WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/455/Add.3 
18 October 2005 
 (05-4763) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  
INFORMATION FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS 
 
CANADA 
 
Addendum  
  
 The following communication, dated 4 October 2005, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Canada. 
  
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Pursuant to Article 67 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 
Rights (TRIPS), the Council for TRIPS requests an update from developed country Members of their 
technical and financial cooperation programmes in favour of developi ng and least-developed country 
Members. The present document updates th e report provided by Canada in 2002 
(IP/C/W/377/Add.5), for consideration by the TRIPS Council at its meeting from 25-26 October 
2005. 
Canada has undertaken a number of technical cooperation activities at the bilateral, regional 
and multilateral levels.  Canada's  bilateral efforts are mainly focussed on the Latin American, 
Caribbean and Asia-Pacific regions.  Canada's regi onal activities are mainly undertaken in the context 
of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Intellectua l Property Rights Expert's Group (APEC-IPEG).  
At the multilateral level, Canada works in close collaboration with the World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO). 
The following summary provides an update of these activities, wh ich are mainly administered 
by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIP O) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  
Other Canadian institutions such as the Centre fo r Trade Policy and Law (CTPL) are also involved in 
international cooperation efforts.   
1. Bilateral Activities 
CIPO offers to developing and least-devel oped country Members a one-week Executive 
Workshop on Application of Management Techni ques in the Delivery of Intellectual Property 
Services.  This course is offered by CIPO in partne rship with WIPO and has the following objectives: 
(i) to enhance knowledge and skills in the area of management techniques in the delivery of 
intellectual property services, with a view to improvi ng the capacity of intellectual property officials; 
(ii) to provide participants with first -hand ex perience of the nature and scope of Canada's IP 
expertise, products and services;  and (iii) to  provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and 
experiences with officials from other IP offices.  Th e course is targeted at senior-level officials. IP/C/W/455/Add.3 
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 The five-day course was held from 3-7 May 2004.   The participants included delegates from 
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, Uruguay and Viet Nam. 
2. Regional/Multilateral Activities 
Canada also undertakes technical cooperati on activities in favour of developing and 
least-developed countries at the regional and multila teral levels.  These activities have chiefly 
focussed on the training of officials from intellectual property offices with a view to modernization of 
domestic intellectual property regimes, as well as th e enforcement of intellectual property rights, 
especially in respect of copyright and trademark infringement.   
The Director of the RCMP Federal Enforcement Branch is the Co-Chair of the Interpol 
Intellectual Property Crime Action Group (IIP CAG).  The IIPCAG members are 50% law 
enforcement and 50% private-sector, and this in ternational forum continually seeks to promote 
international cooperation and IPR training.  As an  active member of the IIPCAG, the RCMP - along 
with other IIPCAG members - provided training to the Brazilian Police in Rio this past summer.  
 
In the context of APEC-IPEG, Canada partic ipates actively in the organization's bi-annual 
deliberations aimed at sharing information and best practices on intellectual property rights. 
CIPO also provides other services on an on-going basis for WIPO's technical cooperation 
activities in favour of developing and least-devel oped country Members, including the following: 
• training of senior officials of Intellectua l Property Offices of developing and least-
developing country Members, upon request by WIPO,  including on-the-job training in operational and administrative matters with  a view to supporting modernization of 
domestic intellectual property services; 
 
• performing state-of-the-art searches under the WIPO Patent Information Searches 
(WPIS) for developing countries; 
 
• Providing search and examination reports of patent applications under the WIPO 
Program of International Cooperation in th e Search and Examination of Inventions 
(ICSEI); and 
 
• Supplying free copies of Canadian patent  documents for developing countries, upon 
request from WIPO. 
  Particular highlights of these efforts incl ude programmes organized for the Intellectual 
Property Office of Mexico;  the European Pate nt Office;  and provincial offices of China. 
  It should be noted that Canadian awareness-bu ilding and reference resources are available for 
wide consultation through CIPO's website: www.cipo.gc.ca
 
 
3. Other Canadian Institutions and Resources 
Other Canadian institutions have also been involved in providing technical assistance to 
developing and least-devel oped country Members.   
For example, the CTPL is a Canadian institu tion that provides developing and transition 
economies with the guidance and support to sustain them in the short term, and with the knowledge 
and tools to ensure their full participation in inte rnational trade agreements, including specific training  IP/C/W/455/Add.3 
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 on intellectual property law and policy issues.  CTPL offers a Certificate Program in Trade Policy and 
Commercial Diplomacy each summer in Ottawa, Canada, that teaches the fundamentals of international trade agreements, trade policy formul ation, and trade negotiation skills.  The course 
includes a two-day module on TRIPS and related issues.  The course is attended primarily by 
government officials from developing countries and countries in transition, sponsored by the 
Canadian International Development Agency (CI DA).  In 2004 and 2005, CTPL also delivered, in 
cooperation with the EPO International Academy Seminar, specialized trade negotiation skills 
training on intellectual property issues to official s from similar countries as part of a week-long 
training programme in Geneva on "International IP  Agreements and Negotiations: Chances and Risks 
of Implementation." 
Canadian awareness-building and reference resour ces have also been made available for wide 
consultation by all Members through the Internet, including by way of example CIPO's following 
website: http://cipo.gc.ca/. 
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