RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/122
22 December 1998
(98-5149)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights
REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 27.3(b)
ILLUSTRATIVE LIST OF QUESTIONS
Prepared by the Secretariat
1. At its meeting of 1-2 December 1998, the Council agreed to initiate the review due under
Article 27.3(b) of the provisions of that subparagraph through an information-gathering exercise.  In
this connection, the Council invited Members that were already under an obligation to apply
Article 27.3(b) to provide information on how the matters addressed in this provision were presently
treated in their national law.  Other Members were invited to provide such information on a bestendeavours basis.  While it would be left to each Member to provide information as it would see fit,
having regard to the specific provisions of Article 27.3(b), the Council requested the Secretariat to
provide an illustrative list of questions relevant in this regard, in order to assist Members to prepare
their contributions.
2. In response to this request, the illustrative list annexed to the present document has been
prepared by the Secretariat.
3. The Council set 1 February 1999 as the target date for Members to provide the requested
information.IP/C/W/122
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ILLUSTRATIVE LIST OF QU ESTIONS ON ARTICLE 27.3(b)
A. PATENT PROTECTION OF PLANT AND ANIMAL INVENTIONS
1. To what extent are inventions concerning pl ants or animals, whether products or processes,
patentable under your country's law, if they meet the conditions for patentability stipulated in
Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement?
2. Where any such inventions are not patentable, even if they meet these conditions:
(i) To what extent is this due to per se  exclusions from patentability?
(ii) To what extent is this based on other grounds (for example because conditions for
patentability other than those stipulated in Article 27.1 are not met or in order to
protect ordre public  or morality (see Article 27.2 of the Agreement))?
3. Please describe any specific provisions, guidelines, final judicial decisions and administrative
rulings of general application concerning the application of the conditions for patentability stipulated
in Article 27.1 to subject-matter addressed by Article 27.3(b).
4. Where plant varieties are not as such patentable subject-matter under your country's law,
please indicate the extent to which the scope of protection under  patents for inventions concerning
plants can nevertheless embrace plant varieties or a botanical taxon whose plants express a trait
covered by the claims of a patent.
5. Please provide any definitions used under your country's law with regard to subject-matter
specifically excluded from patentability or specifically patentable (e.g. micro-organisms,microbiological processes, non-biological processes, plant varieties).
6. To what extent is subject-matter that is identical to what occurs in nature patentable under
your country's law?
7. Explain the requirements under your country's law for ensuring adequate disclosure of the
patentable inventions referred to above.
8. What rights are conferred upon owners of the patents referred to above?  Are product and
process patents subject to the same rules as other patents?  Do they benefit from the same protection
as stipulated in Article 28 of the TRIPS Agreement?
9. Are there any specific exceptions to these rights (affecting the scope or duration of the patents
referred to above)?  To what extent are exceptions, available in respect of plant variety rights (e.g.
those referred to under question B.4(i) below), available in respect of rights conferred upon patent
owners?
10. Are there any specific provisions under your country's law for compulsory licensing in respect
of the patents referred to above?
N.B. Please ensure that your responses to the questions above cover each category of
subject-matter specified in Article 27.3(b), namely micro-organisms, essentially biologicalprocesses for the production of plants or animal s, microbiological processes, non-biological
processes, plant varieties and other inventions concerning plants or animals.IP/C/W/122
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B. PROTECTION OF PLANT VARIETIES
1. Does your country's law provide for the protecti on of plant varieties by plant breeder's rights,
plant patents or any other sui generis  system for the protection of plant varieties?
2. (a) If your country is a party to the International Convention for the Protection of New
Varieties of Plants (UPOV), please indicate which Act or Acts of the UPOV
Convention your country has signed;  which it has ratified;  to which it has acceded;
and to the standards of which its law conforms but to which it has not (yet) adhered.
(b) If your country is not a party to the UPOV Convention, does the protection offered to
plant varieties under your country's law conform to the standards of any of the Acts of
the UPOV Convention and, if so, which?
3. Please indicate whether concurrent protection under your country's plant variety protection
law and its patent law is available (see also question A.4 above).
4. Please provide the following details of your country's sui generis  system for the protection of
plant varieties:
(a) the relevant laws and regulations and, if they have been notified to the Council for
TRIPS, a reference to the relevant WTO documents;
(b) the definition of "plant variety";
(c) the conditions required for protection;(d) the extent to which subject-matter that is already known to the public or identical to
what occurs in nature is protectable under your country's sui generis  system for the
protection of plant varieties;
(e) the extent to which protection can be based on characteristics of germplasm, as
opposed to characteristics of plant varieties derived from such germplasm;
(f) who is entitled to the rights;(g) the procedure for the acquisition of rights, including the authority in charge of
administering the rights;
(h) the rights conferred;(i) exceptions to the rights conferred, such as:
- acts performed for research or experimental purposes;
- acts performed to develop new varieties of plants;
- acts performed to commercialize such newly developed varieties;- any "farmer's privilege" (e.g. acts performed by a farmer on his own land in 
respect of seed saved from the previous harvest);
- acts done privately and for non-commercial purposes;
- compulsory licensing.
(j) the duration of protection;
(k) transfer of rights;(l) enforcement of the rights.
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