. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/WGTTT/M/37 
13 January 2012 
 (12-0174) 
Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology 
Thirty-Seventh Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 3 NOVEMBER 2011 
 
Chairperson:  H.E. Mrs. Marion V. Williams (Barbados) 
 
 
A.  ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  ......................................................................................................... 1  
B.  ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY  .............. 1  
C.  ANY POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS ON STEPS T HAT MIGHT BE TAKEN WITHIN THE 
MANDATE OF THE WTO TO INCREASE FLOWS OF TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPING 
COUNTRIES  .............................................................................................................................. .... 2 
D.  OTHER BUSINESS  ......................................................................................................................... 2  
 
 A. 
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The agenda contained in Airgram WTO/AI R/3834 of 17 October 2011 and its corrigendum 
WTO/AIR/3834/CORR.1 of 19 October 2011 was adopted.   
B. ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADE AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY  
2. Under the agenda item relating to  the relationship between trade and transfer of technology, 
the Director General of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Francis Gurry made presentation and shared his organization's work on innovation, technology and its transfer with the 
Working Group.  Members felt that sharing of wo rk and experience on technology and innovation by 
other relevant organizations was an integral part  of the ongoing efforts in the Working Group to 
enhance their understanding of the relationship between  trade and transfer of technology.  In that 
context, at the 36
th Session of the Working Group, Members had agreed to invite WIPO to share their 
work on technology transfer in the context of WIPO's ongoing work on its Development Agenda.   
3. The Director General of WIPO stated that the technology transfer debate was primarily 
shaped by Francis Beacon's dictum that "Knowl edge is Power" and, therefore, sharing of 
technological superiority had traditionally been view ed as transfer of power.  The difficult question 
was how you get companies to do away with their competitive power.  The world had become a multi-polar as well as a polycentric world of innovation.  This was particularly relevant in the area of 
research and development (R&D) and technology crea tion.  For example, China alone filed more 
patent applications annually than the United States,  France, England and Canada together.  To give 
another example, the inspiration in information technology (IT) normally occurred in India and its 
commercialization would take place in advanced countri es.  He also pointed to the fact that in the 
technology transfer debate much emphasis was plac ed on the role of the transferor and less on the 
transferee.  In his organization's view, the existe nce of appropriate market conditions and market 
possibilities in the host country were es sential for an effective transfer of technology to occur.  In that 
context, it was necessary to have a knowledge a nd innovation map of the host country that would WT/WGTTT/M/37 
Page 2  
 
  provide a complete picture of, among others, the regul atory regime, fiscal and monitory policies, local 
skills and human development, educat ion system and the existence or potential for ancillary industry.  
Also important, was the changing role of academic in stitutes in the areas of innovation and R&D.  For 
instance, he pointed to the fact that the University of California was the 19
th largest patent filer 
globally.   
4. The presentation highlighted three areas in wh ich WIPO had focused its work on technology 
transfer:  (i) access to static technologies;  (ii) de velopment of platform for participation in dynamic 
technologies;  and (iii) technical assistance and capacity building.  He stated that globally one third of 
new technology was produced in Chinese, Japanese and Korean langua ges.  It was, therefore, 
necessary that appropriate training modules for de veloping countries, especially the LDCs were 
developed so as to ensure that countries have access to, and understand, the available data and 
information embedded in patents, commercial and sc ientific periodicals and other specialized patent 
applications.  WIPO was developing such n ecessary tools including linguistic tools and 
machine-assisted translation to facilitate this  process of understanding by the technology seeking 
countries.  For example, as part of one aspect of WIPO's programme on that issue, a consortium of 
providers shared their intellectual property, data  and know-how on the exploration of neglected 
tropical diseases and discovery of medicines under the WIPO's platform for dynamic technologies.  He added that a large part of WIPO's developmen t agenda was devoted to training and improving the 
capacity of the developing countries, and to ensure  that their R&D had commercial application.   
5. Members found the presentation useful, productive and relevant to the work undertaken by 
the Working Group.  They appreciated WIPO's efforts in improving access to technical information 
and databases and expressed interest in knowing more on WIPO's work on South-South cooperation 
in the area of technology transfer.  Members also wanted to know if WIPO had developed any tools on measuring the technology transfer and its impact .  Another Member inquired whether WIPO was 
doing anything to assist LDCs to seek meaningful  implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS 
Agreement.  Responding to Members' questions, the Director General of WIPO informed that 
discussions on WIPO's Development Agenda on Sout h-South cooperation were underway and it was 
likely to be agreed in the near future.  On th e development of indicators to measure technology 
transfer and evaluate its effectiveness, WIPO was in the process of developing tools that would 
carefully monitor various aspects of technology transf er and its effectiveness including, among others, 
the deals finalized among the technology providers and th e recipients.  He also stated that, as part of 
WIPO's general development agenda , its programme for LDCs on the implementation of Article 66.2, 
was considered, by member states, both useful and effective.   
C. 
ANY POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS ON  STEPS THAT MIGHT BE TAKEN WITHIN THE MANDATE 
OF THE WTO TO INCREASE FLOWS OF TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES  
6. Under the agenda item on possible recommendations  that the Working Group could make in 
the future, no Member ask ed for the floor.   
D. OTHER BUSINESS  
7. No issue was raised under "Other Business".   
8. The meeting was adjourned.   
 
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