IP/C/W/633/Add.5  
 
3 October  2017 
(17-5275) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS  
ORGANISATION FOR ECO NOMIC CO -OPERATION  
AND DEVELOPMENT (OEC D) 
Addendum  
At its meeting of 13  June 2017, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial 
cooperation programmes relating to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
 
The present document reproduces the information which has been received from  the Organisation 
for Economic Co -operation and Development (OECD) by means of a communication dated  
27 September 2017.  
 
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While the OECD undertakes a range of activities relating to intellectual property rights (IPRs) and 
relevant to the TRIPS  Agreement, we have not separately targeted implementation of 
the Agreement as a specific focus for technical co -operation. The OECD does not operate financial 
cooperation programmes related to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
Please find here be low several projects underway or recently completed that may be of interest as 
they touch upon TRIPS -related topics:  
 
1  TRADE -RELATED ASPECTS OF I NTELLECTUAL PROPERTY : 
1.1.  Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods : A study was conducted under the OECD Task Force 
on Counterfeit Illicit Trade which is a part of the OECD High Level Risk Forum. A report "Trade in 
Counterfeit and Pirated Goods: Mapping the Economic Impact " was published on 16 April 2016 and 
is available here: https://www.oecd.org/governance/trade -in-counterfeit -and-pirated -goods -
9789264252653 -en.htm . The report is built on two policy concerns. The first is the impact of crime 
and illicit trade activ ities on good governance, public safety and the rule of law. The second is 
the negative effect that counterfeit trade has on legitimate competitive advantage of rights 
holders, and consequently on innovation, employment and long -term economic growth.  
1.2.  The O ECD, together with the EUIPO, also recently published a report on "Mapping the real 
routes of trade in fake goods ". This study looks at the issue of the complex routes of trade in 
counterfeit pirated goods. Using a set of statistical filters, it identifies key producing economies 
and key transit points. The analysis is done for ten main sectors for which counterfeiting is the key 
threat. The results will facilitate tailoring policy responses to strengthen governance frameworks to 
tackle this risk, depending on the profile of a given economy that is known as a source of 
counterfeit goods in international trade. The paper is available here: http://www.oecd -
ilibrary.org/docserver/download/4217301e.pdf?expires=150 6518678&id=id&accname=ocid840048
78&checksum=813AFFE0F6691E16F7FE5BBB2F5C56A5  IP/C/W/633/Add.5  
 
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2  INTELLECTUAL PROPERT Y RIGHTS IN THE FIEL DS OF SCIENCE, TECHN OLOGY AND 
INDUSTRY:  
2.1.  The importance and pervasiveness of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is 
widely ack nowledged, but assessing the extent to which they shape economies and societies 
requires robust measurement. The OECD has worked for some time on identifying and typifying 
ICT-related technologies, and in early 2017 published a proposed definition of ICTs that relies on 
the technology classes of the International Patent Classification (IPC) in which patents are 
classified. See Inaba, T. and M. Squicciarini (2017),  "ICT: A new taxonomy based on 
the international patent classification ", OECD Science, Technolo gy and Industry Working Papers , 
No. 2017/01, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/ab16c396 -en. 
2.2.  The OECD has a range of work underway c oncerning methodology and database development 
related to patent statistics. A conference on Intellectual Property Statistics for Decision Makers 
(IPSDM) will take place on 14 -15 November 2017 in Mexico City, co -organised by the OECD, 
the Canadian Intellec tual Property Office, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property and 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Key topics to be discussed at this event include: IP 
and the digital transformation of economies and societies; IP, big data and Artificia l Intelligence 
(AI); IP and Industry 4.0: which role?; IP and trade: the role of intellectual property in global 
value chains; and IP bundles, strategic behaviours and competition in global and digital markets. 
Further information on OECD intellectual prop erty statistics -related work can be found here: 
oe.cd/ipstats . 
2.3.  A report entitled the "World Corporate Top R&D Investors: Industrial Property Strategies in 
the Digital Economy ", focusing on the IP activities of top corporate R&D investors worldwide will be 
launched in Seville on 27 September 2017. The work was conducted jointly by the OECD and 
the European Commission Joint Research Centre. It will be available online following publication 
and the underlying d ata can be obtained on request.  
2.4.  Further informatio n on OECD activities related to intellectual property rights 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  
3  TRADE SECRETS:  
3.1.  The OECD Paper "Uncovering Trade Secrets - An Empirical Assessment of Economic 
Implications of Protection for Undisclosed Data " takes stock of the protection of trade secrets for 
a sample of 37 countries, provides historical data for the period since 1985, and considers 
the relationship of the stringency of the protection of trade secrets to relevant economic 
performance indicators. The paper finds that there has been a notable increase in the stringency of 
trade secrets protection in a broad sample of countries during the period from 1985 to 2010. 
The paper also finds a positive association between the stringency of trade  secrets protection and 
key indicators of innovation and international economic flows. This document is available here: 
http://www.oecd -ilibrary.org/trade/uncovering -trade-secrets -an-empirical -assessment -of-
economic -implications -of-protection -for-undisclosed -data_5jxzl5w3j3s6 -en. 
 
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