WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/550/Add.2 
20 October 2010 
 
 (10-5448) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: 
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS 
 
SWITZERLAND 
 
Addendum  
  
 The following communication, dated 7 October 2010, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Switzerland. 
 
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  Following documents IP/C/W/12/Add.3 of 13 September 1995, IP/C/W/34/Add.2 of 
17 September 1996, IP/C/W/77/Add.3 of 30 Se ptember 1997, IP/C/W/109/Add.1 of 4 September 
1998, IP/C/W/154/Add.2 of 8 October 1999,  IP/C/W/203/Add.1 of 13 September 2000, 
IP/C/W/306/Add.3 of 18 September 2001, IP/C/W/3 77/Add.9 of 24 January 2003, IP/C/W/408/Add.4 
of 14 November 2003, IP/C/W/426/Add.2 of 8 Se ptember 2004, IP/C/W/455 of 5 October 2005, 
IP/C/W/476 of 14 September 2006,IP/C/W/496 of  28 September 2007, IP/C/W/514/Add.4 of 
17 October 2008 and IP/C/W/536/Add. 3 of 20 October 2009 in which much of the description of the 
aims and organizational aspects of technical coope ration remains relevant, this report describes the 
activities of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (hereafter "the Institute") in the field of 
technical cooperation between 1 September  2009 and 31 August  2010
1.  Drafted along the same 
lines as the preceding reports, this document draws a distinction between mu ltilateral and bilateral 
activities.  It is the concern of the Swiss author ities to ensure optimal coordination of available 
resources, both at the multilateral and bilateral le vel, while avoiding duplication or overlapping of 
programs.  
I. MULTILATERAL ACTIVITIES 
A. T
ECHNICAL COOPERATION IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
ORGANIZATION (WIPO) 
1. Participation of representatives of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property as 
speakers in workshops (co-)organized by WIPO 
• A collaborator of the Institute spoke on 'I PR Valuation Methods' at a seminar in 
Lisbon (5/6 March 2010). 
• An expert from the Institute contributed as a tutor to the distance learning module of 
WIPO No. DL318E (March - May 2010). 
                                                      
1 Unless otherwise indicated. IP/C/W/550/Add.2 
Page 2  
 
  • A speaker from the Institute gave a presentation on the topic 'Intellectual Property 
Management' at the WIPO Summer School (13 July 2010). 
 
2. Free-of-charge searches on the state of th e art for WIPO in favor of developing 
countries  
 Between 1 September 2009 and 31 August 2010, the Institute  conducted, upon request of 
WIPO, free-of-charge searches on the state of the art for the following countries and 
organizations:  
  
Country Number of searches  
 Argentina 1 
Jordan 1 South Africa 3 Trinidad and Tobago 11 UNITAID
2 2 
    
Total   18 searches  
 
B. TECHNICAL COOPERATION WITHIN  OTHER INTERNATIONAL FORA  
 The European Patent Office (EPO) has been  entrusted by the European Commission to 
implement a project on the protection of intellectua l property rights with the People's Republic of 
China (EU-China IPR2).  As Switzerland is a Memb er of the European Patent Organization, the 
Institute therefore contributes expert advice to this project.   
II. BILATERAL ACTIVITIES 
1. Azerbaijan:  The 'Swiss-Azeri Project on IP Enforcement' was concluded as planned in 2009.  
A booklet on basic IPR of Azerbaijan was issued and published in English, Azeri and 
Russian. 
 
2. China:  Delegations were welcomed at th e Institute from Wuhan, Hubei Province (23 June 
2010 Wuhan and 31 August 2010) and Shandong Province (2 July 2010). 
 
3. Egypt:  Workshop on importance of IPR for bus iness development for an Egyptian delegation 
(19 October 2009). 
 
4. Ghana:  A cooperation project started in 2009.  So far, the following activities have been 
undertaken: 
 
• Expert input and organization of stakeholder workshops (May 2010) for the elaboration 
of new acts and regulations for the protection of trade marks and industrial design; 
 
• A seminar on awareness for micro and small enterprises was held in Accra in June 
2010;  
 
                                                     
 
2 UNITAID is an internationa l facility for the purchase of and the s upport of research of new drugs against 
HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.   IP/C/W/550/Add.2 
 Page 3 
 
 
  • A 'National Intellectual Property Policy Co mmittee' was established in July 2010.  
 
5. Jamaica:  The cooperation project to establish a protection system for geographical indications 
(GIs) in Jamaica between the Institute and th e Jamaica Intellectual Property Office entered 
into its second year.  The following activ ities have so far been implemented:  
 
• The participation of a representative from the Jamaica Exporters' Association (JEA) 
and the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) in an international training module 
entitled “Geographical Indications - A Wa y Forward for Local Development” was 
financed by the Institute, the goal of the module being to provide participants with 
theoretical and practical knowledge on the prot ection of geographical indications at the 
national and international level (Montpellier, France, 26 April to 7 May 2010).  The 
course was organized by the Swiss Associati on for the Development of Agriculture and 
Rural Areas (AGRIDEA, Lausanne, Switzerla nd) in collaboration with the French 
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, th e French Development Agency and the Joint 
Research Unit Innovation and Development in  Agriculture and the Agrifood Sector 
(UMR-Innovation, Montpellier, France); 
 
• A workshop was organized in Jamaica on the role of control and certification for GIs 
(May 2010);  
 
• In addition to the first study tour in 2009, another two weeks seminar for Jamaican 
participants, primarily from the private sector, took place in Switzerland in June 2010;  
 
• Several seminars were held for awareness raising among Jamaican producers of 
agricultural products in collaboration with the local rural development agency (first 
semester 2010); 
 
• Three selected producer groups were supported in establishing their code of practice for 
the use of GIs (ongoing); 
 
• A field study was made in Jamaica in or der to prepare a monitoring tool for GIs 
(August 2010).  
 
6. Kenya:  The cooperation project to establish a protection system for geographical indications 
(GIs) implemented by the Institute and the Keny an Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) entered 
into its second year.  So far, the project focused on the provision of expert input to the KIPI in order to draft comprehensive and coherent nati onal GI legislation, support KIPI staff in 
establishing capacities in the area of GIs and fo cus on creating national support for national 
legislation on GIs.  
 
7. Socialist Republic of Vietnam: From 2007 to mid-2010, a second phase of the Swiss-
Vietnamese Intellectual Property Project (SVIP) was successfully implemented. During the 
period covered by this report, the following activities took place: 
 
• Follow-up training courses were held in Viet nam for about 300 Vietnamese participants 
by contributors who had previously provided training on IP enforcement in Switzerland; 
 
• The Vietnamese 'Database on Traditional Know ledge' has been expanded by 2000 plant 
entries;  
 IP/C/W/550/Add.2 
Page 4  
 
  • A study visit on geographical indications w as organized in Switzerland in September 
2009 for 16 Vietnamese participants.  Follow-up courses were held in three remote provinces;  
 
• Publication of information booklets on IP for Vietnamese small- and medium 
enterprises;  
 
• Training of key staff of the National Office of Intellectual Property on negotiation skills 
was co-financed;  
 
• A seminar on performers' rights was held for stakeholders;  
 
• A seminar was held on "Copyright issues of  blank carriers and recording devices" for 
Vietnamese stakeholders;  
 
• A specific seminar for Vietnamese press on IPRs was held;  
 
• Various activities were organized around the in ternational IP day in April 2010, which 
aimed at informing university teachers, st udents and researchers on the framework of 
protection for inventions;  
 
• As part of the "Competition on Creativeness for Universities" initiative, a  Swiss prize 
for Vietnamese Student Inventors was awarded (19 January 2010);  
 
• Support of the Hanoi National Office of Intellectual Property's English website 
upgrade.  
 
 
  
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