help transition to a full online system. The representative of the Secretariat summarized the 
state of play for the Council based on its earlier reporting on this process.  
1.8.  The Chairman said that, bearing in mind th e information provided by the Secretariat, while 
there had been recent progress, there was a cl ear gap between the development of legislation 
regarding the protection and enforcement of intell ectual property within WTO Members' domestic 
frameworks and the laws and regulations that had been notified to the Council. He, therefore, 
urged those Members whose initial notifications of laws and regulations remained incomplete to submit the outstanding material without delay. Equally, he urged other Members to fulfil their obligation under the TRIPS Agreement to notify any subsequent amendments of their laws and 
regulations without delay after their entry into forc e. He especially encouraged Members to notify 
changes made to their laws and/or regulations to implement the Decision on TRIPS and public 
health. Such notifications would assist the Council in its review of the operation of the TRIPS 
Agreement. 
1.9.  The Council took note of the statements made. 
2  REVIEWS OF NATIONAL IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION 
2.1  Review of the national implem enting legislation of Tajikistan 
2.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at its meetin g in February 2014, the Council had agreed to 
review the national implementing legislation of Tajikistan, a newly acceded Member, at the present 
meeting. Tajikistan's notification of its laws on trademarks and service marks, geographical 
indications, industrial designs, inventions and the legal protection of the topologies of integrated 
circuits had been circulated in document IP/N/1/TJK/1, and the text of the laws had been made available in the relevant law series of documents.  Tajikistan had also notified its responses to the 
Checklist of Issues on Enforcement (document IP/N/6/TJK/1). Tajikistan had received questions in 
writing from the United States shortly before the Council's meeting (document IP/C/W/604). 
2.2.  In accordance with the procedures for th e review of legislation, the representative of 
Tajikistan provided a brief overview of its legislat ion. The record of that statement as well as the 
questions put to Tajikistan and the responses give n will be circulated in document IP/Q/TJK/1. 
2.3.  The Chairman said that, under the standard procedures, responses to the questions that had 
just been received should be submitte d within eight weeks after the meeting. 
2.4.  The Council took note of the statements made  and agreed to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting. 
2.2  Review of the national implementing  legislation of the Russian Federation 
2.5.  The Chairman recalled that the Council had initiated the review of the national implementing 
legislation of the Russian Federation at its meeting in October 2013. The Council had taken note of 
the notifications submitted by the Russian Federation, as well as the questions put to it in advance 
of the meeting and the responses it had given. Si nce then, the United States had posed follow-up 
questions to which the Russian Federation provid ed its responses shortly before the Council's 
meeting in June 2014. Since these responses had been received prior to the meeting and were available only in English, the Council had agreed to revert to this matter at this meeting. Before 
this meeting, the United States had notified an  additional set of follow-up questions (document 
IP/C/W/589/Add.2). 
2.6.  The representatives of the United States  and the Russian Federation took the floor.  
2.7.  The Chairman said that, under the standard  procedures, the Russian Federation needed to 
provide responses to the follow-up questions that had just been received by the United States 
within eight weeks after the meeting.  IP/C/M/77 
  
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  2.8.  The Council took note of the statements made  and agreed to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting. 
2.3  Follow-up to reviews already undertaken 2.9.  The Chairman recalled that the reviews of two Members' national implementing legislation 
that had been initiated at the Council's meeting since April 2001 remained on the Council's 
agenda, namely those of Fiji; and Saint Kitts and Nevis. He urged the delegations concerned to provide the outstanding material as soon as possible, so as to allow the Council to complete the 
follow-up to these reviews. 
2.10.  The Council took note of the information provided and agreed to revert to the matter at its 
next meeting. 3  REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(B) 
4  RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON 
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 
5  PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE 
5.1.  The Chairman suggested that the Council  continue to discuss the three agenda items 
together on the basis of contributions by Member s. As requested by the Council, he had continued 
his predecessors' consultations on the proposal Ecuador had made at the Council's meeting in 
November 2012 that the Secretariat be requested to update the three factual notes that 
summarize the points delegations had made in the Council's past discussions under these three agenda items. The Secretariat had circulated these three notes in August 2002 and updated versions of these notes had been circulated in March 2006. At the Council's meeting in June 2014, 
he had encouraged delegations to talk directly to each other to see if an agreement regarding the 
update of the notes could be reached. Since then, he had continued his consultations, but there did not appear to be any new thinking. 
5.2.  He also recalled that the Council had requested him to continue consultations on the 
suggestion that the CBD Secretariat be invited to brief the Council on the Nagoya Protocol that had been adopted at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD held in Nagoya, 
Japan in October 2010. Following his consultations, he was not in a position to report on any new 
thinking on this matter. 
5.3.   The representatives of India; Brazil; Ch ina; Cuba; Uganda, on behalf of the LDC Group; 
the Plurinational State of Bolivia; Chile; Peru; Bangladesh; Colombia; Ecuador; Egypt; Indonesia; 
the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; New Zeal and; Canada; Japan; the Republic of Korea; 
Australia; Switzerland; Nepal and the United States took the floor. 
5.4.  In light of the discussion, the Chairman enco uraged the delegations to continue direct talks 
on the suggestions among themselves. 
5.5.  The Council took note of the statements made  and agreed to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting. 
6  REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 8 OF THE DECISION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 
PARAGRAPH 6 OF THE DOHA DECLARATION ON THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH 
6.1.  The Chairman recalled that the standard format for the review had been that, after an 
introduction and update on recent developmen ts by the Chairman, the floor was opened to 
delegates for comments. In 2010 and 2011, the Council had held more structured debates. They had been conducted on the basis of a list of topics for the discussion that had been agreed in 
advance of the reviews. In light of the feedba ck previous Chairmen had received in their 
consultations prior to the subsequent reviews, the 2012 and 2013 reviews had again followed the standard format. IP/C/M/77 
 
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  6.2.  At his informal consultations in June 2014, he had encouraged delegations to consider how 
the Council should conduct the present review. In light of the feedback received, the Chairman 
suggested that the standard format be followed th is year. The records of earlier reviews, including 
the exchange of questions and responses, continue d to provide a unique and valuable resource for 
understanding this important measure and might in form Members' discussions at this review. If 
Members felt that any questions regarding the Paragraph 6 System itself or possible alternatives to it had not been adequately addressed at past review s, they should feel free to revert to any such 
questions. 
6.3.  As regards the purpose of the review, he recalled that paragraph 8 of the waiver Decision 
provided that the Council for TRIPS shall review annually the functioning of the system set out in 
the Decision with a view to ensuring its effective operation and shall annually report on its 
operation to the General Council. Furthermore, the paragraph provided that this review shall be 
deemed to fulfil the review requirements  of Article IX:4 of the WTO Agreement. 
6.4.  The Secretariat had prepared a draft cover note for the Council's report modelled on previous 
years' reports (circulated as JOB/IP/11). He suggested that the Council take up the preparation of 
its report to the General Council after it had exhausted its discussion. Paragraph 8 of the cover note contained a list of Members that had notified their acceptance of the Protocol. The following 
Members had deposited their instruments of acceptance since the Council's last meeting in 
June: Botswana on 18 June and Uruguay on 31 July. 
6.5.  He recalled that the Protocol had originally been open for acceptance by Members until 
1 December 2007. Upon proposals by the TRIPS Council, the General Council had four times 
extended this period for further two-year pe riods. At present, the period extended until 
31 December 2015. 53 instruments of acceptance, including from the European Union, had been deposited with the WTO Director-General. In orde r for the TRIPS amendment to enter into force, 
acceptance by two thirds of the membership was, however, required. He therefore strongly 
encouraged Members who had not yet completed their domestic procedures to do so as soon as possible. 
6.6.  He said that, regarding how accepting the Protocol related to the implementation of the 
Paragraph 6 System in a Member's domestic legal framework, these were two entirely separate acts; the Protocol could therefore be accepted independently from adopting domestic implementing legislation. By accepting the Prot ocol, a Member expressed its consent that other 
WTO Members were entitled to use the additional flexibility that the System provided. Should a 
WTO Member wish to take advantage itself of these additional flexibilities, it might need to domestically implement appropriate legislative measures. But since these two processes were 
entirely separate, a Member might choose to deposit an instrument of acceptance of the Protocol 
without the need to wait for any domestic implementation. Many instruments of acceptance that the WTO had received had been deposited before the Member in question had adopted any 
domestic implementing legislation.  
6.7.  The representatives of Chile; Uganda on beha lf of the LDC Group; India; Brazil; Cuba; China; 
Chinese Taipei; the United States; Australia; Canada; Japan; the European Union; Switzerland; 
Egypt and the Secretariats of WTO; WIPO and WHO took the floor. 
6.8.  Referring to the draft cover note for the Council's report to the General Council (circulated as 
JOB/IP/11), the Chairman said that it contained factual information on the implementation and use 
of the system established under the Decision, as well as on the status of acceptances of the 
Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement. In accordance with the way that the Council had 
prepared its reports in the previous years, the part of the minutes of the meeting that would 
reflect the discussions held under this agenda item might be attached to the cover note. 
6.9.  The Council took note of statements made an d agreed on the draft cover note to the report. 
It also agreed that the record of the discussion be attached to it. 
7  NON-VIOLATION AND SITUATION COMPLAINTS 
7.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at the Ninth Se ssion of the Ministerial Conference, Ministers had 
directed the TRIPS Council to continue its examination of the scope and modalities for complaints IP/C/M/77 
  
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  of the types provided for under subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 and 
make recommendations to their next Session, which they decided to hold in 2015. It was agreed that, in the meantime, Members would not initiate such complaints under the TRIPS Agreement. In 
the consultations preceding the Council's October 2013 recommendation to extend the moratorium 
and the Decision taken at the Ministerial Conference in Bali, Members had already indicated 
readiness to engage, in early 2014, in intensified work on the matter with the intent of finding a way out of the current cycle of extending the moratorium from one Ministerial Conference to the 
next. 
7.2.  At its meeting in February 2014, the Council  had had its first discussion of the matter after 
the Ministerial Conference. At the following meeting in June 2014, the United States had introduced a paper entitled "Non-Violation Complaints under the TRIPS Agreement" (document 
IP/C/W/599). 
7.3.  He particularly welcomed any thoughts on how the Council could best move forward on this 
matter in order to be in a position to agree in a timely manner on its recommendations specifically 
on scope and modalities to the next Ministerial Co nference or, in the absence of such thoughts, 
how best to proceed with this issue. 
7.4.  The representatives of the United States; the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Brazil; India; 
Cuba; Ecuador; Colombia; China; Japan; Argentina; Chile; the Plurinational State of Bolivia; the 
Republic of Korea; Chinese Taipei; Canada; New Ze aland; Bangladesh; Egypt; Switzerland; Nigeria 
(on behalf of the African Group); Hong Kong, China; Nepal; and Indonesia took the floor. 
7.5.  The Council took note of the statements made  and agreed to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting. 
8  REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT UNDER ARTICLE 71.1 8.1.  The Chairman introduced the item by no ting that delegations had not touched on this 
provision for a number of years. 
8.2.  No statements were made by Members under this agenda item.  8.3.  The Council agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting. 
9  REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE SECTION ON 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 24.2 
9.1.  The Chairman recalled that Article 24.2 prov ided that the Council shall keep under review the 
application of the provisions of the GI Section of the Agreement. The principal tool used to 
coordinate the review process had been a Checklist of Questions contained circulated in document 
IP/C/13 and Add.1, to which a number of Member s had submitted responses, but which many had 
so far not completed. 
9.2.  Currently, only 49 Members out of 160 had undertaken this valuable exercise, and a number 
of past responses were likely to be out of date, since they dated back over a decade. The question 
of GI protection remained of continuing interest and remained a point of discussion, and was 
apparently an active area of legal and policy development in some countries. He invited those 
delegations that had not yet provided responses to the Checklist of Questions to consider doing so. 
He also encouraged those Members that had alread y provided responses to provide updates to the 
extent there had been any significant changes to the way they protected GIs. 
9.3.  In addition, at its meeting in March 2010, the Council had agreed to encourage Members to 
share information on and notify to the Council bilateral agreements related to the protection of geographical indications, which they had entered into. Here again, such information had only been 
provided by a few delegations. In line with th e Council's recommendation made in March 2010, he 
encouraged any Member that was party to any bilateral agreements related to the protection of geographical indications and had not yet shared such information with the Council to do so. 
9.4.  No statements were made by Members under this agenda item. IP/C/M/77 
 
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  9.5.  The Council took note of the information prov ided and agreed to revert to the matter at its 
next meeting. 
10  TWELFTH ANNUAL REVIEW UNDER PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE DECISION ON THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 66.2 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
10.1.  The Chairman recalled that, at its meeting in February 2003, the Council had adopted a 
decision on the "Implementation of Article 66. 2 of the TRIPS Agreement". Paragraph 1 of the 
Decision provided that developed country Members shall submit annually reports on actions taken 
or planned in pursuance of their commitments und er Article 66.2. To this end, they were to 
provide new detailed reports every third year and,  in the intervening years, provide updates to 
their most recent reports. These reports were to be submitted prior to the last Council meeting scheduled for the year in question. 
10.2.  The fourth set of detailed annual reports under the Decision had been presented to the 
Council's meeting in November 2012. At its meeting in June 2014, the Council had requested developed country Members to submit a second set of updates to these reports for the present 
meeting. The Secretariat had issued on 24 July an airgram (WTO/AIR/4336) to remind developed 
country Members of this request. 
10.3.  To date, the Council had received updates to the annual reports from the following 
developed country Members: Australia; Japan; New Zealand; Canada; Norway; Switzerland, as 
well as the United States. This documentation was circulated in document IP/C/W/602 and addenda. The report submitted by the European  Union and individual member States, namely 
Austria; Belgium; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Ireland; Luxemburg; the Netherlands; 
Slovakia; Spain; Sweden and the United Kingdom,  had been made available as a room document 
on documents online and would also be circulated as an addendum to document IP/C/W/602. 
10.4.  The Chairman recognized that some of the information had been received only very 
recently, and most of it was, so far, available only in its original language. Therefore, he suggested 
that Members make further comments on the info rmation at the next TRIPS Council's meeting. 
10.5.  He said that, for the seventh year in a row, the Secretariat had organized, at the request by 
LDC Members, a workshop on transfer of technolo gy under Article 66.2 back-to-back to with the 
Council's end-of-year meeting on 27 October 2014. It had again brought together LDC and developed country experts to discuss this matter at a very practical level, building on the earlier workshops. There had been again a constructive ex change of views which was useful to both LDC 
and developed country delegations.  
10.6.  The discussions had also covered the reporting format that could be used by developed 
country Members in order to make the information provided more accessible. He recalled that, at 
the tenth review, Haiti on behalf of the LDC Grou p requested that the Council adopt the proposed 
format for reports submitted by developed country Members under Article 66.2 contained in a communication submitted by Angola on behalf of  the LDC Group prior to the ninth review and 
circulated in document IP/C/W/561. The Secretariat had informed the Council a number of times of 
its work to develop an information management tool for this purpose that would facilitate the submission, processing and circulation of information on available incentives. One thing that was being explored was how the substantive concerns could be reflected in any such new tools. This 
had been considered at the Workshop. 
10.7.  In order to record the questions posed to reporting developed country Members on the 
occasion of the previous Workshop held on 9 Oc tober 2013, a compilation of these questions had 
been circulated as a room document on docume nts online at the request of the LDC Group. 
10.8.  The representatives of Australia; the European Union; New Zealand; Nepal; the United 
States; Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group and Bangladesh took the floor. 
10.9.  The Chairman thanked the Secretariat fo r organizing once more the Workshop and the 
delegations concerned for their constructive contributions at the Workshop; and indicated that the 
Council would provide an opportunity, at the next meeting, for Members to make further IP/C/M/77 
  
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  comments on the information submitted for this meeting that they might not yet have been able to 
study. 
10.10.  The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its 
next meeting. 
11  TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING 
11.1.  The Chairman recalled that the Council had agreed, at its meeting in June 2014, to hold its 
annual review of technical cooperation at this meeting. He suggested that, in this context, 
Members also discuss any other issues relating to this agenda item. 
11.2.  He said that, in preparation for this annual review, developed country Members had been 
once more requested to update information on their technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agre ement in time for this meeting. Other Members 
who also made available technical cooperation had been encouraged to share information on these 
activities if they so wished. The Secretariat had issued on 24 July 2014 an airgram (WTO/AIR/4337) reminding Members of this request.  In addition, intergovernmental organizations 
observers to the Council as well as the WTO Secretariat had also been invited to provide 
information. 
11.3.  To date, the Council had received information from the following developed country 
Members: Australia; Japan; New Zealand; Canada; Switzerland; Norway; as well as the United 
States. The resulting documentation concerning the technical cooperation activities of developed country Members was circulated in document IP/C/W/601 and addenda. The report submitted by the European Union and individual member States, namely Austria; Bulgaria; the Czech Republic; 
Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Hungary; the Netherlands; Portugal; Slovenia; 
Spain; Sweden and the United Kingdom had been made available as a room document on documents online and would also be circulated as an addendum to document IP/C/W/601. 
11.4.  So far the Council had received updated information from the following intergovernmental 
organizations: the WCO, WHO, FAO; UPOV; WIPO; UNCTAD; as well as the GCC, which had been 
circulated in document IP/C/W/603 and addenda.  Updated information on the WTO Secretariat's 
own technical cooperation activities in the TRIPS area had been made available in document 
IP/C/W/600. These reports provided very valuable information both as regards details of specific activities, but also the broader policy considerations that were guiding capacity building activities of individual Members and Observers. Much of th is resource remained largely untapped due to the 
amount of information provided and the way of preparation. In order to promote awareness and 
transparency, the Secretariat had repeatedly su ggested that the information about specific 
activities be reported in table format. It had also provided regular updates with respect to its work 
aimed at identifying ways of facilitating the submission, processing and circulation of information 
on technical assistance. 
11.5.  The representative of the WTO Secretariat informed the Council of its recent technical 
cooperation activities, including the Workshop on "Realizing Developmental Objectives of the 
Intellectual Property System: LDC Needs for Technical and Financial Cooperation" that had been organized back-to-back with the last Council meet ing on 12-13 June 2014. Also the representative 
of the UNCTAD Secretariat introduced its report. 
11.6.  The representatives of Bangladesh; the Eu ropean Union and Bangladesh, on behalf of the 
LDC Group took the floor.  
11.7.  The Chairman said that some of the information had been received very recently, and most 
of it was, so far, available only in its original language. Therefore, he suggested that an 
opportunity be provided to Members at the Council's next meeting to make further comments on the information submitted for this meeting.  
11.8.  The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next 
meeting. IP/C/M/77 
 
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  12  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INNOVA TION: PROMOTING AWARENESS; CASE 
STUDIES 
12.1.  The Chairman said that this item had been  put on the agenda at the written request by the 
delegations of the European Union, Switzerland and the United States. 
12.2.  The representatives of Switzerland; the European Union; the United States; Ecuador; 
Panama; Japan; Chile; Mexico; India; Canada; Hong Kong, China; Chinese Taipei; El Salvador; 
Australia and Brazil took the floor.  
12.3.  The Council took note of the statements made. 
13  CONCERNS WITH RESPECT TO MEASUR ES RELATED TO PLAIN PACKAGING OF 
TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND THEIR COMPAT IBILITY WITH THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
13.1.  The Chairman said that this item had been  put on the agenda at the written request by the 
delegation of Ukraine. After the circulation of th e revised proposed agenda for this meeting, the 
Dominican Republic had indicated that it wished to co-sponsor the item. 
13.2.  The representatives of Ukraine; the Dominican Republic; Cuba; Indonesia; Honduras; 
Zimbabwe; Australia; Nicaragua; New Zealand; the European Union; Norway; Canada; Uruguay 
and the WHO took the floor.  
13.3.  The Council took note of the statements made. 
14  INFORMATION ON RELEVANT DEVELOPMENTS ELSEWHERE IN THE WTO  14.1.  No statements were made by Members under this agenda item.  15  OBSERVER STATUS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 15.1.  The Chairman said that there remained 12 pending requests for observer status in the 
TRIPS Council by intergovernmental organizations. The updated list was contained in document 
IP/C/W/52/Rev.13. 
15.2.  In response to a request by the Council in June 2011, four of these organizations had 
updated the information they had provided earlier, including on the nature of their work and the 
reasons for their interest in being accorded observer status: The Conference of West and Central African Ministers of Agriculture (C MA/AOC), the International Organiza tion of Vine and Wine (OIV), 
the South Centre, and the United Nations Enviro nment Programme (UNEP). Furthermore, the CBD 
Secretariat had informed the Secretariat that it had felt that no update was necessary since it had already renewed its request as recently as 24 November 2010 by means of a letter addressed to the WTO Director-General. This information was available on the Members' website. 
15.3.  The representatives of Nigeria, Brazil, Indi a, China, Indonesia and the United States took 
the floor.  
15.4.  The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to request that the Chairman 
hold consultations on the pending requests for observer status for the South Centre, the CBD 
Secretariat and the International Vaccine Institute, as well as the other remaining organizations.  The Council also agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting. 
16  ANNUAL REPORT 
16.1.  The Chairman said that the draft Annual Report of the Council had been circulated in 
document JOB/IP/12. He suggested that the Secretar iat be requested to update the draft to reflect 
the discussions at the present meeting. This draf t would be faxed to Members, who would have 
one week to comment on the updated parts of the draft report.1 
                                               
1 The Annual Report (2014) was subsequently circulated in document IP/C/68. IP/C/M/77 
  
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  16.2.  The Council so agreed. 
17  OTHER BUSINESS 
17.1  Invitations to ad hoc observers 17.1.  The Chairman recalled, at its meetings in June 2010 and November 2012, the Council had 
agreed to grant ad hoc observer status on a me eting-to-meeting basis to the African Regional 
Intellectual Property Organization, the African Intellectual Property Organization, the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf, and the Eu ropean Free Trade Association. He suggested that 
the Council again invite ARIPO, OAPI, GCC and EFTA  to attend the Council's next formal meeting 
on an ad hoc basis. 
17.2.  The Council so agreed. 
17.2  Dates for the Council's meetings in 2015 
17.3.  The Chairman suggested that the Council agree on the following dates for its meetings in 
2015: 
  Tuesday and Wednesday, 24 and 25 February; 
  Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 and 10 June; and 
  Tuesday and Wednesday, 13 and 14 October.   
17.4.  The Council so agreed. 
17.3  Contribution of intellectual property to  facilitate the transfer of environmentally 
sound technology 
17.5.  The Chairman said that the delegation of Ecuador wished to make a statement under "Other 
Business" concerning the "Contribution of intellectual property to facilitate the transfer of 
environmentally sound technology". 
17.6.  The representative of Ecuador took the floor. 
17.7.  The Council took note of the statement made.  
17.4  Extension of the transition period under Article 66.1 of the TRIPS Agreement for 
Least developed country Members for certain ob ligations with respect to pharmaceutical 
products 
17.8.  The Chairman said that the delegation of Uganda, on behalf of the LDC Group, had indicated 
at the beginning of the meeting that it wished  to make a statement under "Other Business" 
concerning "Extension of the transition period under Article 66.1 of the TRIPS Agreement for least developed country Members for certain obligations  with respect to pharmaceutical products". 
17.9.  The representatives of Bangladesh, on be half of the LDC Group and Bangladesh took the 
floor. 
17.10.  The Council took note of the statements made.  
 
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