WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/456/Add.3 
24 October 2005 
 
 (05-4880) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM 
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS 
 
WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION (WIPO) 
 
Addendum  
  
 WIPO's document WIPO/EDS/INF/1 Rev. en titled "Information on WIPO's Development 
Cooperation Activities (January 2000 – June 2005)", has been received from WIPO by means of a 
communication dated 14 October 2005.  It provides updated information on their technical assistance 
in the area of intellectual property relevant to  the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. 
  The attachment reproduces the cover note to th e document.  The tables which are annexed to 
it setting out details of individual activities can be consulted in hard copy in the WTO Secretariat 
(Office 3131) or on the website of WIPO: 
http://www.wipo.int/eds/en/activities/pdf/wipo_eds_inf_1_rev.pdf.   
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 IP/C/W/456/Add.3 
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 ANNEX 
 
WIPO/EDS/INF/1 Rev. 
 1. During the June 2005 session of the Inter-sessional Intergovernmental Meeting on a 
Development Agenda for WIPO (IIM), the Secretaria t had indicated that it w ould provide information 
on the development cooperation activities carried out in the recent years. The present document provides a factual account of the activities carried out over the period January 2000 to June 2005. The 
annexes contain a listing of those activities, by co untry/territory/organization and by year, for easy 
reference for the reader wishing to know about th e work done. The information contained in this 
document will form part of a larger database,  which will be accessible on the WIPO website. 
2. The cooperation for development program of WI PO aims at establishing or strengthening 
intellectual property offices or related institutions ; providing legal advice and assistance; promoting 
indigenous innovative, inventive and creative activities; training government officials and 
representatives of the private sector; disseminating patent information and promoting awareness of 
intellectual property. These activities primarily seek to support developing countries and countries 
with economies in transition to maximize the use and effectiveness of IP as a tool for social, economic 
and cultural development. While implementing its programs, WIPO also bears in mind the United 
Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals. 
3. Over the past few years, however, there has b een a major shift in the focus and priorities of 
these activities. While continuing the primary task of providing general lega l and technical assistance 
to developing countries and countr ies with economies in transition, efforts have increasingly been 
made to assist countries in two priority areas. The fi rst priority area is to help these countries to create 
intellectual property assets and realize real benefits fro m these assets. This shift in direction has taken 
place mainly in response to expressed needs and demands of Member States. The WIPO Economic Development Sector was established in early 2004 to reflect the emphasis put on the economic and 
development, including social, dimensions of intell ectual property. It seeks to transform the economic 
development objectives of intellectual property into r eality and to ensure that the countries concerned 
benefit from modern scientific and technological a dvances in the field of health, environment, 
communication and nutrition. Furthermore, in the p ast few years, specialized divisions have been 
geared to lay more stress on the development aspec ts, to steer it towards targeted results and to 
conduct analytical and research work. Some of th ese divisions are the WIPO Worldwide Academy; 
Traditional Knowledge Division; Least Develope d Countries Division; Small and Medium-Sized 
Enterprises Division; Intellectual Property and Eco nomic Development Division and the Intellectual 
Property and New Technologies Division. 
4. The second priority area is in providing legal and general advice on using flexibilities in the 
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectua l Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and WIPO 
treaties. With the conclusion of the TRIPS Agreement, many Member States requested WIPO to assist 
them in implementing TRIPS obligations, as well as other WIPO treaties.  A number of Member 
States, engaged in bilateral or regional trade-re lated negotiations, also sought advice from WIPO on 
issues not contained in existing multilateral agreem ents. Furthermore, legi slative and policy support 
was also directed at enabling policy-makers to ma ke informed decisions on the use of options and 
flexibilities, available in the international legal fra mework, in their national policies and strategies. 
For this, developing countries and countries with eco nomies in transition were also advised regarding 
accession to treaties, which support their public pol icy concerns and socio-economic development 
objectives, particularly in the field of pu blic health, access to knowledge and education. 
5. Activities under the different programs are identifie d in consultation with the Member States, 
cooperating institutions and the intende d beneficiaries, and to the extent possible, experts, consultants 
and speakers are utilized from developing countries and countries with economies in transition. WIPO  IP/C/W/456/Add.3 
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 conducts human resource development activities and organizes mee tings, seminars and workshops in 
Member States, at the re quest of the government or institution co ncerned and the program is finalized 
in consultation with them. The participants are enc ouraged to share their experiences and, at the end 
of the event, to evaluate the program. The evaluatio n exercise is useful in designing future activities. 
In order to optimize resources, activities and projects are coordinated with othe r bilateral, multilateral 
and international organizations, involved with in tellectual property and economic development issues. 
6. The tables in the annexes contain the followi ng details on activities, taken up in accordance 
with the relevant program and budget, approved by  the Member States for the period 2000 to June 
2005. 
(i)  Meetings organized in different de veloping countries/countries with economies in  
transition/territory . These are meetings relating to different aspects of intellectual property.  The 
subject of the meeting, topics covered and the pa rticipation varied with the expressed needs. The 
information includes the names of the requesting aut hority; joint organizers;  number of participants 
and countries represented (Annex 1).  
(ii)  Projects for automation of intellectual property offices
. This includes advisory and technical 
services to assist these countries in utilizing appr opriate information technologies; automation of 
business processes and administrative work of intellectual property offices; provision of technical advice; knowledge transfer for the execution and deployment of automation projects and training of intellectual property office staff. The information contains the names of the requesting authority; 
equipment supplied; software developed; number of  missions undertaken to execute the project and 
number of staff members trained (Annex 1). 
 (iii)  Expert Missions to Member States for specific tasks
. The information contains the names of 
countries/territory where the experts were sent; purpose of the mission; the requesting authority and country of origin of the expert (Annex 1). 
 
(iv)  Study visits of officials
. The information contains details relating to the names of the 
requesting authority and the subject of activity (Annex 1).  (v)  Meetings organized at WIPO headquarters in Geneva
. These are mainly activities relating to 
norm-setting; information technology projects; gene tic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore; 
and cooperation for development. In the case of  norm-setting activities, the objective of supporting 
the participation of these countries is to ensure that  all relevant concerns are heard and taken into 
consideration. In order to fac ilitate the discussion process and to ma ke it more broadly representative, 
WIPO finances the participation of some offici als from developing countries and countries with 
economies in transition in such meetings. WIPO also finances the participation of officials from these 
countries to attend meetings seeking to develop an  international consensus on intellectual property 
protection of traditional knowledge, traditional cultu ral expressions and on the IP aspects of genetic 
resources. The information in the Annex contains th e number of sponsored officials, with the names 
of countries, who have attended meetings of the Standing Committee on Patents (SCP), Standing 
Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Standing Committee on Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT), Standing Committee on Information Technology 
(SCIT), Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore 
(IGCTKF) and the Permanent Committee on Cooperati on for Development Related to Intellectual 
Property (PCIPD) (Annex 2).  (vi)  Activities co-sponsored with and implemented in industrialized countries
. This includes 
training and other programs organized by WIPO in pa rtnership with different industrialized countries. 
The costs for these programs were jo intly shared with these countries,  which also hosted the activities 
(Annex 3). IP/C/W/456/Add.3 
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(vii)  Legislative advice provided to Member States
. WIPO’s legislative advice falls into four broad 
categories, namely, submission of draft laws to Me mber States; comments on draft laws prepared by 
Member States; legal advice in genera l; and advisory visits. Over the years, this legislative advice has 
moved from merely assisting WIPO and WTO deve loping country Members with implementation 
compliance with WIPO treaties and the TRIPS Agreement, to helping Members use the current 
international standards for promoting national goals  of economic and social development, through the 
flexibilities which are available. Information relating to this advice has been provided in Annex 4. A 
few details relating to the names of the requesti ng authority, subject matter and number of missions 
undertaken to provide the advice are also contained in Annex 1. 
 
(viii)  Human Resources Development Activities . These are activities organized by the WIPO 
Worldwide Academy for teaching, training and research in intellectual property. The programs meet with the requirements of different target audiences – inventors and creators, business managers and IP 
professionals, policy makers and government o fficials of IP institutions, diplomats and 
representatives, students and teachers of intellectua l property and the civil society. Information 
relating to the activities organized by the Academy is in Annex 5.  (ix)  Activities implemented in Cooperation with  Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) and 
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs ). These are mainly activities implemented in cooperation 
with IGOs and NGOs. In order to optimize use of resources and maximize the benefits of the 
synergies thus created, WIPO promotes interfaci ng with IGOs and NGOs involved with intellectual 
property and economic development issues. In a number of cases, memoranda of understanding 
(MOU) and cooperation agreements have been si gned, institutionalizing c ooperation between WIPO 
and IGOs. Information relating to the organization of such activities has been provided in Annex 6. 
 
 
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