WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/455/Add.1 
7 October 2005 
 
 (05-4530) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: 
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS 
 
AUSTRALIA 
 
Addendum  
   The following communication, dated 30 September 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Australia. 
  
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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) and 2004 (IP/C/W/426/Add.6). 
 
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 
and with APEC's Intellectual Property Rights Expert Group (IPEG).  
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 
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)  and the Attorney-General's Department (AGD). 
 4. Key websites which contain extensive informa tion on Australia's intellectual property (IP) 
regime and which may be considered a technical cooperation resource include:  IP Australia's IP 
Portal (http://www.ipaccess.gov.au ), the IP Australia website covering patents, designs and 
trademarks (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/455/Add.1 
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I. BILATERAL ACTIVITIES 
People's Republic of China 
5. On 3 December 2004, the Commissioner of th e Chinese State Intellectual Property Office 
(SIPO) visited IP Australia.  Issues discussed in cluded exchanges of IP-related information including 
IP laws and regulations, publis hed patent documentation, annua l reports and other relevant 
information.  Also discussed were exchange visits by senior officials or IP experts to facilitate the 
development of industrial property systems, investig ation of the feasibility of carrying out a joint prior 
art search programme, in order to exchange e xperiences on search and examination, and views on 
international IP issues. 
 
6. In 2005, several delegations of Chinese IP expe rts from both the national and provincial IP 
offices, visited Australia to conduct information sessi ons and to meet with officials from IP Australia 
and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Tr ade (DFAT) to discuss IP administration and 
enforcement issues.  
7. In May 2005, an Australian team of governme nt officials conducted a Workshop in Beijing 
on GIs.  The Workshop included information on GI  registration systems, options for protection, 
various GI models, the relati onship between GIs and trademar ks, and current international 
negotiations on GIs. 
 8. On 22 July 2005, 10 officials from the Office of the National Working Party on IPR 
Protection met with representatives from the De partment of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the 
Attorney-General's Department, IP Australia and th e Department of the Envi ronment and Heritage.  
The Australian Government representatives provided information on, and answered questions about 
IP protection and enforcement in Australia. 
 
India 
9. In August 2005 an official from the Departme nt of Foreign Affair s and Trade conducted a 
series of meetings on GIs in New Delhi.  Information on GIs, including registration systems, options for protection, various GI models, the relati onship between GIs and trademarks, and current 
international negotiations on GIs was provided. 
 
Indonesia 
10. On 17 March 2005, as part of the Australian Indonesian Ministerial Forum, representatives 
from the Attorney-General's Department and IP Australia met with Professor Abdul Bari Azed, 
Director-General of Intellectual Property in Indone sia.  The issues discussed included strategies for 
the effective protection and enforcement of IP, r ecent changes made to Australia's copyright law, 
technical assistance on substantive patent examin ation and the processing of PCT applications, 
processing trademark applications filed under the Madrid Protocol.  
11. In May 2005, an Australian team of governmen t officials conducted a Workshop in Jakarta on 
GIs.  The Workshop included information on GI regi stration systems, options for protection, various 
GI models, the relationship between GIs and tradem arks, and current international negotiations on 
GIs. 
 12. In July 2005, an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade gave a 
presentation on GIs to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Conference in Jakarta. 
  IP/C/W/455/Add.1 
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Korea 
13. The Joint Experts Group (JEG) between the Kor ean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and 
IP Australia was held in March 2005.  The discussions included a possible programme of joint 
searches for prior art, cooperating in the field of human resources, quality procedures and electronic 
exchange of priority documents.  
14. During the 7
th Heads Meeting of the two offices in March 2005, it was agreed to commence a 
joint art search programme.  IP Australia and KIPO  also agreed to exchange information on the 
technical aspects of exchanging priority documents, to  exchange training material and to consider the 
exchange of examiner trainers.  
15. On 4 August 2005, an officer from the Copyright Commission for Deliberation and 
Conciliation of Korea and a Korean univers ity academic met with officers from the 
Attorney-General's Department in Canberra to di scuss aspects of Australian copyright law including 
parallel importation, technological protection measu res, subscription broadcasts and limitation of 
liability for internet service providers.  
16. In September 2005, Korean officials visited IP Australia to discuss the Madrid Protocol, 
protection of Geographical Indicati ons (GIs) and the Designs Act.  
 Nepal 
17. In April 2005, IP Australia officials undertook an  initial needs analysis to provide assistance 
to the Kingdom of Nepal in the areas of intellectua l property advice, training and administration.  The 
project will provide assistance to the Kingdom of Nepal in the development of IP systems, training 
and administration to ensure that Nepal's IP system is TRIPS compliant and meets its obligation to the 
WTO.  The project is expected to be completed by 31 December 2005. 
 
Pakistan 
18. In August 2005 an official from the Departme nt of Foreign Affair s and Trade conducted a 
two-day Workshop on IP in Islamabad.  Particip ants were provided with information on the TRIPS 
Agreement, patents with a focus on small to medi um size enterprises, and GIs.  The information 
provided on GIs included registration systems, op tions for protection, various GI models, the 
relationship between GIs and tr ademarks, and current intern ational negotiations on GIs. 
 
Philippines 
19. In May 2005, an Australian team of governmen t officials conducted a Workshop in Manila on 
GIs.  The Workshop included information on GI regi stration systems, options for protection, various 
GI models, the relationship between GIs and tradem arks, and current international negotiations on 
GIs. 
 
Chinese Taipei 
20. On 3 May 2005, Australian Government representa tives met with the Director General of the 
Intellectual Property Office and four officials.  Representatives from the Attorney-General's 
Department, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of the Treasury and Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources talked about r ecent developments in copyright law and anti-trust 
practices with the delegation.  In response to a request by the delegation, the Attorney-General's 
Department provided specific information on technological protection measures, temporary 
reproductions, terms of copyright protection, the neighbouring rights system and copyright 
infringement in the online environment. IP/C/W/455/Add.1 
Page 4  
 
 
United Arab Emirates 
21. On 21 June 2005, a delegation of five offici als from the United Arab Emirates National 
Committee for Struggling Against Commercial Fraud met with representatives of the Australian 
Government.  Representatives from the Attorney-Gen eral's Department, IP Australia and Australian 
Customs Service provided presentations on copyright and trademark/patent enforcement in Australia 
and border protection of IP.  A range of issues surrounding IP enforcement was discussed with the 
delegation.  
Viet Nam 
22. In May 2005, an Australian team of governme nt officials conducted a Workshop in Hanoi on 
GIs.  The Workshop included information on GI regi stration systems, options for protection, various 
GI models, the relationship between GIs and tradem arks, and current international negotiations on 
GIs. 
 
II. REGIONAL/MULTILATERAL ACTIVITIES 
APEC 
APEC-IPEG 
23. After the successful delivery of the first APEC-IPEG Public Education and Awareness 
Program with Indonesia, the Philippines and Viet Nam, a second round of the programme was offered 
to APEC Member Economies in earl y 2005.  Mexico, Chile and Thailand volunteered to be part of the 
programme and Viet Nam asked for additional assi stance to build on the first round of the 
programme.  A scoping visit to Chile and Mexico was conducted by an IP Australia official in July 
2005. 
 
The Regionally Focused Action Plan (RFA P) for the Pacific Islands Forum Countries 
24. In January 2005, WIPO and IP Australia official s attended a meeting of high level IP officials 
from Pacific countries.  Outcomes from the meeti ng included the prioritisation of areas for 
development and identification of appropriate re sources for training and regular meetings of IP 
officials.  The outcomes were subsequently presen ted to the Forum Trade Ministers meeting in May 
2005, and Ministers accepted the direction of development for IP systems in the region and 
encouraged further work.  
25. IP Australia is currently implementing a programme of assistance focussing on the priorities 
endorsed by Ministers.  The 2004-2005 programme has focussed on reviewing the IP legislation in 
Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga an d Vanuatu and providing high level gap analysis 
of current and draft legislation with regard to TRIPS.  IP/C/W/455/Add.1 
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III. PAPERS PRESENTED 
26. Australian officials and non-government repr esentatives presented papers at the following 
regional and international fora: 
 
• IP Academy of Singapore Seminar, Singapore, 22 November 2004. 
 
• APEC-IPEG meeting, Seoul, Korea, 22-23 February 2005. 
 
• APEC-IPEG meeting, Manila, Philippines, 2-3 August 2005. 
 
• APEC High-Level Symposium on IPR, Xiamen, China, 7-8 September 2005. 
  
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