WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/496/Add.7 
7 December 2007 
 
 (07-5441) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: 
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS 
 
AUSTRALIA 
 
Addendum  
 
  The following communication, dated 22 October 2007, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Australia.  It was circulated  as an advance copy for the Council's October 2007 
meeting.  
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1. Pursuant to Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreem ent, the Council for TRIPS requests an update 
from developed country Members of their technical and financial cooperation programmes in the area 
of intellectual property rights (IPRs) relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  The 
present document updates the report provided by Australia in 2002 (IP/C/W/377/Add.2), 2003 
(IP/C/W/408/Add.7), 2004 (IP/C/W/426/Add.6), 2005 (IP/C/W/455/Add.1) and 2006 (IP/C/W476/Add. 4). 
 
2. Australia fulfils its Article 67 technical coopera tion commitments at the bilateral, regional and 
multilateral levels.  Its cooperation activities are larg ely focused on developing countries particularly 
in the Asia-Pacific region.  At the regional level, Australia works closely with the APEC Secretariat, 
APEC's Intellectual Property Rights Expert Group (APEC IPEG) and is involved with the ASEAN 
Working Group onIntellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC).  In the South Pacific, Australia 
works with the Pacific Island Forum to develop regi onal intellectual property standards and systems. 
 3. The following provides an update of these activities, divided into bilateral and 
regional/multilateral cooperation un dertaken by the Australian Gove rnment.  Government agencies 
chiefly involved are IP Australia, the Australian Ag ency for International Development (AusAID), the 
Attorney-General's Department (AGD), and the De partment of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). 
 
4. Key websites which contain extensive informa tion on Australia's intellectual property (IP) 
regime and which may be considered a techni cal cooperation resource include:  APEC IPEG 
(http://www.apecipeg.org), the IP Australia website covering patents, designs, trade marks and plant 
breeders' rights (http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au), AGD websites on copyright developments 
(http://www.ag.gov.au/copyright) and the DFAT website  which covers international IP developments 
(www.dfat.gov.au/ip).  IP/C/W/496/Add.7 
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  I. EXAMPLES OF BILATERAL ACTIVITIES 
1. Brazil 
5. In October 2007, a delegate from the Brazilian  Plant Breeders' Rights Office visited IP 
Australia to learn from Australia's experience in implementing the 1991 UPOV (Union pour la 
Protection des Obtentions Végétales) Treaty in Australia.   
2. China 
6. During 2007, AGD administered the first Australia-China Legal Profession Development 
Program.  Under this program a group of 10 Ch inese legal professionals visited Australia to 
participate in work placements relevant to their fi eld of legal expertise.  The 2007 program included 
participation by a Chinese intellectual property lawyer from Beijing who was placed in a Sydney based law firm to work on IP related matters.  Aust ralian officials also had the opportunity to hear a 
paper presented on IP protection in China, and pa rticipate in meetings to share knowledge and 
experience with respect to our different IP systems.  In April 2007, an AGD officer gave a presentation to visiting Chinese criminal prosec utors from Zhejiang province about Australia's 
criminal copyright enforcement regime.    3. Malaysia 
7. In August and September 2007, IP Australia provided in-house training to four MyIPO senior 
patent examiners in biotechnology. The traini ng program aimed to enhance their skills and 
understanding of efficient search and examination practices through examining MyIPO biotechnology patent applications. This "train-the -trainer" program will be disseminat ed to other patent examiners at 
MyIPO.  
 
4. Pakistan 
8. In February – March 2007, IP Australia, in co llaboration with the World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO), undertook an expert mission to  provide an assessment of the human resource 
and financial planning requirements for the Intell ectual Property Organisation (IPO) of Pakistan. IP 
Australia also assisted IPO Pakistan with the deve lopment of HR management rules and guidelines.  
 
5. Tonga  
9. In 2007, AusAID and IP Australia provided fina ncial assistance toward the reconstruction of 
the Tongan Intellectual Property and Company Regist ration Office which was destroyed by fire in 
November 2006.  
 
II. REGIONAL/MULTILATERAL ACTIVITIES 
10. In addition to activities under the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO) and other multilateral fora, Australia has a strong focus on Asia Pacific 
technical and financial cooperation in the area of IPR. 
1. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) - Intellectual Property Experts Group 
(IPEG) 
11. Australia continues to play an active role in  the APEC IPEG and considers it an important 
forum to foster cooperation, share informati on and experiences and progress issues such as 
enforcement and cooperation.  On 24-25 January 2007, Australia hosted the 25
th meeting of the APEC  IP/C/W/496/Add.7 
 Page 3 
 
 
  IPEG.  The most recent APEC IPEG meeting was he ld in Chinese Taipei on 11-15 June 20 07 and was 
attended by officers of the AGD and IP Australia .  Australian officials presented on Australia's 
experience in copyright protection of broadcasts, and laws on ISP liability for copyright infringement.   
2. Trading Ideas APEC Symposium 
12. AusAID and IP Australia contributed towards th e cost associated with participation in an 
APEC Symposium co-sponsored by IP Australia an d AGD "Trading Ideas: the Future of IP in the 
Asia-Pacific" for participants from developi ng economies including Cambodia, Laos, Samoa, 
Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.  The Symposium included a wide range of topics such as harmonisation of IP laws and processes, work  sharing, counterfeiting and piracy, and the 
enforcement of IP rights.  The symposium was ope ned by the Attorney-General and drew together 
intellectual property managers, pr actitioners and policy-makers from  around the world and featured 
speakers from the leading and emerging intellectua l property offices in the APEC region, and the 
WIPO.  
3. Public Education and Awareness Progr ams in the Asia-Pacific region 
13. In 2006/07, IP Australia continued its invol vement in delivering public education and 
awareness programs for IP Offices in Thailand, Viet Nam, Chile and Mexico.  The project aims to equip developing APEC Member Economies with th e skills, tools and resources to implement public 
education and awareness campaigns which promote the protection and enforcement of IPRs in the 
region. The partners for coordination and deliver y of this project include Australia, Hong Kong, 
China, and Singapore. 
 
14. Activities in 2006/07 focused on developing an onlin e resource tool to enable access to good 
quality resources which assist in the execution of IPR public education and awareness campaigns. The tool enables sharing of best practices and helps to reduce costs to developing member economies. In 
November 2006, a workshop on "Effective Strategies for IPR Public Education" was held in Hong 
Kong to share IP Australia's experiences and knowledge on IPR camp aigns with developing 
economies.   
4. Pacific Islands Forum Countries 
15. IP Australia continues to support the developm ent of IP systems and resources in Pacific 
Islands Forum Countries (FICs).  The strategy, a jo int effort between IP Australia and the WIPO, 
builds upon previous work in the FICs.  
 16. IP Australia and AusAID continue to assist the Pacific island countries develop a regional 
system for processing trade mark applications.  On 21  – 23 June 2007, a working group of Pacific IP 
Officials met in Nadi, Fiji to discuss the draft text of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to 
implement the regional trade mark application system.  IP Australia and WIPO will support 
legislation, administration and infrastructure developments over the coming years to establish this system.  
5. ASEAN 
17. In November 2006, IP Australia provided adva nced training to 30 senior design examiners 
from 10 ASEAN countries. This course aimed to impr ove their search and exam ination skills and was 
held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This was the final component of the Training Program in IP Search and Examination procedures for IP Offices in the ASEAN region under the ASEAN Australia 
Development Cooperation Program – Regional Partnership Scheme.   
 IP/C/W/496/Add.7 
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  III. SEMINARS 
18. Australian officials presented papers at th e following regional and international fora: 
 
• APEC Seminar on "Capacity building for APEC member economies to implement 
the Initiative on Anti-counterfeiting and Piracy", Vietnam, 31 May – 1 June 2007 
• APEC Workshop on "The Protection and Enfo rcement of Intellectual Property Rights 
in the Digital Era, Nha Trang, Vietnam, 4-6 July 2007 
• APEC Regional Seminar on IPR Enforcement, Papua New Guinea, 
28-29 August 2007 
 
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