WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/510 
27 May 2008 
 
 (08-2453) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
PRIORITY NEEDS FOR TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL COOPERATION 
 
Communication from Uganda  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 15 May 2008, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Uganda.    
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I. BACKGROUND 
1. On 29 November 2005, the TRIPS Council ex tended the original TRIPS Article 66.1 
transition period
1 for implementation of the TRIPS Ag reement by LDCs from 1 January 2006 to 
1 July 2013.  That decision called for LDCs to provide the TRIPS Council, preferably before 
1 January 2008, as much information as possible on their individual priority needs for technical and 
financial assistance for implementing the TRIPS Ag reement.  Under TRIPS Article 67, developed 
country WTO Members have an obligation to provid e technical and financial assistance to Uganda 
and other developing countries for implementing the TRIPS Agreement. 
2. Uganda, took the initiative to respond to th e TRIPS Council decision of 29 December 2005 
by making use of a diagnostic tool kit and consultancy support from a pilot project undertaken by the 
ICTSD and Saana Consulting in 2007, with financial support from the UK Department for 
International Development (DFID).  With active part icipation from a wide range of stakeholders, the 
pilot project completed a comprehensive needs assessment and stakeholder consultation exercise in Uganda in mid 2007.
2  The report on the needs assessment and consultation exercise identified the 
problems, challenges and key issues related to implementation of the TRIPS Agreement as well as the long-term requirements for technical assistance and capacity building on the implementation of the 
objectives, principles, rights and obligations of the TRIPS Agreement for Uganda in four major areas: 
(a) IP policy, legal and regulatory framework; 
(b) promoting innovation, technology transfer, cr eativity and using IP for development;  
(c) IPR administration infrastructure;  and 
                                                     
 
1 The transition period applies to all TRIPS obligatio ns with the exception of Articles 3, 4 and 5.  The 
transition period does not affect a previous extension gi ven to LDCs not to apply obligations under sections 5 
and 7 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement (patents and pr otection of undisclosed information) until the year 2016, 
which was granted by the Doha Declaration on th e TRIPS Agreement and Pub lic Health of 2001.  
2 A full technical and institutional appraisal is provided in the "Technical & Financial Co-operation for 
Implementation of the WTO TRIPS Agreement in Uganda: Final Report of Needs Assessment Diagnostic" , 
ICTSD-Saana Consulting, October 2007.  Available online at: http://www.iprsonline.org/ictsd/LDCneeds.htm  
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  (d) enforcement and regulation regime for IPRs. 
3. Based on this assessment, in October 2007, Ug anda made a formal submission on its needs 
for technical and financial assistance to the TRIPS Council.
3  With encouragement from the TRIPS 
Council Members, in March/April 2008, Uganda  followed up the needs assessment work by 
translating this into a national capacity building programme referred to as the Uganda Trade and 
Intellectual Property (UTIP) programme.4  The work was undertaken over a two months period, in 
close collaboration with stakeholders and developm ent partners to formulate a suite of priority 
technical assistance projects and activity cluste rs within an overall national capacity building 
programme on trade, IP and TRIPS for Uganda. 
 
II. OBJECTIVES 
4. The overall goal of the Uganda Trade and In tellectual Property (UTIP) programme is to 
further integrate Uganda into the global econom y and world trading system by increasing the 
contribution of IP towards the achievement of sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. 
 
5. The specific purpose of the UTIP Programme  is to upgrade the national system for IP 
generation, protection, administration and enforcemen t in Uganda in line with TRIPS and applicable 
regional and international IP agreements.   
 
III. EXPECTED RESULTS FOR THE UTIP PROGRAMME 
6. The main expected results from  UTIP can be summarised as follows: 
 
(a) Improved legal context harmonized with objec tives, principles, rights, obligations and 
flexibilities set out in the TRIPS Agreem ent, as well as other commitments to 
international and regional IP standards. 
(b) Modern, service-oriented, and accessible and automated administration services for 
IPRs available for enterprises, creators and inventors in Uganda. 
(c) Strengthened institutional framework a nd improved national IP coordination 
mechanism.  
(d) Increased awareness and u se of IP as a tool for economic development and 
integration in Uganda. 
(e) Structured expansion of IP education,  training and research institutions and 
programmes within a common national network. 
(f) Increased capacities for effective and effi cient enforcement and regulation of IPRs 
amongst responsible agencies such as Uganda  Revenue Authority, Uganda National 
Bureau of Standards, police, public prosecutors and judiciary in Uganda. 
 
                                                      
3 See WTO document IP/C/W/500, 9 October 2007. 
4 This was done with the help of two independent experts from Saana consulting and with financial 
support from DFID.  DFID also assisted with donor coordination and information sharing with potential 
development partners including WIPO, EC, USAID, DANIDA, USPTO, ICTSD, World Bank, the Swedish Patent Registration Office and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. 
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  IV. IMPLEMENTATION & MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS 
7. Addressing the identified problems, needs and challenges will be a long-term undertaking in 
Uganda and needs to be addressed in a comprehensiv e, gradual and sustainable manner.  It is not a 
question of a "quick-fix" solution. 
8. The UTIP Programme is an appropriate r esponse and the split-phasing of the programme over 
six years (phase 1 September 2008 - December 2011), with a detailed, external mid-term review, 
which will allow for genuine capacity development in Uganda's national IP system and legal, 
regulatory and administrative institutional infrastructure. 
9. To achieve the expected results and objectiv es, the UTIP programme will support a number of 
activities under four main, inter-linked activity clusters: 
 
(a) Cluster 1 – Updating the National IP Po licy, Legal & Regulatory Framework. 
(b) Cluster 2 – Using IP for Business, Creativ ity, Innovation & Technology Transfer. 
(c) Cluster 3 – Modernizing IPR Administration. 
(d) Cluster 4 – Strengthening Enforcement and Pro-Competitive Regulation of IPRs. 
10. The UTIP programme implementation will be supported and co-ordinated by a small 
management team based in the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (MTTI), assisted by an International IP Capacity Building Adviser.  The Ministry will provide administrative support and services to the team and a UTIP Programme Focal Po int will be designated in the MTTI.  The team 
will work in close co-operation with Developmen t Partners and a network of designated contact 
points in each of the participating institutions.  It  will be responsible for successful specification, 
management and coordination of a ll programme activities, financial management, procurement, work 
planning and reporting.   11. Development Partners, incl uding potentially multilateral organizations and WTO Members 
(national IP offices, development agencies, innovati on, technology research institutes, and education 
organizations), will be requested to provide expe rts for specific UTIP programme activities.  The 
project implementing team will use financial support from devel opment Partners to procure 
consultancy services from internationa l and national experts and academics in the fields of IP law, 
economics, administration, education and training, enforcement, and management.   12. A steering committee
5, comprising representatives from a ll concerned government agencies, 
the private sector, civil society and development partners will oversee the overall direction of the 
programme. 
 
V. TIMEFRAME 
13. The total timeframe of the UTIP programme Phase I will be 40 months.  The programme will 
commence with a start-up period in September 2008 a nd the first full year of implementation will be 
from 1 January to 31 December 2009 (Year 1).  
                                                     
 
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  14. An in-depth external review of the UTIP  programme and detailed design and costing of 
Phase II will be undertaken over a two-week peri od in Uganda during month 30 of Phase I.  
Dependent on the outcome of the external review and detailed design, Phase II of the UTIP programme is expected to be implemented over a 36 month period, commencing 1 January 2012.  
 
VI. CONCLUSION 
15. Uganda has formulated an IP development pr ogramme that identifies the specific intervention 
areas that require technical and financial assistan ce.  In this regard, Uganda welcomes multilateral 
agencies and WTO Members to provide support to wards the implementation of this programme. 
 
 
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