MM/LD/WG/18/INF/2
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
DATE: OCTOBER 8, 2020

Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid System for
the International Registration of Marks

Eighteenth Session
Geneva, October 12 to 16, 2020
ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
prepared by the Secretariat

INTRODUCTION
1.
The eighteenth session of the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid
System for the International Registration of Marks (hereinafter referred to as “the WorkingGroup”) will take place from October 12 to 16, 2020, in hybrid format, at the WIPO New
Conference Hall (hereinafter referred to as “the NCH”).
2.
COVID-19 related guidance and restrictions define the organizational arrangements ofthe session, as set out below. These arrangements are subject to change, depending on
the evolution of the pandemic and the resulting change in guidance or restrictions.
3.
The Working Group will meet each day of the session from 12 noon to 2 p.m.,
Geneva time (GMT +2). Taking into account the progress of the discussions and preferences
expressed by the delegations at the session, the Chair may propose changes to the time andlength of those meetings, as appropriate.
4.
For the convenience of remote participants, the Secretariat has a timetable.
The proposed timetable is merely indicative. If the Working Group does not conclude
discussions on an item by the end of the day, discussions on that item would continue at thestart of the next day, unless otherwise proposed by the Chair*.
*See document MM/LD/WG/18/INF/1 Prov. 3.

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page 25.
Documents of the session are available at the following address:
https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=58508.
6.
For questions concerning the session, please, email the Secretariat atmadridlegal@wipo.int and copy natacha.diaz@wipo.int.
ATTENDANCE OF DELEGATESON-SITE DELEGATES
7.
In accordance with guidance issued by the United Nations Security Management Team,a two-meter social distancing requirement applies to all UN meetings. This considerably
reduces the maximum occupancy of WIPO meeting rooms. As a result, only two delegates per
Member State may participate on-site.
8.
It is recommended that the on-site composition of the delegations remains the same
throughout the session.
9.
The NCH will be cleaned every evening. Delegates must not leave personal belongings inthe NCH at the end of each day.
10. Each on-site delegate will receive a personalized badge to access WIPO premises.
Delegates may collect their badges at the registration desk in the WIPO Access Centerat 34 Chemin des Colombettes (north side of the WIPO AB Building; Tel: +41 22 338 7942).
11.

On-site delegates must report any lost badge to the WIPO reception desk immediately.

12. Geneva-based Permanent Mission delegates who already have a valid UN photo badge
may use that photo badge to access WIPO premises.
13. Following recommendations by the UN medical directors network, delegates and WIPO
staff present in the WIPO campus must wear masks at all times, except when seated at
the New Building cafeteria. They must also follow all other health and safety guidelines. Masks
will be available.
14. The New Building cafeteria will be open to on-site delegates from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., withsome distancing and capacity restrictions. Coffee and vending machines are available
on the 13th floor of the WIPO AB Building.
15. The NCH document distribution counter is closed and there will be no distribution ofdocuments. Delegations that wish to share written proposals with the Working Group must
send them to the Secretariat at madridlegal@wipo.int and copy natacha.diaz@wipo.int.
16. Meeting rooms for Regional Group coordination meetings are available upon request.
Regional Group coordinators may book a meeting room by sending a request tomeetings@wipo.int. The meeting room booking confirmation will indicate the maximum
capacity of the room. The two-meter social distancing and mask requirements also apply to
Regional Group coordination meetings conducted on WIPO premises.
17. WIPO has reinforced its Medical Unit, which is available to assist on-site delegates.
On-site delegates will also find that all health and safety measures are in place. The health andsafety of delegates is a priority.

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REMOTE DELEGATES
18. Interprefy is the online multilingual platform for remote participation in WIPO meetings.
Interpretation will be available in all six UN languages on Interprefy. An Interprefy user-guide forWIPO delegates, together with additional information, is available on the WIPO Virtual andHybrid Meetings webpage.
19. Prior to the session, delegates who have registered for remote participation will receive
additional guidance and an invitation to a pre-meeting mini-coaching and connectivity test
session with an Interprefy technical assistant.
20. Remote delegates who experience any technical issues during the session must contact
the technical support team via the moderator-chat session on the Interprefy platform.
WEBCASTING
21. Delegates who do not plan to take the floor may follow the live webcasting of the session.
This is the simplest way to follow the proceedings because it is easy to access and does not
require a pre-meeting authentication, training or connectivity testing process. Webcasting isavailable in all six UN languages. The official List of Participants of the session will only include
the names of registered delegates who attended the meeting either on-site or remotely via theInterprefy platform.
CONDUCT OF THE MEETINGREQUESTS FOR THE FLOOR
22. The Chair will announce how she or he will manage proceedings and the order in which
she or he will invite the different categories of speakers to request the floor. The speaking order
will follow the usual practice, that is:(a)Contracting Party delegations(b)Member State observer delegations(c)

Observer organization delegations

23. Only those delegates who have registered for remote participation should connect to thevirtual platform. Those delegates who have registered for on-site participation and are present
at the NCH must use the microphone system to request and take the floor. These delegatesshould not connect to the virtual platform or do so as passive participants.
24. Remote delegates participating via Interprefy must click the raise-hand icon in Interprefy
to request the floor, as shown in the Interprefy user-guide for delegates.

MM/LD/WG/18/INF/2
page 4INTERVENTIONS ON AGENDA ITEMS
25. After the introduction of each agenda item by the Secretariat, the Chair will open the floor
for the delegations to make their interventions. The Secretariat will support the Chair inmanaging requests for the floor. Delegations will be invited to speak in the order indicatedabove and, as far as practicable, in the order in which on-site and remote requests are received.
26. Delegations participating both on-site and remotely should coordinate to avoid making
parallel on-site and remote requests for the floor.
RAISING A POINT OF ORDER
27. Remote delegates must raise a “point of order” by writing a message in the “event-chat”,
as indicated in the Interprefy user-guide for delegates. The raised-hand function alone would
not allow the Chair to distinguish a “point of order” from a floor request.
USE OF THE CHAT FUNCTIONS
28. Remote delegates connected via the Interprefy system are able to access the chatfunctions. However, as the Working Group session is a formal WIPO meeting, delegatescannot use the Interprefy event-chat in place of an oral intervention or for general commentsor questions.
29. Only remote delegates who wish to raise a point of order may use the event-chat (chatvisible to all participants). The Secretariat, the microphone operators or the interpreters may
also use the event-chat to communicate with all remote participants. Messages in theevent-chat will generally be in English.
30. Remote delegates may use the private-chat function to send private messages to any
other participant in the Interprefy participant list, to the Secretariat or to the technical support
team (via the “moderator-chat”). Private-chat messages are neither visible to other participants
nor saved by the system. Remote participants should not use the private-chat function to send
messages to the Chair, who will be occupied managing the proceedings and unable to monitor
the chat box.

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