WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/543 
22 October 2009 
 (09-5241) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights  
 
 
 
TIMELINESS AND COMPLETENESS OF NOTIFICATIONS  
AND OTHER INFORMATION FLOWS 
 
Note by the Secretariat  
 
 
   
 
  
Table of Contents
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... .3 
II. RELEVANT NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES...................................................................3  
A. NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 ...........................................3  
1. Procedures for the notification of laws and regulations........................................................3  
2. Availability of the information received .................................................................................6  
3. Status of notifications of laws and regulations .......................................................................8  
B. NOTIFICATIONS OF CONTACT POINTS UNDER ARTICLE 69..........................................................8  
C. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERS AVAILING THEMSELVES OF CERTAIN 
POSSIBILITIES UNDER THE TRIPS  AGREEMENT ..........................................................................9  
1. Articles 1.3 and 3.1........................................................................................................... .........9  
2. Article 4(d)................................................................................................................... ..............9  
3. Article 6 ter of the Paris Convention ......................................................................................10  
4. Other notification requirements under the Berne Convention and the Rome 
Convention incorporated by ref erence into the TRIPS Agreement...................................11  
D. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERS MAKING USE OF THE ADDITIONAL 
FLEXIBILITIES RELATING TO TRIPS  AND PUBLIC HEALTH ........................................................13  
E. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS AGREED BY THE 
TRIPS  COUNCIL IN THE CONTEXT OF ARTICLES 66.2  AND 67..................................................14  
1. Reports under Ar ticle 66.2..................................................................................................... 14 
2. Contact points for technical cooperation and reports under Article 67 ............................15  This document has been prepa red under the Secretariat's own 
responsibility and without prejudice to the positions of Members 
and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.IP/C/W/543 
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  F.
 CERTAIN OTHER INFORMATION FLOWS .....................................................................................16  
1. Records of reviews of national  implementing legislation ....................................................16  
2. Responses provided in the context of the review of the provisions of the Section 
on geographical indications under Article 24.2....................................................................16  
3. Responses provided in the context of the review of the provisions of 
Article27.3(b)................................................................................................................. ..........17  
 
  ANNEX 1 :  WTO Documents Series for the Circulation of Intellectual Property Notifications  18 
 
ANNEX 2 :  Status of notifications of laws  and regulations under Article 63.2 19 
 ANNEX 3 :  Notification procedures as contained in document IP/C/2 36 
 
  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. In order to facilitate its consideration of the issue of improving the timeliness and 
completeness of notifications and other informatio n flows in the area of its responsibility, at its 
meeting in June 2009 the Council for TRIPS requested  the Secretariat to prepare a factual background 
note summarizing the relevant procedures and providi ng references to the re levant decisions, as well 
as information on the use of these procedures by Me mbers, and also to prepare suggestions for the 
Council's consideration at its next meeting on how to improve the transparency and user-friendliness 
of the notification system, for example by making notifications more easily accessible on the WTO webpage.  The purpose of this note is to respond to this request. 
2. The TRIPS Agreement obliges WTO Members to  notify to the Council for TRIPS their 
intellectual property laws and regulations. These notifications facilitate the Council's work of 
monitoring the operation of the Agreement and prom ote the transparency of Members' policies on 
intellectual property protection.   Members are also  obliged to establish and notify contact points in 
their administrations for the purposes of cooperation w ith each other aimed at the elimination of trade 
in infringing goods.  In addition, Members wish ing to avail themselves of certain possibilities 
provided for in the Agreement that relate to the substantive obligations ha ve to notify the Council 
thereof.  These concern, for example, modifications of the criteria of eligibility for protection, exceptions to the most-favoured-nation treatment, a nd protection of state emblems.  In order to 
implement these notification obligations, the Counc il has adopted procedures and guidelines relating 
thereto.  Annex 1
 to this note contains a list of the IP/N/- series of documents in which such 
notifications are circulated.  Developed country Members have also agreed to provide certain 
information and make notifications which are not regulated in the Agreement.  These procedures 
relate to technical cooperation and transfer of technology.1  In addition, Members often share 
information on their legislation and practices as part of  the Council's work.  Th is has been done in a 
structured way in the context of reviews of natio nal implementing legislation, the review of the 
application of the provisions of the Section on ge ographical indications under Article 24.2, and the 
review of the provisions of Article 27.3(b). 
3. This note summarizes these notification procedur es and provides referenc es to the relevant 
decisions as well as to background documents.  It also  describes the way that the relevant information 
is currently being made available.  The note also contains some initial considerations on ways in 
which the transparency and user-friendliness of the system could be improved, including within the 
context of the existing cooperation between the S ecretariats of the World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO) and the WTO.  Annex 2  to this note contains a table indicating the dates of 
receipt of Members' initial notifications of laws a nd regulations, updates thereto, and responses to the 
Checklist of Issues on Enforcement. 
II. RELEVANT NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES 
A. NOTIFICATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 
1. Procedures for the notification of laws and regulations 
4. Article 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, in conj unction with Article 63.1, requires Members to 
notify the laws and regulations made effective pert aining to the subject-matter of the Agreement (the 
availability, scope, acquisition, enforcement and pr evention of the abuse of intellectual property 
                                                      
1 Detailed information on the notification procedur es can be found in the "Technical Cooperation 
Handbook on Notification Requirements: Agreement on Trad e-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights" 
circulated in document WT/TC/NOTIF/TRIPS/1. IP/C/W/543 
Page 4  
 
  rights) to the Council in order to assist it in its re view of the operation of the Agreement.  The basic 
procedures for the notification of national laws a nd regulations under Article 63.2 are contained in 
document IP/C/2 (Annex 3
)2  The Agreement Between WIPO and the WTO is also relevant with 
regard to these procedures. 
5. As regards the initial notification , the procedures provide that, as of the time that a Member is 
obliged to start applying a provision of the TRIPS Agreement, the corresponding laws and regulations 
shall be notified without delay (normally within 30 days, except where otherwise provided by the 
TRIPS Council).  Accordingly, developed country Me mbers were to make their initial notification of 
their TRIPS legislation at the end of their trans ition period in 1996, and developing country Members 
in 2000.  Newly acceded Members are to notify thei r TRIPS implementing legislation as of the time 
they are to start to apply the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in accordance with their accession 
protocol. 
6. The general transition period for least-develope d country Members has been extended until 
1 July 2013.3  As regards pharmaceutical products, the transition period has been extended until 
1 January 2016.4  Least-developed country Members are not yet obliged to notify their TRIPS 
legislation implementing those provisions of the Ag reement in respect of which they are availing 
themselves of the extended general tran sition period.  However, as regards advance notifications , the 
procedures provide that a Member who has amended a law or regulation to bring it into conformity 
with the provisions of the Agreement in advan ce of its obligation under the Agreement to start 
applying those provisions will use its best endea vours to notify such law or regulation as soon as 
possible after its entry into force. 
7. The procedures also provide that any subsequent amendments  o f  a  M e m b e r ' s  l a w s  a n d  
regulations shall be notified without delay after thei r entry into force (normally within 30 days where 
no translation is required and within 60 days where translation is necessary). 
8. The procedures provide that, wherever possible,  notifications shall be made in machine-
readable as well as hard copy form. 
9. According to the procedures, notifications of laws and regulations need to comprise the 
following elements:  
(a) the texts of all relevant la ws and regulations in their original language ; 
(b) translations  into one WTO language of "main dedicated intellectual property laws 
and regulations", if the original  language is not a WTO language; 
(c) a listing  of "other laws and regulations" in accordance with a specific format 
contained in document IP/C/4; 
(d) responses to a checklist of questions on law and practice in the area of enforcement, 
in addition to the notification of the texts of enforcement laws and regulations;  this 
"Checklist of Issues on Enforcement" is contained in document IP/C/5.  
10. These procedures for the notification of laws and regulations under Article 63.2 reflect a 
number of departures from traditional GATT/WTO pr actice regarding submission, translation and 
distribution of notifications.  It was recognized th at the volume of these notifications would be very 
                                                      
2 Further procedures can be found in documents IP/C/4 and 5. 
3 Document IP/C/40. 
4 Document IP/C/25.  IP/C/W/543 
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  large and procedures were adopted to attempt to re duce the burdens for Members in preparing them as 
well as for the Secretariat in processing them.  At  the same time, they nevertheless attempted to 
ensure that the purpose of the notification system as an instrument to monitor implementation would 
not be unduly impaired and could remain effective. 
(a) Not all laws and regulations need to be notified in a WTO language.  A distinction 
has been made between so-called " main dedicated intellectual property laws and 
regulations " and " other laws and regulations ".  Document IP/C/2, paragraphs 6 and 9 
and document IP/C/W/8 contain some guidelines for Members in order to help them make their assessment when dividing th eir laws and regulations into these two 
categories.  Main laws and regulations have  to be notified in English, French or 
Spanish;  other laws and regulations can be  notified in a Member's national language.  
Translations of laws and regulations must be accompanied by the authentic texts of 
the laws and regulations in ques tion in a national language.   
(b) Under Article 2(5) of the Agreement Between WIPO and the WTO, the assistance of 
WIPO will be available to developing count ry Members for translation of laws and 
regulations for the purposes of Article 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, whether or not 
they are Members of WIPO. 
(c) Only the texts of main laws and regulati ons will be distributed in WTO documents 
and only in the WTO language in wh ich they have been submitted. 
(d) Other laws and regulations will not be distributed but only be available for 
consultation in the WTO Secretariat.  Howeve r, in order to maximize transparency as 
to the contents of other laws and regulations, the notification of the texts of all "other 
laws and regulations" must be accompanie d by a listing of them according to the 
format contained in document IP/C/4.  Th is listing must be submitted at the same 
time as the laws and regulations themselves.  A model of such a listing can be found 
in document IP/C/W/8.  According to the two-column format, the titles of the laws 
and regulations will be presented on the left side and a brief description of them in 
English, French or Spanish on the right side.
5  In order to improve the user-
friendliness of their notifications, recentl y some Members when updating their earlier 
notifications have provided such listings for both their "main dedicated intellectual 
property laws and regulations" and "other laws and regulations". 
(e) It has been recognized that adequate transparency of the contents of enforcement 
laws, in particular as to how TRIPS oblig ations have been implemented, may not 
necessarily be achieved by the notification of laws and regulations according to the above-mentioned procedures.  For example, in countries with a common law tradition, this area of law is often not codified but governed by case law.  Therefore, the Council has adopted a "Checklist of I ssues on Enforcement" (document IP/C/5), 
responses to which Members have to submit in addition to any texts of laws and 
regulations including any brief description in  the format referred to in the previous 
indent.  The responses to this checklist have  to be submitted by each Member as soon 
as possible after the date on which it starts applying the implementing legislation in question. 
                                                     
 
5 It should be noted that, unless an enforcement law is notified as a main law, enforcement laws must 
be taken up in this listing, including their brief description.  In addition, a Member must provide responses to the 
Checklist of Issues on Enforcement. IP/C/W/543 
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  2. Availability of the information received 
11. Notifications of laws and regulations under Artic le 63.2, including listings of "other laws and 
regulations", are distributed in the IP/N/1/- series of documents.  The actual texts of "main dedicated intellectual property laws and regulations" are distri buted in the following sub-series of documents:  
- IP/N/1/-/C/ Copyright and related rights  
- IP/N/1/-/T/ Trademarks  
- IP/N/1/-/G/ Geographical indications  - IP/N/1/-/D/ Industrial designs  - IP/N/1/-/P/ Patents (including plant variety protection)  - IP/N/1/-/L/ Layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits  
- IP/N/1/-/U/ Undisclosed information  
- IP/N/1/-/I/ Industrial property (general)  - IP/N/1/-/E/ Enforcement  - IP/N/1/-/O/ Other
6 
 
12. Responses to the Checklist of Issues on Enforcemen t are circulated in the IP/N/6/- series of 
documents. 
13. The notifications and the texts of the laws a nd regulations referred to  in these documents are 
available on the WTO Documents Online database.7  The TRIPS pages on the website contain a 
"quick search document online feature", that provi des an easy way to search for documents under 
each of these series of documents.8 
14. The procedures in document IP/C/2 provide that "[w]herever possible, notifications shall be 
made in machine-readable as well as hard copy form".   Earlier, the texts of most notified laws and 
regulations were received only in hard copy form.  In these cases, the texts we re attached to the WTO 
document containing the cover note as offset copies.  Therefore, one could find only the cover note on 
the database, since these texts were not put into el ectronic form by the WTO Secretariat.  However, 
all of the old offset documents are being scanned and prepared in .pdf format to be available in the 
database.9  Some notifications continue to be received only in hard copy form or in such electronic 
formats that cannot be converted into a WTO documen t.  In such cases, the texts are circulated and 
made available in the database as described above. 
15. Presently most texts are received in electronic form, and in some cases no hard copies are 
provided.  These texts are generally included in an annex to the relevant document.  However, if a 
texts is received in such electronic format that does not allow the Secretariat to incorporate them into 
electronic documents, the Secretariat contacts the Memb er in question to obtain, if possible, a format 
that it can process.  If that is not possible, the text  is circulated and made available on the database as 
described above. 
16. Cooperation between WIPO and the WTO plays an  important part in the management of 
notifications of laws and regula tions.  Article 2 of the WIPO-WTO  cooperation agreement contains a 
                                                      
6 These sub-series of documents were established in document IP/C/W/20. 
7 From the WTO homepage at http://www.wto.org/, follow the links "documents" and "documents 
online". 
8 From the WTO homepage, follow the links "trade topics" and "intellectual property".  From this 
TRIPS gateway page, follow the link "notifications under Article 63.2". 
9 All offset documents from May 2004 to date are alr eady available in .pdf format, and the scanning of 
the remaining documents starting from 1995 is being completed.  Search results on the database indicate where such second format for a document is  available.  The second format can  be accessed by clicking on "display 
second format".  IP/C/W/543 
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  number of provisions on notification procedures, tran slation of laws and regul ations, and making them 
available.  As provided in Article  2(4) of the cooperation agreement,  the WTO Secretariat transmits to 
WIPO a copy of the laws and regulations notif ied to the WTO Secretariat by WTO Members under 
Article 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreement in the language or languages and in the form or forms in which 
they were received, and WIPO places such copies in its collection.10  The main way of making this 
information available to the public is through th e Collection of Laws for Electronic Access (CLEA) 
database providing access to these laws and regulations  and other legislation as well as to treaties on 
intellectual property.11  WIPO is in the process of upgrading this service. 
17. With a view to making the information more easily available to Members and other users, the 
Secretariat is considering ways to reorganize the relevant pages on the WTO website.  For example, a 
single transparency toolkit page c ould provide a single access point to  various notifications and other 
reports from Members, as well to related formats, guidelines and background materials.12 
18. As noted above, some Members provide listings not only for "other laws and regulations" but 
also for the updates of their notifications of "main dedicated intellectual property laws and 
regulations".  These listings related to updates norma lly give a brief description of any new legislation 
or amendments to the pre-existing legislation.  Given that such descriptions improve the user-
friendliness of the system, their wider use also in respect of updates to main laws could be 
encouraged. 
19. As noted above, the WTO Secretariat currently receives notifications in various electronic 
formats, all of which cannot be converted into WTO documents.  It forwards these notifications to the 
WIPO Secretariat, which includes them in its database.   Any current delays in circulation and lack of 
accessibility of notified materials are almost entirely a ttributable to technical problems of this nature, 
which can take much time and effort to resolve.   For this reason, it would be desirable that 
notifications be received in such formats that  can easily be included in both WTO and WIPO 
databases and made searchable.  The WTO Secretariat is currently exploring this issue in cooperation 
with WIPO.  Clarification of the formats that woul d be most practical to use would help overcome 
technical obstacles, would enable better use of res ources to facilitate transparency in practice, and 
would reduce the administrative burden for notifying Members.13 
20. Currently the texts of "main dedicated inte llectual property laws and regulations" are 
circulated in hardcopy format to all Members.  However, it appears that most users find it more 
                                                      
10 As foreseen in Article 3(3) of the WIPO-WTO cooperation agreement, a WTO Member may choose 
to make its initial notification to the TRIPS Council by re ference to WIPO's collection.  It provides that where, 
on the date of its initial notification of a law or re gulation under Article 63.2, a WTO Member has already 
communicated that law or regulation, or a translation thereof, to the WI PO Secretariat and that WTO Member 
has sent to the WTO Secretariat a statement to that effect , and that law, regulation or translation actually exists 
in WIPO's collection, the WIPO Secretariat will transmit a copy of it to the WTO Secretariat. 
At their meetings in December 1995, the Assemblies of the Berne and Paris Unions resolved that the 
receipt, by the International Bureau of  WIPO from the WTO Secretariat, of a copy of any law or regulation that 
the WTO Secretariat received under Ar ticle 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreemen t shall have, for the purposes of, 
respectively, Article 24(2) of the Berne Convention and Article 15(2) of the Paris Convention, the same effect as 
if that law or regulation had been communicated to the In ternational Bureau under the said Articles of the Berne 
or Paris Convention.  See, respectively, paragraph 5 of WIPO document B/A/XVIII/2 and paragraph 5 of WIPO document P/A/XXIV/2. 
11 CLEA can be accessed at ht tp://www.wipo.in t/clea/en/. 
12  Any improvements in the way that notifications can be accessed electronically would, of course, not 
entail any change to the legal status of notified materials nor to the obligations or entitlements of Members;  
such improvements would purely conc ern the accessibility of information pr ovided under existing notification 
requirements. 
13 Such clarification of th e formats would, of course, not affect in any way the rights and obligations of 
Members. IP/C/W/543 
Page 8  
 
  convenient to access these laws and regulations on WTO and WIPO databases,  which are being made 
increasingly user-friendly.  Informal feedback from u sers suggests that the routine production of hard 
copies does not, on the whole, facilitate access to th e notified materials, and it consumes considerable 
resources.  An option for consideration would be to  move towards a system where only the cover note 
of a notification would be circulated in a WTO doc ument, while the respective texts of laws and 
regulations could be made ava ilable only in an electronic form on the WTO database (and also 
forwarded to the WIPO Secretariat for inclusion in its collection), while retaining the right of 
Members to obtain hard copies upon request when required.  
21. Article 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreement refers to  the possibility of minimizing the burden on 
Members relating to notification obligations thro ugh the establishment of a common register in 
cooperation with WIPO.  The provisions on close c ooperation between the two Organizations in the 
current notification procedures and in the WIPO-W TO cooperation agreement already reflect this 
intention to streamline the administration of notificati ons.  It is not proposed to redefine or restructure 
existing cooperation with WIPO, but in view of th e potential reduction of the burden on Members and 
the reduction of inefficient double-handling and du plicative processing and in order to make better 
use of modern communication technology, avenues for cooperation of a strictly practical nature will 
continue to be actively explored with WIPO, w ithout prejudice to the rights and obligations of 
Members. 
3. Status of notifications of laws and regulations 
22. The overall status of initial notifications by developed and developing country Members can 
be considered as fairly good.
14  Only one Member has not yet provided such a notification.15  
However, some of the initial notifications appear to be incomplete or to contain only draft legislation.  
Overall, 126 Members have notified all or part of their implementing legislation and 99 Members 
have provided responses to the Checklist of Issues on Enforcement.   
23. As regards subsequent amendments, the situati on is much more uneven.  It appears that 
relatively few Members fairly systematically no tify their new legislation and amendments, while 
others make occasional notifications, but many Me mbers have not notified any amendments since 
their initial notification.  Annex 2  to this note contains a table indicating the dates of receipt of 
Members' initial notifications of  laws and regulations, updates thereto, and responses to the Checklist 
of Issues on Enforcement. 
B. NOTIFICATIONS OF CONTACT POINTS UNDER ARTICLE 69 
24. Article 69 of the Agreement provides that Member s agree to cooperate w ith each other with a 
view to eliminating international trade in goods infringing intellectual property rights and that, for this 
purpose, they shall establish and notify contact points in their administrations and be ready to exchange information on trade in infringing goods.  Th ey shall, in particular, promote the exchange of 
information and cooperation between customs authoriti es with regard to trade in counterfeit trademark 
goods and pirated copyright goods. 
25. At its meeting in September 1995, the Council ag reed that notifications should be made by 
1 January 1996 and that any subsequent changes to the information should be notified promptly.  The 
Council has agreed to invite each Member to notif y the following information relating to the contact 
point, or each of the contact points, that it establish es for the purposes of Article 69:  the name of the 
                                                     
 
14 It is recalled that LDC Members ar e obliged to make their initial notifications only at the end of the 
transition period, although acco rding to the notification pr ocedures they will use thei r best endeavours to notify 
laws and regulations bringing themselves into conformity with the Agreement in advance of this. 
15 St. Kitts and Nevis.  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 9 
 
 
  authority in question;  its address;  its telephone and telefax numbers and e-mail address, and, where 
appropriate, to identify at each contact point a contact official.16 
26. These notifications are distributed in the IP/N/3 /- series of documents and made available on 
the WTO Online Database.  The webpage on notific ations under the TRIPS Agreement contains a 
quick search documents online feature for notifications under Article 69. 
27. To date, 123 Members have notified their c ontact points under Article 69.  The Council 
receives, on average, some 20 updates each year.  Th e extent and ways in which these contact points 
are used in practice has not been  discussed by the Council.   
C. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERS AVAILING THEMSELVES OF CERTAIN 
POSSIBILITIES UNDER THE TRIPS  AGREEMENT  
28. Members wishing to avail themselves of certain possibilities in the Agreement that relate to 
the substantive rights and obligations or contain va rious flexibilities have to notify the Council.  The 
following reviews these possibilities and summar izes the procedures and guidelines on such 
notifications that the Council has adopted. 
1. Articles 1.3 and 3.1 
29. Article 1.3 of the Agreement defines the persons th at must be eligible for the protection to be 
made available by Members under the Agreement.  Th e Article does so by referring to the criteria for 
eligibility as laid down in the Paris Convention, th e Berne Convention, the Rome Convention and the 
Washington Treaty for the relevant areas of intellect ual property.  Thus, the same criteria have to be 
applied among WTO Members as well, whether or not they are member States to any of the Conventions or Treaty themselves.  Certain of the exceptions allowed under these criteria, notably 
those of the Berne Convention or the Rome Convention, are allowed on condition that they are 
notified to the TRIPS Council , whether or not they have been notified to the Secretary General of the 
United Nations under the Berne Convention and the Rome Convention themselves.   
30. Article 3.1 of the Agreement requires national tr eatment to be given to  persons eligible for 
protection under Article 1.3, subject to the ex ceptions allowed under the Conventions and Treaty 
mentioned above.  Equally as under Article 1.3, certain of these exceptions under Article 3.1 are 
allowed on condition that they are notified to the TRIPS Council.   
31. Notification under Articles 1.3 and 3.1 is only required if a Member wishes to avail itself of 
one of the exceptions concerned.  No special pro cedures have been adopted by the Council in respect 
of these notifications.
17 
32. These notifications are distributed in the IP/N/2 /- series of documents and made available on 
the WTO Online Database.  The webpage on notific ations under the TRIPS Agreement contains a 
quick search documents online feature for notifi cations under Articles 1.3 and 3.1.  To date, 
31 Members have submitted such notifications.   
2. Article 4(d) 
33. Under the most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment provisions of Article 4 of the Agreement, 
each Member has to ensure that any advantage, favour, privilege or im munity that is available in its 
                                                      
16 See WTO/AIR/168. 
17 Further details concerning these notification requirements can be found in a background note 
prepared by the Secretariat and circulated in document IP/C/W/5. IP/C/W/543 
Page 10  
 
  territory to certain foreign right holders is accorded  to persons eligible under Article 1.3 for protection 
under the Agreement. Article 4 specifies the exem ptions to such MFN treatment allowed by the 
Agreement.  One of these exceptions, that in sub-pa ragraph (d), requires a notification, namely where 
the advantage in question derives from an intern ational agreement related to the protection of 
intellectual property which entered into force prior to the entry into force of the WTO Agreement.  
The conditions for such exemptions  are that the agreement in question is notified to the TRIPS 
Council and does not constitute an arbitrary or unjus tifiable discrimination against persons eligible 
under Article 1.3 from other WTO Members. 
34. Notification under Article 4(d) is only required if a Member wishes to avail itself of the 
exception concerned.  No special procedures have b een adopted by the Council in respect of these 
notifications. 
35. These notifications are distributed in the IP/N/4 /- series of documents and made available on 
the WTO Online Database.  The webpage on notific ations under the TRIPS Agreement contains a 
quick search documents online feature for notifications  under Article 4(d).  To date, 28 Members or 
groups of Members have submitted such notifications. 
3. Article 6 ter of the Paris Convention 
36. Article 6 ter of the Paris Convention (1967) concerns th e protection of state emblems, official 
hallmarks and the abbreviations and emblems of  intergovernmental organizations against the 
registration or use as trademarks.  Article 6 ter applies in the TRIPS context by virtue of Article 2.1 of 
the TRIPS Agreement and lays down proce dures for the communication by Members (and 
intergovernmental organizations) to other Members of  such emblems that they wish to prevent from 
being registered or used as trademarks and for the transmittal of objections to emblems 
communicated. 
37. The application of the provisions of Article 6 ter for the purposes of the TRIPS Agreement is 
addressed in Article 3 of the WIPO-WTO cooperati on agreement and in the Decision of the TRIPS 
Council of 11 December 1995 (document IP/C/7).  A ccordingly, the International Bureau of WIPO 
administers the communication procedures under Article 6 ter for the purposes of the TRIPS 
Agreement in accordance with the pr ocedures applicable under Article 6 ter of the Paris Convention 
(1967). 
38. As regards the main features of these arrange ments, following the entry into force of the 
TRIPS Agreement, notifications made under Article 6 ter of the Paris Convention became effective 
under the TRIPS Agreement for all WTO Members (subject to the transitional periods under the 
TRIPS Agreement) whether they were parties to the Paris Convention or not.  This concerns all past 
as well as future notifications.  The arrangements apply both to the communication of emblems and to 
objections to emblems communicated.  The WIPO Secretariat communicated, in January 1996, all 
emblems communicated before that date under Article 6 ter of the Paris Convention to those WTO 
Members which were not parties to the Paris Conven tion.  Since January 1996, the practice has been 
that a newly acceded WTO Member  that is not party to the Paris Convention receives a set of 
emblems as communicated through the WIPO Secr etariat under the provisions of Article 6 ter of the 
Paris Convention before the date on which the WTO Agreement entered into force for the new 
Member in question. 
39. Until recently, signs for which protection was re quested were communicated individually and 
on paper.  In order to make better use of mode rn communication technology, such communications 
have recently been replaced by a periodic (half yearly) electronic communication that uses the WIPO  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 11 
 
 
  "6ter Express" database.18  The first such electronic publication of signs went live on 31 March 2009 
on this database.  The second periodical elect ronic publication was made on 30 September 2009.19 
40. All state emblems of WTO Members and of pa rties to the Paris Convention, as well as 
emblems of international intergovernmental orga nizations, which benefit from the application of 
Article 6 ter are available in the 6 ter Express database.  It contains so me 2,500 individual records and 
is fully accessible and searchable online. Updated versions of the database are also being made 
available on CD-ROM, and can be ordered from WIPO. 
4. Other notification requirements under the B erne Convention and the Rome Convention 
incorporated by reference into the TRIPS Agreement 
41. A number of notification provisions of the Bern e and the Rome Conventions are incorporated 
by reference into the TRIPS Agreement but wit hout being explicitly referred to in it.  Such 
notifications are only required if a Member wishes to  avail itself of one of the possibilities concerned.  
No special procedures have been adopted by th e Council in respect of these notifications.  These 
notifications are distributed in the IP/N/5/- ser ies of documents and made available on the WTO 
Online Database.  The webpage on notifications unde r the TRIPS Agreement contains a quick search 
documents online feature for notifications unde r these provisions.  To date, 3 Members have 
submitted such notifications.  The following summa rizes the notification possibilities in question.20 
42. Articles 14 bis(2)(c) and 14 bis(3) of the Berne Convention :  Article 14 bis(2)(b) of the Berne 
Convention as incorporated into the TRIPS Agr eement applies to a WTO Member which in its 
legislation includes among the owners of copyrigh t in a cinematographic work authors who have 
brought contributions to the making of the work.  In such a Member it must be presumed that these 
authors have consented, in the absence of any contr act to the contrary, to certain ways in which the 
film may be exploited.  If such a Member's legisl ation requires that the consent of the authors must 
have been in writing, Article 14 bis(2)(c) requires that Member to inform other Members of this 
requirement by means of a notification.  Article 14 bis(3) requires that a Member the law of which 
does not make the presumption binding on the principal director of the film must similarly make a 
notification.  The purpose of these notification requi rements is to allow those concerned to know the 
Members whose legislation applies the presumption in such a restricted way and to make their 
arrangements accordingly. 
43. Article 15(4) of the Berne Convention :  Article 15(4) of the Berne Convention as 
incorporated into the TRIPS Agreement is mainly dir ected at the protection of folklore.  It deals with 
unpublished works where the identity of the author  is unknown, but where there is every ground to 
presume that he or she is a national of a given WTO Member.  In such a situation, the Member 
concerned may designate a competent authority to pr otect the interests of the author.  Other Members 
should be informed about this authority by m eans of a notification giving full information. 
44. Appendix to the Berne Convention :  Article 9.1 of the TRIPS Agreement requires Members 
to comply with the Appendix to the Berne Conven tion (1971), which contains special provisions for 
developing countries.  The Appendix contains a number of notification procedures which are 
discussed below. 
                                                      
18 The database can be accessed at http://www.wip o.int/ipdl/en/search/6te r/search-struct.jsp. 
19 Information notices concerning this change in communication procedures were sent by the WIPO 
Secretariat to all WTO Members on 9 February 2009. 
20 Further details concerning these notification requirements can be found in a background note 
prepared by the Secretariat and circulated in document IP /C/W/15.  At its meeting in February 1996, the Council 
invited each Member wishing to make such notifications to ma ke them to the TRIPS Council, even if the 
Member in question had already made a notification under the Berne or the Rome Convention in regard to the 
same issue. IP/C/W/543 
Page 12  
 
  (a) Article I of the Appendix
:   Paragraph 1 requires a developing country Member 
wishing to avail itself of the possibilities provided in the Appendix to declare that it will avail itself of the faculty provided in Article II and/or Article III of the Appendix 
(compulsory licences for, respectively, translations and reproductions) by means of a notification.   According to paragraph 2 su ch declarations can be made for renewable 
periods of ten years.  Such declarations may be renewed by means of a notification.
21  
Paragraph 5 deals with the possibility for a c ountry to make notifications in respect of 
territories for which it has international responsibility. 
(b) Article II(3)(b) of the Appendix :  This provision deals with the situation where a 
developing country Member secures the agreement of all developed country 
Members, in which the same language is in general  use as in that developing country 
Member, to provide for a shorter period than the usual three years after publication for the application of compulsory licences to substitute for the exclusive right of 
translation.  The provision requires that any such agreement shall be notified.   
(c) Article IV(2) of the Appendix
:  This provision deals with the situation where an 
applicant for a compulsory licence of the types provided for in Articles II and III 
cannot find the owner of the right in question.  In such a situation, he or she must send a copy of the application to any national or international information centre which may have been designated by the Me mber in which the publisher of the work 
concerned is believed to have his principa l place of business.  The paragraph provides 
that such information centres must have been designated in a notification by the 
Member concerned.   
(d) Article IV(4)(c)(iv) of the Appendix
:  This provision allows developing country 
Members to export copies of translations made under compulsory licence, provided that a number of conditions are met:  the language of the translation must not be English, French or Spanish;  the recipien ts are individuals who are nationals of the 
Member whose competent authority has granted the licence, or organizations 
grouping such individuals; the copies must be sent for teaching, scholarship or research purposes;  there must be no commercial purpose;  and there must be an agreement between the Member granting the licence and that to which the copies are 
sent.  The provision requires that such an agreement shall be notified by the Member 
in which the licence has been granted. 
(e) Article V of the Appendix
:  This Article provides that a developing country Member 
may choose, by way of a declaration made at the time of ratification or accession, the "ten-year regime" which appeared in the 1896 Act of the Berne Convention for 
translations instead of the compulsory licensing system provided for in Article II of the Appendix. 
45. Article 17 of the Rome Convention
:  Article 14.6 of the TRIPS Agreement allows a WTO 
Member to avail itself of exceptions permitted under the Rome Convention.  Article 17 of the Rome 
Convention allows a state which, on 26 October 1961 , granted protection to producers of phonograms 
                                                      
21 At its meeting in July 1998, the TRIPS Council took note of a statement that its Chair made in the 
light of informal consultations with Members on the calculation of renewable periods of ten years under the provisions of the Appendix to the Berne Convention as incorporated by reference into the TRIPS Agreement, 
according to which the provisions of Ar ticle I(2) of the Appendix as incorp orated into the TRIPS Agreement can 
be understood so that, for the purposes of the TRIPS Agreement, the relevant periods are calculated by reference to the same date, i.e. 10 October 1974, as for the purposes of the Berne Convention (see paragraphs 7-9 of the 
record of the meeting in IP/C/M/19).  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 13 
 
 
  solely on the basis of the criterion of fixation to continue to do so, provided it makes a notification to 
this effect at the time of ratification, acceptance or accession. 
46. Article 18 of the Rome Convention :  Articles 1.3, 3.1 and 14.6 of the TRIPS Agreement relate 
to certain exceptions under the Rome Convention, the invocation of which require notification.  
Article 18 of the Rome Convention provides that an y state which has invoked such an exception by 
means of notifications under Articles 5(3), 6(2), 16(1) or 17 of the Rome Convention may, by a 
further notification, reduce the scope of or  withdraw the notification in question. 
D. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERS MAKING USE OF THE ADDITIONAL 
FLEXIBILITIES RELATING TO TRIPS  AND PUBLIC HEALTH  
47. On 30 August 2003, the General Council adop ted a decision on "Implementation of 
Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRI PS Agreement and Public Health" (WT/L/540).  The 
Decision grants three distinct waivers from the ob ligations set out in Article 31(f) and (h) of the 
Agreement with respect to pharmaceutical products, subject to certain conditions.  These waivers are 
(a) a waiver of the obligation of an exporting Member under Article 31(f) of the TRIPS 
Agreement to the extent necessary for th e purposes of production and export of the 
needed pharmaceutical products to those count ries that do not have sufficient capacity 
to manufacture them; 
(b) a waiver of the obligation under Article 31(h) of the Agreement on the importing 
Member to provide adequate remuneration to the right holder in situations where 
remuneration in accordance with Article 31(h)  is being paid in the exporting Member 
for the same products;  and 
(c) a waiver of the obligation under Article 31 (f) of the Agreement on any developing or 
least-developed country Member that is part y to a regional trade arrangement at least 
half of the current membership of which is made up of countries presently on the United Nations list of least-developed countries. 
48. WTO Members wishing to make use of this "Paragraph 6" system are required to make the 
following notifications: 
(a) Paragraph 1(b):  intention to use the system established by the Decision of 
30 August 2003 as an importer.  This notification needs to be made only once.  It can be made at any time, either independently of  any actual use of the system or together 
with the first notification under paragraph 2(a).  This notification requirement does 
not apply to importing Members whic h are least-developed countries. 
(b) Paragraph 2(a):  specific imports under th e system established by the Decision of 
30 August 2003, for which an eligible impor ting Member is required to:  (i) specify 
the names and expected quantities of the pr oducts needed;  (ii) confirm that it has 
insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector for the products in question;  and (iii) confir m that, where a pharmaceutical product is 
patented in its territory, it has granted or  intends to grant a compulsory licence in 
accordance with Article 31 of the Agreement and the provisions of the Decision.  No 
notification requirement applies to leas t-developed country Members as regards 
condition (ii), as they are deemed to have  insufficient or no manufacturing capacities. 
(c) Paragraph 2(c):  grant of a compulsory licence under the system established by the 
Decision of 30 August 2003.  The informa tion provided shall include the name and IP/C/W/543 
Page 14  
 
  address of the licensee, the product(s) for which the licence has been granted, the 
quantity(ies) for which it has been granted, the country(ies) to which the product(s) is 
(are) to be supplied and the duration of the licence.  The notification shall also 
indicate the address of the website of the licensee that shall post on its website information on the quantities being supplied to each destination and the 
distinguishing features of the products in question. 
49. To date, one notification has been received  under each of paragraphs 2(a) and 2(c). 
50. These three types of notifications are circulated in the IP/N/8-10 series of documents, 
respectively.  The Decision of 30 August 2003 calls  for the establishment of a dedicated page on the 
WTO website, in particular to make publicly av ailable certain notifications made by Members in 
using the "Paragraph 6" system established under the Decision.
22  The notifications discussed above 
can be accessed through the "TRIPS and public health: dedicated webpage for notifications".23 
51. On 6 December 2005, the General Council ad opted a Protocol Amending the TRIPS 
Agreement and submitted it to Members for acceptance (WT/L/641).24  The provisions of the waiver 
Decision will be replaced by identical provisions of Article 31 bis of the TRIPS Agreement, once the 
amendment enters into force.  The notificati on requirements will remain unchanged under the new 
Article 31 bis. 
E. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELO PED COUNTRY MEMBERS AGREED BY THE TRIPS  
COUNCIL IN THE CONTEXT OF ARTICLES 66.2  AND 67 
1. Reports under Article 66.2 
52. Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement requir es developed country Members to provide 
incentives to enterprises and ins titutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and 
encouraging technology transfer to least-developed co untry Members in order to enable them to create 
a sound and viable technological base.  In its  Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and 
Concerns, adopted on 14 November 2001, the Ministerial Conference reaffirmed that the provisions of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement are mandatory, and instructed the TRIPS Council to put in 
place a mechanism for ensuring the monitoring and fu ll implementation of the obligations in question. 
53. Having regard to the instructions of the Ministerial Conference, the Council for TRIPS 
adopted a Decision on Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement on 20 February 2003 
(IP/C/28).  The Decision establishes a mechanism for ensuring the monitoring and full implementation of the obligations in Article 66. 2.  Paragraph 1 of the Decision provides that 
developed country Members shall su bmit annually reports on actions ta ken or planned in pursuance of 
their commitments under Article 66.2.  To this end,  they are to provide new detailed reports every 
third year and, in the intervening years, to provide  updates to their most recent reports.  These reports 
are to be submitted prior to the last Council meetin g scheduled for the year in question.  Moreover, 
                                                     
 
22 Footnote 5 of the Decision. 
23 From the WTO homepage, follow the links "trade topics", "intellectual property" and "Dedicated 
page:  TRIPS and public health notifications".  Th ese notifications are also available on the WTO Online 
Database. 
24 Article X:7 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establis hing the World Trade Organization provides that 
any Member accepting the amendm ent shall deposit an instrument of a cceptance with the Di rector-General of 
the WTO within the period of acceptance specified by the Ministerial Conferen ce.  As requested by the Council, 
the Secretariat has prepared a note  on the status of acceptances of the Protocol Amending the TRIPS 
Agreement, which it periodically updates.  The latest version of the note has been circulated in document 
IP/C/W/490/Rev.5.  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 15 
 
 
  paragraph 2 of the Decision provides that the submissi ons shall be reviewed by the Council at its end 
of year meeting each year. 
54. The tri-annual new reports and the intervening updates are circulated in the IP/C/W- series of 
documents and made available on the WTO On line Database.  The webpage on "Technology 
transfer"25 contains a quick search documents onlin e feature for reports under Article 66.2. 
55. Further information on the reports that have so  far been submitted under the Decision can be 
found in a Secretariat background note circulat ed in October 2008 in document IP/C/W/522. 
2. Contact points for technical cooperation and reports under Article 67 
(a) Contact points for technical cooperation on TRIPS 
56. At its meeting in July 1996, the Council fo r TRIPS agreed that each developed country 
Member should notify a contact point for technica l cooperation on TRIPS, in particular for the 
exchange of information between donors and recipien ts of technical assistance.  Information on the 
format for these notifications can be found in WTO/AIR/388.26 
57. The information on such contact points is ci rculated in document IP/N/7, and addenda, 
corrigenda and periodic revisions and made availa ble on the WTO Online Database.  The webpage on 
technical cooperation in the TRIPS area contains a quick search documents online feature for 
notifications under Article 67.27 
58. To date, 29 developed country Members have notified their contact points for technical 
cooperation on TRIPS.  The Council has receives a number of updates.  The extent and ways in which 
these contact points are used in practice to fa cilitate technical cooperation between donors and 
recipients has not been discussed by the Council.   
(b) Reports under Article 67 
59. Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement requires developed country Members to provide, on 
request and on mutually agreed terms and conditions , technical and financial cooperation in favour of 
developing and least-developed country Members.  A ccording to this provision, the objective of such 
cooperation is to facilitate the im plementation of the Agreement.  The Article specifies that such 
assistance shall include assistance in the preparation of laws and regulations on the protection and 
enforcement of intellectual property rights as well as on the prevention of their abuse, and support 
regarding the establishment or reinforcement of do mestic offices and agencies relevant to these 
matters, including the training of personnel. 
60. In order to ensure that information on av ailable assistance is readily accessible and to 
facilitate the monitoring of compliance with the ob ligation of Article 67, de veloped country Members 
have agreed to present descriptions of their rele vant technical and financial cooperation programmes 
and to update this annually.  For the sake of tran sparency, intergovernmental organizations have also 
presented, on the invitation of the Council, information on their activities.  The Council normally holds its annual review of technical cooperation at its meeting in autumn. 
                                                     
 
25 From the WTO homepage, follow the links "trade topics", "intellectual property" and "technology 
transfer". 
26 The document provides that developed country Members have been requested to notify, in particular, 
the following information concerning their contact point(s):  (i) the name of the authority in question;  (ii) its 
address;  (iii) its telephone and telefax numbers and, where appropriate, e-mail reference;  and (iv) where 
appropriate, to identify at each contact point a co ntact official. 
27 From the TRIPS gateway page, follow the link to "technical cooperation in the TRIPS area ". IP/C/W/543 
Page 16  
 
  61. The information from developed country Member s, intergovernmental organizations and the 
WTO Secretariat on their technical cooperation activiti es in the area of TRIPS is circulated in the 
IP/C/W/- series of documents and made availabl e on the WTO Online Database.  The webpage on 
technical cooperation in the TRIPS area contains a quick search documents online feature for reports 
on technical cooperation activities in the area of TRIPS.
28 
F. CERTAIN OTHER INFORMATION FLOWS  
1. Records of reviews of national implementing legislation 
62. The initial notifications of laws  and regulations made pursuant to Article 63.2 of the TRIPS 
Agreement form the basis for reviews of national im plementing legislation carried out by the Council.  
Initially, the review exercise focused on those de veloped country Members whose transition period 
expired on 1 January 1996.  Their legislation was reviewed in 1996 and 1997 in four week-long 
meetings according to the following subject areas:   copyright and relate d rights;  trademarks, 
geographical indications and industrial designs;  patents, layout-designs of integrated circuits, 
undisclosed information and the control of anti-co mpetitive practices in contractual licences;  and 
enforcement.  The legislation of developing co untry Members whose transition period expired on 
1 January 2000 was reviewed in 20 00 and 2001.  The totality of the legislation of each Member was 
reviewed at a single review meeting.  The legislation of newly acceded Members is reviewed as of the time that they start to apply the provisions of  the TRIPS Agreement in  accordance with their 
accession protocol.  To date, the Council has comp leted 114 reviews, and five reviews already 
initiated remain on its agenda. 
63. The procedures for these reviews provide for writte n questions and replies prior to the review 
meeting, with follow-up questions and replies dur ing the course of the meeting. At subsequent 
meetings of the Council, an oppor tunity is given to follow up points emerging from the review session 
which delegations consider have  not been adequately addressed. 
64. After the completion of a review, the record of the introductory statement made by the 
delegation subject to review, the questions put to it and the responses given in the review  are 
circulated in the IP/Q/- series of documents.  The records of the reviews of developed country 
Members' legislation in the four subject areas referr ed to above were circulated, respectively, in the 
IP/Q/-, IP/Q2/-, IP/Q3/- and IP/Q4/- series of documents.  Given that the totality of the legislation of each developing country and newly acceded Member h as been reviewed at a single review meeting, 
the records of these reviews have been circulated in single documents with four document symbols.  These documents are available on the WTO Online Database.  The webpage on "review of 
implementing legislation" contains a quick search document online feature for these documents.
29 
2. Responses provided in the context of the review of the provisions of the Section on 
geographical indications under Article 24.2 
65. In the context of the review of the applicati on of the provisions of the Section on geographical 
indications under Article 24.2 of the TRIPS Agreem ent, the Council, at its meetings in May and 
July 1998, invited those Members already under an obligation to apply the provisions in question to 
provide their responses to a Checklist of Questions contained in document IP/C/13 and Add.1, it being 
understood that other Members could also furnish re plies on a voluntary basis.  To date, 48 Members 
have provided responses thereto.   
                                                      
28 From the TRIPS gateway page, follow the link "technical cooperation in the TRIPS area ". 
29 From the TRIPS gateway page, follow the link "review of Members' implementing legislation".  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 17 
 
 
   The responses from Members have been circulated  in document IP/C/W/117, addenda, supplements 
and revisions.  At the Council's request, the S ecretariat has prepared a note summarizing these 
responses.  An updated version of the summary, circulated in November 2003, can be found in 
document IP/C/W/253/Rev.1.  This documenta tion is available on the WTO Documents Online 
database. 
3. Responses provided in the context of the review of the provisions of Article  27.3(b) 
66. At its meeting in December 1998, the Council agr eed to initiate the review of the provisions 
of Article 27.3(b) through an information-gatheri ng exercise.  The Council invited Members that were 
already under an obligation to apply Article 27.3(b) to provide information on how the matters addressed in these provisions were presently treated in their national law.  Other Members were 
invited to provide such information on a best-endeav ours basis.  While it was left to each Member to 
provide information as it saw fit, having regard to  the specific provisions of Article 27.3(b), the 
Council requested the Secretariat to provide an illustra tive list of questions relevant in this regard in 
order to assist Members to prepare their contribu tions.  This list was circulated in document 
IP/C/W/122.  A number of Members circulated an alternative format in document IP/C/W/126, and 
invited interested Members to be guided by it in co mpleting their responses, if they so desired.  To 
date, 25 Members have provided such information.
30 
67. The responses from Members have been circul ated in document IP/C/W/125, addenda, 
supplements and revisions.31  At the Council's request, the Secretariat prepared a note summarizing 
these responses.  An updated version of the summary, circulated in February 2003, can be found in 
document IP/C/W/253/Rev.1.  Annex II to the note contains two synoptic tables, one covering the 
information received regarding patent protection of  plant and animal inventions and the other the 
information received regarding protection of plant va rieties.  This documentation is available on the 
WTO Documents Online database. 
_______________ 
  
                                                     
 
30 Counting the European Communities and its member States as of February 1999, when the responses 
were provided, as one. 
31 A number of Members provided information by answering the questions listed in document 
IP/C/W/122, some others used the method in document IP/C/W/126, and some of them answered the questions in both documents.  Finally, there were Members who provided information without referring to either of these 
documents. IP/C/W/543 
Page 18  
 
  ANNEX 1 
 
WTO Document Series for the Circulation of Intellectual Property Notifications
 
 
 
 
IP/N/1/  Notification of laws and regula tions under Article 63.2 of the Agreement 
 
The actual texts of "main dedicated intellectual property laws and regulations" are distributed in the following sub-series of documents 
 
  IP/N/1/-/C/ Copyright and related rights    IP/N/1/-/T/ Trademarks    IP/N/1/-/G/ Geographical indications    IP/N/1/-/D/ Industrial designs  
  IP/N/1/-/P/ Patents (including plant variety protection)  
  IP/N/1/-/L/ Layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits    IP/N/1/-/U/ Undisclosed information    IP/N/1/-/I/ Industrial property (general)    IP/N/1/-/E/ Enforcement    IP/N/1/-/O/ Other 
 
IP/N/2/  Notification under Articles 1.3 and 3.1 of the Agreement  IP/N/3/  Notification of contact points under Article 69 of the Agreement  
IP/N/4/  Notification under Article 4(d) of the Agreement 
 IP/N/5/  Notification under provisions of th e Berne Convention and the Rome Convention 
incorporated into the TRIPS Agreement but without being explicitly referred to 
therein 
 
IP/N/6/  Responses to the Check list of Issues on Enforcement 
 IP/N/7/  Notification of contact points for technical cooperation on TRIPS  IP/N/8/  Notification under paragraph 1(b) of the Decision of 30 August 2003 on the 
implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and 
Public Health 
 IP/N/9/  Notification under paragraph 2(a) of the Decision of 30 August 2003 on the 
implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and 
Public Health 
 
IP/N/10/ Notification under paragraph 2(c) of the Decision of 30 August 2003 on the 
implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and 
Public Health 
  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 19 
 
 
  ANNEX 2 
 
Notifications of laws and regul ations received under Article 63.2  
  
WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Albania Initial notification 
 
 Updates 
 26-27 March and 15 June 2001, 
5 October 2002 
 23 February 2005 
4 April 2008  5 April 2001 
Antigua and 
Barbuda Initial notification 
 Updates  7 and 16 November 2001 
 - 19 November 2001 
 
Argentina Initial notification 
 
  
Updates 
 27 March, 17 November and 
1 December 2000, 28 May and 5 June 2001 
 
- 25 November 2002 
Armenia Initial notification 
 Update 28 July 2003 
 8 April 2008 
 25 May 2004 
Australia Initial notification 
 
 Updates 
 
  5 April 1995 
 
19 April 1995 18 April 1996 
16 October 2006 
10 June 2008  1 September 1997 
Austria Initial notification 
 
Updates  29 January 1996 
 
30 April 1996 21 June 1996 21 March 2007 
 13 September 1996 
                                                      
1 These notifications are circulated in IP/N/1/- series of documents. 
2 These responses are circulated in  IP/N/6/- series of documents. IP/C/W/543 
Page 20  
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Bahrain, Kingdom of Initial notification 
 
 Updates  3 and 29 December 1999, 
15 June 2001 and 4 September 2004 
 - 12 June 2001 
Bangladesh  19 June 2002 
17 July 2007   
Barbados Initial notification 
 
  
Updates 
 3 October 1995, 11 March 1996, 
15 June and 20 September 2001 and 4 April 2002 
 
- 
 15 June 2001 
Belgium Initial notification 
  
Updates 
 31 January, 1 February, 26 March, 
17 May and 18 July 1996 
 
- 18 July 1996 
17 March 1997  (addendum) 
 
Belize Initial notification 
  
Updates 
 17 May 2000, 22 April 2003 and 
14 April 2005 
 
- 17 May 2000 
Bolivia Initial notification 
 Updates 
 12 January and 12 February 2001 
 - 12 January 2001 
Botswana Initial notification 
  
Updates 
 18-22 June 2001 
 -  
Brazil Initial notification 
 Updates 
 26 January 2000 
 - 26 January 2000 
  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 21 
 
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Brunei Darussalam 
 Initial notification 
 
Updates  22 November 2001 
 
- 6 November 2001 
 
Bulgaria Initial notification 
 
 Updates 20 March and 22 May 1997 and 
24 February 1998 
 6 December 1999 
17 January 2000 5 May 2000 
29 May 2000 
24 July 2000 20 February 2001 
 1 May 1998 
20 February 2001 
 (addendum) 
Burkina Faso  18 December 2001 
  
Burundi  3 April 2001 
  
Cameroon Initial notification 
 Updates 
 13 July 2001 
 -  
Canada Initial notification 
   
 
Updates 31 January, 26 March, 14 August, 
26 August, 7 November and 
22 November 1996, and 
4 February 1997 
 
29 May 1997 8 June 2005 
24 January 2007 
19 October 2007 6 December 2007 
20 October 2008 
 7 January 1997 
Chad  18 July 2000 
  IP/C/W/543 
Page 22  
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Chile Initial notification 
 
Updates  31 January 2000 
 
5 September 2000 15 November 2000 26 June 2009 
 31 January 2000 
 
China Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 11 June and 15 July 2002 
 
23 August 2002 
30 August 2002 22 September 2003 
20 June 2004 
 15 July 2002 
 
Colombia Initial notification 
 Updates 
 31 January 2000 
 - 
 20 September 2000 
20 November 2000 
 (addendum)  
Congo Initial notification 
 Updates 
 18-22 June 
 -  
Costa Rica Initial notification 
 
Updates 23 November and 12 December 2000 
 
14 February 2001 21 May 2001 
17 September 2001 
10 June 2002  14 February 2001 
Côte d'Ivoire Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 18-22 June 2001 (TRIPS Council) 
 
- 29 June 2001 
Croatia Initial notification 
 
 
Updates  14 February and 19, 20 and 
26 April 2001 
 
- 27 February 2001 
19 April 2001 
 (addendum)  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 23 
 
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Cuba Initial notification 
 
Updates  12 and 19 November 2001 
 
- 8 November 2001 
Cyprus Initial notification 
 
 Updates 
 24 July and 20 November 1996, 
26 April, 1, 2 and 20 June 2000 
 - 26 April 2000 
Czech 
Republic Initial notification 
 Update 5 February 1996 
 10 March 2008 
 3 September 1997 
Denmark Initial notification 
 
 Update 28 December 1995, 30 January and 
30 April 1996 
 9 April 1999 
 7 January 1997 
Dominica Initial notification 
 Updates 
 
 8 February and 4 May 2001 
 - 15 May 2001 
 
Dominican 
Republic Initial notification 
 Updates 
 
 19 April, 8 May and 14 June 2001 
 - 14 June 2001 
 
Ecuador Initial notification 
 
 
Updates  1 and 30 April, 11 and 26 May, 2 June 
and 24 August 1998 
 
- 27 November 1988 
Egypt Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 22 May 2003  
 
-  
El Salvador Initial notification 
 Updates 
 31 January 2000 
 - 6 June 2000 IP/C/W/543 
Page 24  
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Estonia Initial notification 
 
   
Updates 
 3, 6, 7. 8 and 9 March, 14 August and 
21 December 2000, 13 February, 27 March and 16 December 2001and 26 February 2002 
 
- 6 March 2000 
 
European 
Communities Initial notification 
 
Updates 17 March 1995 
 
23 January 1996 12 January 2007 
13 February 2007 
18 August 2009  13 December 1996 
Fiji Initial notification 
 
Updates  
 19 June 2001 
 
- 24 September 2001 
Finland Initial notification 
 
Update 30 January and 9 April 1996 
 
7 April 2006 
 9 June 1997 
24 April 2006 
 (addendum) 
Former 
Yugoslav 
Republic of 
Macedonia 
 Initial notification 
 Update 29 October 2003 
 1 March 2007 
  
France Initial notification 
 Update 21 February and 2 April 1996 
 30 May 1996 
 25 July 1997 
Gabon Initial notification 
 Updates 
 26 February 2002 
 -  
Georgia Initial notification 
 
Updates  20 February and 14 March 2002 
 
- 14 March 2002 
  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 25 
 
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Germany Initial notification 
 
Updates  31 January 1996 
 
9 May 1996 22 December 1997 12 and 28 August 1998 
12 January 1999 
18 and 28 May 1999 3 November 2000 
6 April 2001 
8 August 2002 9 December 2002 
23 December 2003 
18 May 2009  7 April 1997 
Ghana Initial notification 
  
Updates 
 26 and 27 November 2001, and 
1 March 2002 
 
- 26 November 2001 
Greece Initial notification 
 Update 19 April and 15 July 1996 
 4 and 8 November 1996 
 3 September 1996 
23 September 1997  (addendum) 
5 November 1997 
 (addendum)  
Grenada Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 30 March and 21 June 2001 
 
-  
Guatemala Initial notification 
 
 
Updates  5 and 24 October and 
7 November 2000 
 
5 April 2001 
15 July 2002 
16 June 2003  7 November 2000 
Guyana Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 9 September 2002 
 
-  IP/C/W/543 
Page 26  
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Haiti  8 October 1998 
  
Honduras Initial notification 
 Updates 
 2 March and 8 June 2001 
 - 2 March 2001 
Hong Kong, 
China Initial notification 
 Updates 28 July 1997 
 27 January 2000 
29 February 2000 
9 July 2001 13 July 2001 
28 June 2002 
7 August 2002 17 December 2002 1 May 2003 
24 December 2003 
26 May 2004 16 September 2004 
19 July 2005 
1 March 2006 28 June 2006 
3 August 2006 
27 July 2007 22 February 2008 
14 May 2008 
1 August 2008  27 January 2000 
 
Hungary Initial notification 
 
 
Updates 16 September, 5, 12 and 15 November 
1996 
 
20 November 1997 
5 March 1998 
 15 July 1997 
Iceland Initial notification 
 Update 4 October 1996 
 8 April 1997 
 10 October 1997 
18 November 1997 
 (corrigendum)   IP/C/W/543 
 Page 27 
 
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
India Initial notification 
 
Update 22 December 2000 and 16 July 2001 
 
20 November 2001  23 November 2001 
Indonesia Initial notification 
 
Updates  18 and 31 March, and 18 April 2000 
 
- 18 April 2000 
Ireland Initial notification 
 
 Updates 
 29 February, 14 March and 
24 June 1996 
 - 20 December 1996 
9 April 1997 
 (addendum)  
Israel Initial notification 
 
Update 27 January 2000 
 
20 May 2008  19 April 2000 
Italy Initial notification 
 
Updates 31 January and 3 June 1996 
 
24 February 1997 
12 May 1997  3 September 1996 
Jamaica Initial notification 
 
 Updates  24 January 2000, 8 June and 17 July 
2001, and 7 October 2002 
 
- 17 July 2001 
Japan Initial notification 
 
Updates 31 January 1996 
 
29 May 1996 3 September 1996 
10 April 2000 
11 August 2004 12 July 2005 
7 June 2006 
25 July 2006 29 September 2006 13 September 2007 
5 September 2008 
 11 December 1996 IP/C/W/543 
Page 28  
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Jordan Initial notification 
 
Updates  9 October and 29 November 2000 
 
- 9 October 2000 
Kenya Initial notification 
 
Updates  10 April 2001 
 
-  
Korea, 
Republic of  Initial notification 
 
Updates  27 January 2000 
 
- 27 January 2000 
26 June 2000 
 (addendum)  
Kuwait Initial notification 
 
Update 21 August 2000 
 
13 June 2001  
  
Kyrgyz 
Republic Initial notification 
 Updates 25, 28 and 29 June 1999 
 23 December 2000 8 June 2001 
19 March 2002 
22 October and 3 November 2003 31 January 2005 
18 April and 
8 November 2006  25 June 1999 
Latvia Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 21 May, 4 June, 15 and 22 July 1999 
 
- 21 May 1999 
Liechtenstein Initial notification 
 
 
Updates  6 February, 1 March, 8 May, 7 June 
and 14 June 1996 
 
- 20 December 1996 
Lithuania Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 2 August and 24 October 2001 
 
- 12 October 2001  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 29 
 
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Luxembourg Initial notification 
 
 Updates  11 July and 8 November 1996, and 
10 January 1997 
 - 9 September 1997 
Macao, China Initial notification 
  
Update 
 15 April and 7 May 1997, 31 January, 
8 and 21 June 2000 
 
23 January 2002  20 April 2000 
Malaysia Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 31 October 2001 
 
- 22 November 2001 
Malta Initial notification 
 Update 7 March and 9 May 2000 
 17 July 2000 
 9 May 2000 
Mauritius Initial notification 
 
Updates  
 6 June 2001 
 
25 April 2003 16 January 2008 
  
Mexico Initial notification 
 Update  30 January 2000 
 20 July 2006  24 March 2000 
Moldova Initial notification 
 
 Updates 
 7, 16, 25 and 28 January, and 4 and 12 
February 2002 
 - 7 January 2002 
Mongolia Initial notification 
 
Updates  3 February 1998 
 
- 9 November 1998 IP/C/W/543 
Page 30  
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Morocco Initial notification 
 
 Updates 10 October 2000 and 14 and 
15 June 2001 
 27 June 2002 
8 April 2003 11 June 2007  5 April 2001 
Namibia Initial notification 
 Updates 
 2 April 2001 
 - 30 March 2001 
Netherlands Initial notification 
 Update 9 May and 22 July 1996 
 15 October 1996 
 6 December 1996 
New Zealand Initial notification 
 
Updates 7 November 1995 
 
18 February 1997 18 January 1999 
24 February 2003 
 18 February 1997 
Nicaragua Initial notification 
 Updates 19 March and 28 April 2001 
 5 June 2008 
17 July 2009 
 3 May 2001 
Nigeria Initial notification 
 Updates 
 17 September 2001 
 - 16 November 2001 
Norway Initial notification 
 Updates 22 February and 15 May 1996 
 18 March 1998 
5 May 2009 
 22 February 1996 
Oman Initial notification 
 Updates 
 9 January 2001 
 -   IP/C/W/543 
 Page 31 
 
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Pakistan Initial notification 
 
Updates  17 July and 8 October 2001 
 
- 4 November 2001 
Panama Initial notification 
 
Updates  4 March 1998 and 5 April 2001 
 
- 3 June 1998 
21 July 1998 
 (corrigendum) 
Papua New 
Guinea Initial notification 
 
Updates 2 July 1998 
 
11 April 2005   
Paraguay Initial notification 
 
Updates 10 May and 15 September 2000 
 
- 18 September 2000 
Peru Initial notification 
 
Updates  31 January 2000  
 
- 7 August 2000 
Philippines Initial notification 
 
Updates 12 March 2001 
 
3 July 2002 21 February 2009 
 12 March 2001 
Poland Initial notification 
 
Updates 21 December 1995 
 
24 December 1997 9 February 2000 
19 April 2000 
 23 March 1998 
23 June 2000 
 (addendum)  
Portugal Initial notification 
  
Update 31 January, 3 May, 13 May and 4 June 
1996 
 
27 October 1999  9 November 1998 
Qatar Initial notification 
 
Update 27 May and 20 June 2002 
 
24 April 2006 
 20 June 2002 IP/C/W/543 
Page 32  
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Romania Initial notification 
 
Updates  4 November 1996 and 4 July 1997 
 
- 15 October 1997 
Saint Lucia Initial notification 
 
Update  12 March 2001 
 
20 April 2004  12 March 2001  
Saint Vincent 
& the Grenadines Initial notification 
 
Updates  6 January and 14 October 2009 
 
-  
Saudi Arabia Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 3 October 2006 
 
- 9 February 2007 
Senegal  20 January 1997 
  
Singapore Initial notification 
 
Update 
 28 January 2000 
 
15 April 2009 
 1 March 2000 
Slovak 
Republic Initial notification 
 Updates 
 5 March 1996 
 27 June 1996 
12 November 2008 
 15 August 1997 
Slovenia Initial notification 
 Updates 
 25 July 1995 
 29 July 1996 
20 December 1999 
4 September 2000 17 April 2001 
6 August 2001 
22 November 2006 8 January 2007 
 29 July 1996 
16 July 2007  (revision) 
  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 33 
 
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
South Africa Initial notification 
 
Update  20 February 1996 
 
30 April 1999  23 February 1998 
Spain Initial notification 
 
Updates  31 January 1996 
 
28 March 1996 6 May 1997 
24 June 1999 
23 February 2004  13 March 1997 
Sri Lanka Initial notification 
 
Updates  4 September 2001 
 
-  
Suriname Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 2 April 2001 
 
- 6 March 2002 
Swaziland Initial notification 
 Updates 
 22 March 2004 
 - 
 4 June 2007 
Sweden Initial notification 
  Update 
 27 December 1995, 30 January, 
7 March and 18 April 1996 
 
13 October 2005 
 26 June 1996 
Switzerland Initial notification 
 Updates 
 31 January 1996 
 12 November 1997 
12 August 2003 
22 August 2008 19 February 2009 
 10 October 1997 
12 August 2002  (addendum) 
22 August 2006 
 (addendum) 
 
Chinese Taipei Initial notification 
 
Updates  2 May 2002 
 
-  2 May 2002 
 IP/C/W/543 
Page 34  
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
Thailand Initial notification 
 
 Updates  31 January 2000, 9 January 2001 and 
10 September 2002 
 -  
Tonga Initial notification 
 Updates 
 21 April 2009 
 -  
Trinidad and 
Tobago Initial notification 
 Updates 
 10 March, 7 and 11 April 2000 
 - 
 7 April 2000 
Tunisia Initial notification 
 
  
Updates 
 20 July, 6 November 2001, 18 January 
and 19 March 2002 and 3 January 2003 
 
11 September 2007 
22 February 2008 
2 February 2009 8 September 2009  
 26 November 2001 
Turkey Initial notification 
 
Updates  25 January 2000 
 
- 25 January 2000 
Uganda  16 August 1996 
8 November 2000 
  
Ukraine Initial notification 
 Updates 
 23 July 2008 
 - 23 July 2008 
United Arab 
Emirates Initial notification 
 
Updates  26 June 2003 
 
-  
United 
Kingdom Initial notification 
 
Updates 
 30 January 1996 
 
- 13 September 1996  IP/C/W/543 
 Page 35 
 
 
  WTO Member Description Dates of communications of initial 
notification and updates1 Dates of responses to 
checklist (IP/C/5)2 
United States of America Initial notification 
 
 Updates  14 March, 24 May, 11 June and 
10 September 1996 
 23 January 2004 
12 February 2004 15 June 1998 5 June 2009 
 26 May 1997 
Uruguay Initial notification 
 
 
  
Updates 
 30 December 1999, 21 February 2000, 
14 August, 12, 15, 22 and 23 November 2001 and 13 June 2002 
 
-   
Venezuela 
(Bolivarian 
Republic of) Initial notification 
 Updates 
 9 March and 15 January 2001 
 - 2 April 2001 
Viet Nam Initial notification 
 Updates 
 21 January 2008 
 7 May 2008 
7 October 2008 
 21 January 2008 
Zambia  29 October 1996 
28 July 1998   
Zimbabwe Initial notifications 
 
Updates 
 19 November 2001 and 1 May 2002 
 
-  
 
 IP/C/W/543 
Page 36  
 
  ANNEX 3 
 
  RESTRICTED  
WORLD TRADE  IP/C/2  
  30 November 1995 
ORGANIZATION  
  (95-3867)  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights  
  
PROCEDURES FOR NOTIFICATION OF, AND POSSIBLE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMON 
REGISTER OF, NATIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS  
UNDER ARTICLE 63.2  
 
Decision of the Council for TRIPS of 21 November 1995  
   These procedures will be review ed by the Council, in the light of experience, at the end of 1997, 
inter alia  to identify any elements which have proved unduly burdensome in relation to the usefulness of 
the information provided.   
 
Section 1:  General  
 
1. Each Member shall notify to the TRIPS Coun cil, through the WTO Secretariat, its laws and 
regulations pertaining to the subject matter of the TRIPS Agreement (the  availability, scope, acquisition, 
enforcement and prevention of the abuse of intellectual property rights), in accordance with the 
guidelines set out below.    2.1 As of the time that a Member is obliged to start applying a provision of the TRIPS Agreement, 
the corresponding laws and regulatio ns shall be notified without delay (normally within 30 days, except 
where otherwise provided by the TRIPS Council).   
 2.2 Any subsequent amendments of a Member's laws  and regulations shall be  notified without delay 
after their entry into force (normally within 30 days  where no translation is re quired and within 60 days 
where translation is necessary).    
3. A Member who has amended a la w or regulation to bring it into  conformity with provisions of 
the TRIPS Agreement in advance of  its obligation under the TRIPS Ag reement to start applying those 
provisions will use its best endeavour s to notify such law or regulation as soon as possible after its entry 
into force.    
4. Where, on the date of its initial notification of  a law or regulation relating to a provision of the 
TRIPS Agreement, a Member has already communica ted the law or regulation in question to the 
International Bureau of WIPO in a language or languag es consistent with these guidelines, that Member 
would be free, if it so wishes, to provide the WTO Se cretariat with a statement to the effect that the full 
text can be found in the WIPO collections, instead of sending the full text to the WTO Secretariat.  The 
WTO Secretariat would seek from the International Bu reau of WIPO a copy from its collections which 
would then be treated in accordance with Sections 2 and 3 below.    IP/C/W/543 
 Page 37 
 
 
  5. Wherever possible, notifications shall be made in machine-readable as well as hard copy form.   
 
Section 2:  Main dedicated intellec tual property laws and regulations  
 
6. Each Member shall notify in a WTO language the texts of its main laws and regulations 
dedicated to intellectual property.  These laws and regulations would include the main laws and 
regulations on the availability, scope and acquisition of each of the categories of intellectual property covered by the TRIPS Agreement, together with such  other main laws and regul ations as are dedicated 
to intellectual property, such as  those on border enforcement.   
 
7. These laws and regulations will  be immediately circulated in the relevant WTO language by the 
WTO Secretariat to Members of the TRIPS Council as  Council documents.  Translation into other WTO 
languages will only be undertaken by the WTO Secr etariat on the request of a Member made in the 
TRIPS Council and within the limits of the WTO Secretariat's resources.   
 
8. Where an authentic national text of a law or regulation is not available in a WTO language, 
copies of the authentic text of th at law or regulation in a national la nguage shall be notif ied, in addition 
to the translation into a WTO language.  Such copi es shall be available in  the WTO Secretariat for 
consultation by interested delegations.   
 
Section 3:  Other laws and regulations  
 
9. This heading relates to all national laws and re gulations which are not dedicated to intellectual 
property rights as such but which none theless pertain to the availability, scope, acquisition, enforcement 
and prevention of abuse of intellectual property ri ghts (notably laws and regulations in the areas of 
enforcement and the prevention of abusive practices) as well as those laws and regulations dedicated to 
intellectual property which are not considered "m ain laws and regulations " falling under Section 2 
above.    10. Each Member shall notify these laws and regulations in a national language to the WTO 
Secretariat.  They shall also provide in a WTO language a listing of these laws and regulations, together with a brief description of the relevance of each law and regulation to the provisions of the TRIPS 
Agreement.   
 11. This listing will be distributed as a TRIP S Council document to the Members of the TRIPS 
Council.  The copies of the laws and regulations in question will be available for consultation in the 
WTO Secretariat by interested dele gations.  Copies will only be dist ributed as Council documents if a 
request is made in the TRIPS Council.  If such a request is made and where the law and regulation in 
question has not been notified in a WTO language, th e notifying Member shall make available a copy of 
the law or regulation, or relevant part of the law or regulation, in a WTO language.  Members agree to 
keep such requests to a minimum and, wherever possible, to seek the translation of a particular part of a legislative instrument, rather than request the whole text to be translated.   
12. In regard to the provisions of the TRIPS Ag reement on enforcement, each Member shall, in 
addition, provide, as soon as possib le after the date of its applicatio n of these provisions, responses to 
the attached checklist of issues contained in doc ument IP/C/5 indicating how its national legislation 
responds to the requirements of the TRIPS Agreement iden tified in the checklist.   These responses shall 
identify the relevant provisions of national laws and regulations.  The responses will be circulated as a 
document of the TRIPS Council.   
 
__________