wipo magazine, issue nos. 7-8, 1999 · the creation of a european patent system, and the...

Contents

Geneva

July-August 1999

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New “mile-stone” treaty to boost international

registration of industrial designs

Director General offers WIPO resources in fight against HIV/AIDS

International harmonization of patent law

Visit

Celebrating 100 years of Japanese Copyright Law -

WIPO’s Director General applauds positive steps

Cooperation for development

Promoting IP and innovation in Syria

IP in the economic and social development of least developed countries

Critical issues on IP policy to meet millennium challenges

Caribbean countries confirm commitment to improving IP systems

Academy

Further collaboration planned between WWA and ATRIP

First IP and development session of the WWA held for developing countries

Pilot training course with CIPO concludes on a positive note

Bringing the scientific and intellectual property

communities closer together

SCIT endorses Strategic Information Technology Plan

Registration and classification

Madrid Protocol celebrates 10th Anniversary

IPC Reform Working Group sets priorities

Calendar of meetings

Products

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New “mile-stone” treaty to boost international registration of industrial designs

The WIPO Magazine is published monthlyby the Office of Global Communicationsand Public Diplomacy, World IntellectualProperty Organization (WIPO). It is notan official record and the views expressedin individual articles are not necessarilythose of WIPO.

The WIPO Magazine is distributed free of charge.

If you are interested in receiving copies,contact:The Publications Officer

WIPO34, chemin des Colombettes P.O. Box 18CH-1211 Geneva 20Switzerlandphone: 41 22 338 91 11fax: 41 22 733 54 28e-mail: [email protected]

For comments or questions, contact:The Editor

WIPO Magazine (at the above address)

Copyright ©1999 World Intellectual PropertyOrganizationAll rights reserved. Articles contained herein may bereproduced for educational purposes. No part may,however, be reproduced for commercial purposes with-out the express written consent of the Office of GlobalCommunications and Public Diplomacy, WorldIntellectual Property Organization, P.O. Box 18,CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.

A landmark agreement that willenhance the present system forinternational registration of indus-trial designs was adopted on July 2in Geneva. Consensus among themore than 70 participating coun-tries was reached near the end of athree-week diplomatic conference,organized by WIPO from June 16to July 6, to adopt a new Act of theHague Agreement Concerning theInternational Deposit of IndustrialDesigns. The new Act (to becalled the Geneva Act) was her-alded by many delegations as “amilestone in the history of indus-trial design protection.”

Dr. Kamil Idris, Director Generalof WIPO, praised the “positivespirit of cooperation that prevailedthroughout the talks” and said thatthe Organization was delightedwith the outcome. It looked for-ward to the entry into force of thenew Geneva Act, which would“help fulfill the tremendous poten-tial of the Hague system” by offer-ing companies and individualsacross the globe an even moreflexible, cost-effective, and user-friendly means of protecting theirindustrial designs.

The Geneva Act enhances theexisting system for the internation-al registration of industrial designsby making it more compatible with

the registration systems in coun-tries such as the United States andJapan where protection of industri-al designs is contingent on exami-nation to determine the accept-ability of an application.

The new Act requires contractingparties to process internationalregistrations according to theirown legislation within a period ofsix months, which may be extend-ed by a further six months forthose contracting parties whoselaw requires examination of thenovelty of the registered design. Italso introduces a modified fee sys-tem and the possibility of defer-ring publication of a design for up

to 30 months, as well as the abilityto file samples of the design ratherthan photographs or other graphicreproductions (of particular inter-est to the textile and fashionindustries).

During a special ceremony atWIPO headquarters on July 6 –the last day of the Conference –the following 23 countries signedthe Geneva Act:

Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chad,Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Estonia,France, Greece, Hungary, Italy,Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal,Republic of Moldova, Romania,Russian Federation, Slovenia,

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One of 23 countries to sign the Geneva Act, the United States of America Delegation led by Mr. H. Dieter Hoinkes, (center) Deputy Administrator, Office of Legislative and InternationalAffairs, Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), United States Department of Commerce,Washington, D.C.

Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom,United States of America.

The treaty will remain open forsignature by WIPO member Statesuntil July 2, 2000, after which anyWIPO member State that did notsign within the one-year periodwill be able to accede to the Act.The new treaty will enter intoforce once six countries havedeposited their instruments of rati-fication or accession.

WIPO Director General Dr. KamilIdris has offered theOrganization's cooperation andexpertise to address and solveintellectual property issues thathave arisen in the treatment ofHIV/AIDS.

In a letter to Mr. Peter Piot,Executive Director of the JointUnited Nations Program onHIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Dr. Idrisnoted that clarifying and depoliti-cizing issues surrounding intellec-tual property protection is espe-cially important in the field ofAIDS treatment.

"The problem of AIDS is horrify-ing – especially in Sub-SaharanAfrica – and expanding very rapid-ly," Dr. Idris noted. "Thus, everyissue that arises, including intellec-tual property, must be dealt withappropriately, professionally andas rapidly as possible."

He suggested that WIPO couldwork with UNAIDS in variouscountries where pilot projects existthat provide pharmaceutical prod-ucts for the treatment ofHIV/AIDS in a cost-effective way.For example, WIPO could workwith UNAIDS – as well as withthe countries themselves and phar-maceutical companies involved inthe pilot projects – in conductingresearch and making general pre-sentations on intellectual propertyin those countries.

The countries in which UNAIDSpilot projects have been launchedso far include Chile, Cote d'Ivoire,Uganda and Viet Nam.

Issues of particular interest wouldinclude parallel imports of phar-maceutical products, compulsorylicensing of patents, and the use oftrademarks to protect againstcounterfeiting of pharmaceuticalproducts.

The goal of these efforts, Dr. Idrisnoted, would be to help developstrategies whereby countries couldcontinue to import pharmaceuticalproducts of high quality and at lowcost while at the same timerespecting intellectual propertyrights.

This latest effort complementsother WIPO activities aimed atpromoting a better understandingof the relationship between intel-lectual property protection andhealth care. WIPO has workedwith the World Health Organization,for example, in discussions con-cerning that organization'sRevised Drug Strategy.

An article explaining WIPO's role inintellectual property protection andemerging issues such as accessiblehealth care has also recently beenposted on an HIV/AIDS publicforum website, and can be read atwww.hivnet.ch/fdp/HealthDev/healthdev.html. Select the "treatmentaccess" discussion forum link, andsee message 554.


The Hague system offersowners of an industrialdesign a simplified meansof applying for protectionof a design in several coun-tries by submitting a singleinternational application.Without the system anowner would have to fileseparate applications ineach of the countries inwhich protection is sought.

One of the main advan-tages of using the Haguesystem is that it allowsusers to include up to 100designs in each internation-al application made.

In 1998, WIPO registeredabout 4,000 internationaldeposits each covering anaverage of 11 countries(equivalent to about 45,000national applications) whichhad the effect of protectinga total of 19,000 designs.This is a 40 percentincrease over thefigures from 1988.

Director General offersWIPO resources in fightagainst HIV/AIDS

The Eurasian Patent Conventioncovers the nine former SovietRepublics, including Russia.

This year saw a similar organiza-tion for the Middle East with theestablishment of the CooperationCouncil for Arab States of the Gulf.

The role of WIPO

In an environment where the har-monization of patent systems isbecoming increasingly importantfor world trade, WIPO clearly hasa major role to play. After all, oneof its primary tasks is to encouragethe world-wide protection of intel-lectual property.

Consequently, WIPO currentlyadministers a number of interna-tional treaties focused on the har-monization, or standardisation, ofpatents.

Early beginnings:The Paris Convention

The international harmonizationof patent law began with the adop-tion of the Paris Convention forthe Protection of IndustrialProperty in 1883. While stressingthe independence of nationalpatent systems, and the territoriallimitation of rights granted underthose national systems, the ParisConvention nevertheless containssome basic principles and commonmeasures for the enforcement ofindustrial property rights by whichall contracting states agree toabide.

The European PatentConvention

By the 1950s, the Council ofEurope had also begun to discussthe creation of a European patentsystem, and the harmonization ofpatent laws within Europe. Thisled to the adoption of theEuropean Patent Convention(EPC) in 1973, which came intoforce on October 7, 1977.

The EPC established a unifiedprocedure for the grant, by theEuropean Patent Office, of aEuropean Patent, which can beobtained by a single applicationand is valid in as many of the 19contracting states as the applicantdesignates - saving applicants bothtime and money.

However, as a European patent issubject to national law after it hasbeen granted, it provides neitherthe unitary effect, nor the commonjurisdiction, of a European patentas originally envisaged.Consequently, in 1997, theEuropean Commission launched anew initiative designed to intro-duced a new set of measures thatwould introduce a single patentwith a unitary effect across theentire European Union.

Other regional initiatives

Other examples of regional agree-ments designed to achieve harmo-nization or unification of substan-tive and procedural patent law, orcooperation on patent grantingprocedures, can be found in Africa,Latin America, the region of theformer Soviet Union and amongArab states.

In Africa, there are two regionalorganizations, the AfricanIntellectual Property Organization(OAPI) and the African RegionalIndustrial Property Organization(ARIPO) which encompass 14African nations.

In South America the AndeanGroup of countries, Bolivia,Colombia, Ecuador, Peru andVenezuela have uniform procedur-al patent provisions.

International Harmonization of Patent LawMr. Shozo Uemura, Deputy Director General, WIPO


For more than 100 years, various initiatives have sought to harmonizenational patent systems. With the development of modern technologies,electronic commerce and the Internet holding out the promise of easieraccess to, and exchange of information and goods, the need for furtherpatent law harmonization has become vital.

Efforts to that end have increased in tempo in recent years, and furtherimprovements can be expected as we enter the next millennium.

The Patent CooperationTreaty (PCT)

The PCT came into force in 1978and establishes the important prin-ciple that a single internationalpatent application has the sameeffect as making separate applica-tions in the national patent officeof each of the contracting states inwhich the applicant wishes to seekpatent protection.

The PCT procedure offers a num-ber of significant advantages, bothto the applicant as well as to thepatent offices — not least its abili-ty to streamline and simplify pro-cedures, and to reduce costs. Forthe applicant in particular, itmeans being able to file a singleapplication at a national receivingoffice, in one language and inaccordance with one set of rules.

However, although the PCT hasrationalised the patent applicationprocess so far as the filing, search,publication, and preliminary exam-ination are concerned, it does notresult in the granting of an “inter-national patent”. Individual patentswill subsequently need to be grant-ed by each designated country.

The draft Patent Law Treaty(PLT)

In 1983, WIPO proposed a newinitiative, the Patent Law Treaty.With the objective of further har-monizing international patent laws,the draft Treaty contained provi-sions relating to the substantiveharmonization of patent applica-tion and examination procedures,to standards for obtaining apatent, and to rights and remediesunder a patent.

In the wake of a DiplomaticConference for the adoption of thedraft Treaty in 1991, it was decid-ed, in view of the divergent viewson major issues, that the secondpart of the Diplomatic Conferencebe postponed until the time wasconsidered ripe to continue.

In 1995, therefore, the memberstates of WIPO agreed on a differ-ent approach for promoting har-monization — namely, the harmo-nization of matters concerning theformality requirements of nationaland regional patent procedures.Accordingly, the draft Patent LawTreaty is currently under discus-sion in the Standing Committee onthe Law of Patents.

One of the most important aspectsof the present draft PLT concernsthe national requirements whichcountries may impose before theywill accord a filing date. Otherprovisions on representation, har-monization of the requirementsfor recordings by the patentoffices, and conditions for exten-sions of time limits, are alsoexpected to be of considerablehelp to applicants.

The Patent Law Treaty will also beuseful for applicants from foreigncountries, and in particular forapplicants from developing coun-tries, who will be able to rely on aharmonized set of formal require-ments for filing applicationsabroad. Moreover, the Treaty willreduce patent costs for applicantswho wish to protect their inven-tions in a number of countries.

It is intended that many provisionsof the PCT concerning the formand content of an application willbe incorporated into the PLT. Thiswill simplify the provisions of thedraft Treaty and avoid creating dif-ferent international standards withrespect to the formalities of patents.

A diplomatic conference for theadoption of the Patent Law Treatyis scheduled to take place in Mayand June of 2000.

Patent Harmonization in the Future

In view of past and current devel-opments, it appears highly likelythat further patent harmonizationwill continue. Only time will tellwhether this will eventually lead toa unified single world patent. Clearlythere is still a long way to go.


Other Treaties Administered by WIPO

A number of other treaties which set out internationallyagreed rights and common standards for the protection ofpatents are also administered by WIPO. These include:

The Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of theDeposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of PatentProcedure (1977)

The Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the InternationalPatent Classification (1971)

The Director General of the WorldIntellectual Property Organization(WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, participat-ed in celebrations marking the100th anniversary of Japan'sCopyright Law on July 22, 1999.This historic event was marked by acommemorative ceremony, whichtook place in the presence of TheirMajesties Emperor Akihito andEmpress Michiko of Japan.

Following a private audience withTheir Majesties, Dr. Idrisaddressed some 1,000 participants,including the Prime Minister andother high-ranking governmentand senior intellectual propertyofficials. In his speech, theDirector General congratulatedthe Government of Japan and theJapan Copyright Office on theirdedication and innovation, notingthat Japan had been "at the fore-front of international cooperationin the protection of copyright".

Dr. Idris stressed the continuingimportance of copyright protectionin today's world. The advent of the

Internet and the proliferation ofdigital technologies that enhancethe capacity to create and useworks and objects protected byintellectual property rights meansthat copyright protection is as crit-ically important today as it wasone hundred years ago. "Timeshave changed," he said, "howeverthe importance of copyright pro-tection is still as vital today". TheDirector General pointed out thatthe end of this millennium repre-sented a "pivotal moment in theevolution of copyright and relatedrights" as there existed "untoldopportunities for cultural, socialand economic progress, but alsomajor challenges for the enforce-ment of intellectual property rights".

The Director General alsoapplauded the Government ofJapan for its prominent role inpromoting the development ofinternational intellectual propertystandards, referring to its impor-tant contribution in the negotia-tion of the WIPO Copyright Treaty(WCT) and the WIPO

Performances and PhonogramsTreaty (WPPT) in 1996. These so-called "Internet Treaties" set outminimum standards of copyrightprotection within the digital envi-ronment.

Japan "has also been an indispens-able partner in the area of cooper-ation for development" Dr. Idrissaid, referring in particular to theTrust Fund established since 1993by the Government of Japan topromote the development of copy-right and related rights in Asianand Pacific countries. He under-lined the importance of coopera-tion for development in buildingdurable institutions and in promot-ing economic, social and culturaldevelopment. "Our objective is toinspire the intellectual propertysystem to create a positive impacton the gross national products ofdeveloping countries and countriesin transition," he said.

In a context of rapid technologicaldevelopment, increasing economicglobalization and the emergence

VisitCelebrating 100 years of JapaneseCopyright Law - WIPO’s DirectorGeneral applauds positive steps


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Dr. Idris congratulates the Government of Japan and the Japanese Copyright Office, notingJapan has been “at the forefront of international cooperation in the protection of copyright”

of knowledge-based economies,"technological development andintellectual property will go handin hand in the next millennium",he said. They will be "foreign tono culture and native to allnations". Emphasizing the key roleof intellectual property, Dr. Idrispointed out that "in a society inwhich wealth creation is no longerbased on bricks and mortar, but onthe magnitude of bytes of digitaland genetic information, intellectu-al property becomes a majorsource of wealth creation and eco-nomic growth".

Demystification of the intellectualproperty system or the creation ofa broader understanding amongleaders, policy makers, consumersand the general public of theimportance of intellectual propertyas a tool for economic develop-ment and wealth creation, toppedthe list of challenges identified bythe Director General.Transformation of work methods,simplification of procedures andthe effective dissemination ofintellectual property informationto facilitate broad-based participa-tion in the transfer and develop-ment of technology also featuredhigh on the list of priorities.

Japan became a member of WIPOin 1975 and is currently party tonine treaties administered by theOrganization, including the BerneConvention for the Protection ofLiterary and Artistic Works, theParis Convention for theProtection of Industrial Propertyand the Patent CooperationTreaty.

Promoting IP andinnovation in Syria

The first WIPO seminar organizedin Syria since 1996 attracted some200 enthusiastic participants eagerto learn about the latest develop-ments in the field of IP. This semi-nar was jointly organized with theMinistry of Supply and HomeTrade and the Association ofSyrian Inventors and took place inAleppo from May 24-26.

During the opening ceremony, HisExcellency Mr. Nadim Akkash,Minister for Supply and HomeTrade and Dr. MohammedMustafa Miro, Governor of the city of Aleppo, addressed the participants.

The aim of the seminar was to pre-sent the contemporary frameworkfor the protection of industrialproperty with reference to theTRIPS Agreement* and to evalu-ate the role of innovation in eco-nomic development.

The seminar commenced with ashort introduction on intellectualproperty and the TRIPSAgreement. This was followed bya host of presentations to promoteinnovation including:

■ the function of an innovationcenter in a developing economy

■ the legal framework for encour-aging employed inventors to useand apply their creativity

■ the commercialization of inven-tions and research results.

The presentations prompted manyquestions which themselves resultedin lively animated discussions.Significant interest was shown inthe Patent Cooperation Treaty andmany questions were asked on theworkings of the Treaty.


Cooperation fordevelopment

Mr. Nadim Akkash, Minister for Supply and HomeTrade (right) underlining the importance of innovationin economic development.

* Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights

IP in the economicand social develop-ment of least devel-oped countries

A thorough grounding of basicnotions of intellectual property(IP) rights and how these can pro-mote technology transfer, trade,and investment in least developedcountries (LDCs) was delivered toparticipants at the second WIPOseminar on IP for LDCs, whichtook place in Vientiane from June29 to July 1, 1999.

The seminar was attended by some45 participants from 10 LDCs inthe region. The objective of theseminar was to promote awarenessof the basic principles involved inintellectual property and the impli-cations of the TRIPS Agreement *for LDCs in particular. It alsoprovided a forum to discuss whathas been done, and work thatremains, to modernize intellectualproperty systems at a nationallevel in preparation for TRIPSimplementation.

The seminar was divided-up intofour main areas:■ basic notions of IP and treaties

administered by WIPO

■ the role of intellectual propertyin socio-economic development

■ economic and cultural benefitsof copyright protection

■ modernization of the adminis-tration and management of IP

The seminar concluded with apanel discussion on the role of IPin the economic and social devel-opment of LDCs, that the partici-pants followed with great interest.Several participants requestedWIPO assistance with the promo-tion of awareness of IP issues.

Participants came fromBangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia,Kiribati, Maldives, Myanmar,Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands,and Tuvalu.


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The opening ceremony, chaired by Mr. Nheune Sisavad, (left) Director General, Departmentof Intellectual Property, Standardization and Metrology, Science, Technology and EnvironmentOrganization, Prime Minister’s Office, Government of Laos.

* Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights

Garfield © 1993 Paws, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Universal Press Syndicate. All rights reserved.

Critical issues on IPpolicy to meet themillennium challenges

Senior representatives from coun-tries of Asia and the Pacific gath-ered in New Delhi, India from July7 to 9, 1999 to discuss intellectualproperty development in develop-ing countries and strategies forframing policies to meet the chal-lenges of the next millennium.

During the opening ceremony,Mr. Shri Sikander Bakht, India’sMinister of Industry expressedconfidence that together withWIPO’s assistance they will moveto “spur human activity and pushforward the boundaries of scienceand technology by providing astable environment for the mar-keting of intellectual propertyproducts in a manner which isboth equitable, balanced, andmutually advantageous.”

In the first of two keynote speech-es, Mr. Roberto Castelo, DeputyDirector General of WIPO elabo-

rated on the initiatives alreadytaken by WIPO to address IP pro-tection as a global issue andstressed the need to develophuman resources to effectivelymodernize established systems.

In a second keynote speech, Dr. S.Narayan, Secretary, Department ofIndustrial Development provideda developing country perspectiveon critical areas of IP in the nextcentury and shared his vision thatthe next millennium would becharacterized by the inventivenessof the individual.

The Regional Forum was orga-nized with the cooperation of theGovernment of India and theFederation of Indian Chambers ofCommerce and Industry (FICCI)and attended by some 150 officialsfrom 19 countries of Asia and thePacific.

The formal session of the Forumdivided issues for considerationinto themes presented by interna-tional experts in these fields:

■ critical areas for intellectualproperty in the 21st Century

■ implementation of the TRIPSAgreement and the post TRIPS era

■ WIPONET in the developmentand transfer of technology andits contribution to the modern-ization of IP services

■ protection and management ofIP in a digital environment

■ policy considerations for estab-lishing effective systems for theenforcement of IPRs

■ the evolution of a legal frame-work for IP and selected globalissues – indigenous knowledge,folklore, environment, biodiver-sity, biotechnology, etc.

■ IP as a tool for development inthe knowledge based economy

At the conclusion of the Forum,a statement was adopted by theparticipants that underlined theneed to strengthen cooperationamong countries in the regionand for them to develop a com-mon platform to voice concernsin various IP fora. The statementalso recognised the valuable roleplayed by WIPO in providing thenecessary assistance to implementpriorities identified in the Forum.


Mr. Sikander Bakht, Minister of Industry (left)expresses confidence that with WIPO assistancethey will move to “spur human activity and push for-ward the boundaries of science and technology.”Shown here at the opening ceremony withMr. Roberto Castelo, Deputy Director General, WIPO.

Update on India and the PCT

In the six months since its accession to the Patent CooperationTreaty (PCT), India has been designated in some 12,971 interna-tional applications filed under the PCT. In the month of Mayalone some 2,892 applications, more than 50 percent of allapplications, included India as a designated country in theirinternational applications.

Furthermore there have already been 27 PCT applications fromIndia and seeking protection in fellow PCT states.

Commenting on these figures, the Deputy Director of WIPO, Mr.Robert Castelo said that this was indicative of increasing impor-tance attached to the Indian economy by international inventors.

Caribbean countriesconfirm their com-mitment to improv-ing IP systems inthe region

WIPO in collaboration with theMinistry of Commerce andTechnology of Jamaica, organizedthree senior level meetings to dis-cuss the collective management ofcopyright and related rights, elec-tronic commerce, and other criticalintellectual property issues current-ly affecting countries of theCaribbean.

Roundtable

On June 7-9, 1999 the Roundtableon Collective Management ofCopyright was held. The focalpoint was a discussion of a“Feasibility Study relating toCollective Management ofCopyright in the Caribbean” pre-pared by WIPO. This feasibilitystudy was prepared following arequest by Ministers responsible

for intellectual property matters atthe last Ministerial meeting held inTrinidad and Tobago in July 1997.

At the end of the Roundtablebroad consensus was achieved onthe establishment of a regionalsystem for the collective manage-ment of copyright and relatedrights which was embodied in rec-ommendations forwarded to theMinisterial meeting to be heldfrom June 10-11, 1999.

Regional Consultations

On June 8 and 9, 1999 a RegionalConsultation on ElectronicCommerce and IntellectualProperty was held in collaborationwith WIPO. The Consultationincluded presentations by local,regional and international experts,including representatives fromWIPO. Issues discussed included:

■ challenges and opportunities of electronic commerce

■ the impact of electronic commerce on the intellectualproperty system

■ the protection of copyright andthe role of the WIPO treaties indigital media

■ the domain name system –intellectual property issues.

At the end of the consultations,Caribbean delegates submittedrecommendations to theMinisterial Meeting to be heldfrom June 10-11, 1999.

Ministerial Meeting

From June 10-11 the Meeting ofCaribbean Ministers responsiblefor Intellectual Property tookplace. The Ministers examined therecommendations arising out ofthe Roundtable and RegionalConsultations and discussed otherintellectual property issues.

The Ministers passed seven resolu-tions which included an endorse-ment for a regional system for col-lective management, further col-laboration with WIPO in thedevelopment of regional intellec-tual property offices, agreement onthe convening of a regional meet-


Regional support for IP

Almost all countries of theCaribbean are now membersof WIPO, party to the BerneConvention, the ParisConvention, and members of the WTO. In addition, fivecountries, Barbados,Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia,and Trinidad and Tobago arecontracting states of thePatent Cooperation Treaty.

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Further collabora-tion plannedbetween WWA and ATRIP

Over 90 professors of intellectualproperty from all over the worldmet in Geneva from July 7 to 9, forthe 20th Annual Meeting of theInternational Association for theAdvancement of Teaching andResearch in Intellectual Property(ATRIP).

The professors investigated newways to strengthen the collabora-tion between ATRIP and the WIPOWorldwide Academy (WWA).Proposals included the establish-ment of partnerships for the devel-opment of research, distance learn-ing and joint diploma-awarding pro-grams with universities.

Emphasis was placed on theimpact of new information and

communication technologies onintellectual property systems, andon the way in which intellectualproperty might be taught by com-puter-supported distance learning.These innovative approachesstemmed from the findings of thereport of the WIPO/ATRIPElectronic Conference onStrategies for Intellectual PropertyTeaching in Faculties of Law,Business, and Engineering, inwhich members of ATRIP partici-pated from November 6, 1998 toMarch 1, 1999.

ATRIP endorsed the proposal thatthe WWA organize, in the courseof the year 2000, additional elec-tronic conferences and suggestedthat these might be separately runin English, French and Spanish.

WIPO has agreed to host theATRIP website at“www.atrip.org”, with direct linksto the WIPO and WWA websites.


Academy

Photo: William T. FryerNewly elected officers and members of the Executive Committeeat the 20th Annual Meeting of ATRIP held at WIPO, Geneva.

ing next year on folklore, tradi-tional knowledge and innovationsand the development of curriculaon intellectual property law anddisciplines in institutions of higherlearning in the Caribbean.

The Ministers resolved that the nextMinisterial Meeting for CaribbeanCountries will be held next year andhosted by Saint Lucia.

Delegates from the followingcountries and organizations active-ly participated in the meetings:Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,Dominica, Grenada, Guyana,Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis,St. Lucia, St. Vincent and theGrenadines, Suriname, Trinidadand Tobago as well as CARICOMSecretariat, national collectingsocieties from Jamaica (JACAPand JAMCOPY), Grenada(COG), St. Lucia (Hewannora)and Trinidad and Tobago (COTT),the United Kingdom (PRS).Persons from the private sectorlocally, regionally and internation-ally also participated.

Pilot training coursewith CIPO concludeson a positive note

The right mixture of internationalexpertise, focused presentations,and workshops supplemented byvideo conferences, the latestInternet-based trademark databas-es plus distance-learning supportassured the success of the thirdpilot trademarks training courseorganized by the WIPOWorldwide Academy (WWA) andthe Canadian Intellectual PropertyOffice (CIPO). The two weekcourse ran from June 7 to 18, 1999and was attended by trademarkprofessionals from 12 LatinAmerican countries.

Participants were welcomed toCIPO by Ms. Carol Cheffins,Director, Planning, Internationaland Regulatory Affairs, Mr.Anthony McDonough, ActingChief Executive Officer, and,from WIPO by Mr. Mpazi Sinjela,Acting Director of WWA. Thisyear’s course brought to an endthe pilot training scheme, whichwill now be fully evaluated byboth WIPO and CIPO. The aimof this course was to enhance theknowledge and skills of trade-mark professionals from LatinAmerica and the Caribbean andassist them in adopting modernmanagement tools and makinguse of modern information tech-nology in their work.

First IP and develop-ment session of theWWA held for devel-oping countries

Participants from 12 developingcountries gathered in Beijing andShanghai for this, the first specialsession of the WIPO WorldwideAcademy (WWA) on intellectualproperty and development, orga-nized in cooperation with the StateIntellectual Property Office of thePeople’s Republic of China(SIPO).

The session commenced with wel-come speeches by Mrs. Jiang Ying,Commissioner, SIPO and Mr.

Roberto Castelo, Deputy DirectorGeneral of WIPO.

The teaching sessions followed amodern, varied format with pre-sentations by leading internationalexperts including Prof. William O.Hennessey of the Franklin PierceLaw Center, USA and Prof.François Dessemontet, Presidentof the International Associationfor the Advancement of Teachingand Research in IntellectualProperty (ATRIP), Switzerland aswell as roundtables on chosen top-ics and field visits. These visitsincluded trips to:

■ Chinese Trademark Office inBeijing where participants visit-ed the receiving office, examina-tion departments, and computercenter

■ Gillette, Pudong, where thefocus was upon how effectiveintellectual property systemsfacilitate foreign investment andtechnology transfer

■ Participants also heard from theChief Judge of the IP Branch ofthe People’s Court of Pudong,New Development Zone, onfighting piracy and counterfeiting

At the close of the session inShanghai, participants suggestedthat similar sessions providing bothinformation and practical advice informulating government policy becarried out in other developingcountries, and expanded upon toinclude emerging IP issues.


Mr. Sinjela (left) and Prof. Dessemonte, President ofATRIP in the lobby of the China Intellectual PropertyTraining Center.

At the beginning of the course,participants were requested tomake presentations on the law andpractice for trademark registra-tions in their respective countriesbefore examining the highly auto-mated processes and modern pro-cedures used in Canada.Participants also had the opportu-nity to spend time with a trade-mark examiner and have first handexperience of the working tools ofa modern trademark office.

The course went on to consider theinternational treaties relating totrademark registration, both thoseadministered by WIPO as well asthe TRIPS Agreement. At the endof their training, the participantshad the opportunity to review areasof particular interest to them andmeet with CIPO officers individual-ly, before passing to the courseevaluation and conclusion.


Laws and treatiesdownloadable fromthe WIPO website

As of September 15, 1999, the WorldIntellectual Property Organizationwill make available on the Internet itsCollection of Laws for Electronic Access(CLEA).

The CLEA database contains:■ national legislative texts in the field of

intellectual property

■ texts of treaties administered by WIPO

■ bibliographic data concerning each legislativetext and treaty.

The legislative texts contained in CLEA:■ have been transmitted to WIPO by the

competent authorities of the countries con-cerned, respectively, under Article 15(2) ofthe Paris Convention for the Protection ofIndustrial Property (Act of 1967) andArticle 24(2) of the Berne Convention forthe Protection of Literary and ArtisticWorks (Act of 1971) and/or

■ have been notified by the country con-cerned, under Article 63(2) of theAgreement on Trade-Related Aspects ofIntellection Property Rights (“The TRIPSAgreement”) to the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual PropertyRights (“the Council for TRIPS”) of theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) and therelevant notifications have been communi-cated by WTO to WIPO under Article 2(4)of the Agreement between WIPO andWTO of December 22, 1995.

To access CLEA go to www.wipo.int./clea orclea.wipo.int.

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Bringing thescientific andintellectualproperty com-munities closertogether

“In the next century intellectualproperty, scientific development,creativity, information, and knowl-edge will be faces of the samecoin”. Dr Kamil Idris.

The first steps by the Science andConscience of Man Foundationtowards creating new channels ofcommunication between the scien-tific community and the rest of theworld took place during a confer-ence held at WIPO Headquartersfrom June 3 to 4. The theme of theconference was the effect of globalbusiness on scientific research, atopic that was addressed by some20 participants from the fields ofscientific research and intellectualproperty.

During the first day of the confer-ence, discussions focused on thedifferences between industrializedand developing countries’approaches to scientific research inacademia, industry, innovation andbusiness competition as well astheir differing traditions in intel-lectual property rights.

Discussions on the second daycentered on:■ the global nature of scientific

research

■ the roles and responsibilities of

• enterprises in the principleof fairness

• states in providing fundingand social development

• international organizationsin providing legal protection

This was the first time that a con-ference organized by an indepen-dent foundation had been held atWIPO and it was agreed that thisbrought new actors to the intellec-tual property stage and helpedboth participants and WIPO devel-op a better understanding of eachother’s worlds.

In an address to the participants,Dr. Idris welcomed this initiativeand pledged his full support of theobjectives of the Foundation.


Science and Conscience of Man FoundationThis is an independent, non-profit foundation based in Genevaand dedicated to science and the public interest. TheFoundation is associated with the World Conference on Sciencefor the 21st century.

SCIT endorsesStrategicInformationTechnologyPlanThe WIPO Standing Committeeon Information Technologies(SCIT) has approved a draftStrategic Information TechnologyPlan designed to narrow the infor-mation gap between developedand developing countries, improvethe flow worldwide of informationrelating to intellectual propertyrights, and enhance the ability toretrieve and disseminate intellec-tual property information.

The plan was approved at theSCIT's third session, held from14-15 June 1999. A main objectiveof the plan is to reduce costs andincrease efficiency of a globalinformation network specific tointellectual property.

In implementing the plan, theSCIT agreed to follow severalstrategies. Among these are theuse of well-established projectmanagement and capital invest-ment methodologies and a robustand scalable information technolo-gy architecture. In implementingthe plan, WIPO will also use aproven systems developmentapproach based on standards that

support emerging, evolving andcommercial or "off-the-shelf" soft-ware. Critical to the success of theplan will be a reliable, secure net-work. Of equal importance is theconcept of "change management"to prepare everyone for the transi-tion from paper-based systems tothose that reflect state-of-the-artdata and information dissemina-tion operations based on the latestinformation technology.

The Secretariat expects to presenta comprehensive plan at thestrategic and business operationslevels, to the SCIT by September.Following receipt of commentsduring the period October-November, the Secretariat's pro-posed plan will be taken up at thenext session of the SCIT plenaryfrom December 6 to 10, 1999. Thatplan will guide the developmentand implementation of approxi-mately 40 interrelated informationtechnology projects, includingIMPACT, the automated PCT sys-tem, and WIPONET, WIPO'sInternet-based worldwide informa-tion system for the 21st century.WIPONET, the first global project tobe undertaken by WIPO usinginformation technology, willimprove access to and exchange ofintellectual property information byproviding network services to intel-lectual property offices worldwide.Implementation of WIPONET iscurrently in the pilot phase.


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10 Madrid Protocolcelebrates 10thAnniversary

June 28, 1999, marked the tenthanniversary of the signature ofthe Madrid Protocol. The MadridProtocol, together with theMadrid Agreement Concerningthe International Registration of Marks, regulates the interna-tional registration system for the protection of trademarks,or the Madrid system.

The Madrid system offers the pos-sibility of obtaining protection ineach or all of the member states ofthe Agreement and/or Protocolthrough one single internationaltrademark application. This pro-vides a cost-effective and efficientsolution to companies or individu-als who are seeking protection oftheir trademark(s) in more thanone country, since the alternativewould be to file a separate applica-tion in each country. Protectionunder the Madrid system is effec-tive for a period of ten years andmay be renewed for a further tenyear period.

Since the adoption of the MadridAgreement in 1893, some 710,000international trademark registra-tions have been recorded. Over345,000 international registrationsare currently in force. Since eachextends, on average, to over 11countries, this is equivalent tonearly 4 million individual nationaltrademark registrations.

The Madrid Protocol, which cameinto operation on April 1, 1996,introduced changes to the interna-tional system of trademark protec-tion, which have been successful inattracting wider use of the system.Figures for the first half of thisyear reflect a positive trend in theuse of the Madrid Protocol, whichhas a membership of 37 countries.

WIPO's trademark registrationsystem is a fully-automated paper-less operation using state-of-the-art computer technology for theadministration of its procedures. InJanuary 1999, the first internation-al trademark application resultingfrom purely electronic transmis-sions was inscribed in theInternational Register of Marks. Itis foreseen that electronic registra-tion and notification of trademarkapplications will become morewidespread in future.

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IPC ReformWorking Groupsets priorities

Work on reforming the IPC(International Patent Classification)to bring the classification into theelectronic era of the new millenni-um commenced with the meetingof the IPC Reform Working Groupfrom May 25-28.

This first session of the WorkingGroup identified the priority tasksthat the group would tackleincluding:

– the introduction of electronicdata in the IPC

– the need to elaborate rules formultiple classification

– reviewing hybrid systems in theIPC

– improving cooperation betweenoffices in the reclassification ofpatent files

– improvements in the trainingfor use of the IPC

The Working Group also went onto identify long-term goals of IPCreform and in particular its moreeffective application for searchingpatent and technical documenta-tion; using the electronic environ-ment for facilitating IPC mainte-nance; developing effective, low-cost IPC training modules andadapting the IPC to co-exist withelectronic search tools. The

Secretariat was requested to pre-pare a strategic plan of action inline with these long-term goals andto ensure that it complied with theSCIT strategic information tech-nology plans (see article on p. 15).

The Working Group agreed thatan optimal structure for thereformed IPC would be a two-level organization. There wouldbe one level representing a knowl-edge-based classification systemcovering worldwide inventionrelated information in patent andtechnical literature. This core levelinformation would be used forgeneral information.

The second level of the IPC wouldbe based on internal, moredetailed versions of the IPC elabo-rated by some offices such as theEuropean Patent Office, andJapanese Patent Office and wouldbe used for searching internationalcollections such as the PCT mini-mum documentation.


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Working Group sets up Task Force

To investigate how to increase the search power of the IPC byintroducing rules for multiple classification, the Working Groupcreated a Task Force. The Task Force was also requested toinvestigate the existing hybrid systems in the IPC that combineclassification and indexing and establish their ability to searchefficiently.

The Task Force will be coordinated by the JPO with the assis-tance of the EPO and will include the offices of France,Germany, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the UnitedStates of America.

The Working Group further agreed to establish a master classifi-cation database encompassing the world’s patent documentsand technical literature with the cooperation of the IPCCommittee of Experts and the SCIT.

The next session of the Working Group will take place fromNovember 15-19.

The Working Group included delegations from Austria, France,Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea,Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UnitedKingdom, and USA.


September 6 to 14 (Geneva)Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (Third Session) The Committee will continue its work based upon theresults achieved at its second session, with regard to thedraft Patent Law Treaty, and other issues.

Invitations: As members, the States members of WIPO andother delegations that the Committee has admitted asmembers; as observers, other States and certain organiza-tions.

September 13 (Geneva)WIPO Industry Advisory Commission(Second Session)The Industry Advisory Commission will meet in its secondsession to follow up on discussions began at its first sessionheld on February 4 and 5, 1999. This session of the IACwill focus in particular on the intellectual property implica-tions of electronic commerce in light of the WIPOConference on Electronic Commerce and IntellectualProperty that begins the following day.

Invitations: Members of the IAC. Eminent representativesof industry groups in the market sector compose the IAC.

September 14 to 16 (Geneva)Conference on Electronic Commerce and IntellectualProperty The Conference will address the impact of electronic com-merce on intellectual property and will include plenary ses-sions on general developments in electronic commerce andtheir implications for intellectual property, as well as work-shops on the various areas of WIPO’s work program asso-ciated with electronic commerce, such as Internet domainnames, patents, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and theWIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT),work on a protocol to the WPPT on audiovisual works, theuse of trademarks on the Internet and the use of electroniccommerce tools in the delivery of intellectual property ser-vices. The Conference will also examine the different levelsof awareness and the resulting differential participation inelectronic commerce.

Invitations: Member States of WIPO, other States membersof the United Nations, international/regional organizations,non-governmental organizations and any interested mem-bers of the public, against payment of a registration fee.

September 20 to 29 (Geneva)Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO (Thirty-fourth Series of Meetings)All Bodies of the Assemblies of the Member States ofWIPO will meet in their ordinary sessions.

Invitations: As members, the States members of WIPO;as observers, other States and certain organizations.

November 1 and 2 (Geneva)Roundtable on Intellectual Property and TraditionalKnowledgeTo facilitate an exchange of views among policymakers,holders of traditional knowledge and other interested par-ties concerning more effective application of, and possibleimprovements to the intellectual property system to protecttraditional knowledge.

Invitations: Member States of WIPO; international andnational governmental and non-governmental organiza-tions concerned; representatives of holders of traditionalknowledge, including indigenous groups and local commu-nities, and members of the public.

November 8 to 10 (Geneva)Working Group on Biotechnology To develop an inventory of current issues in the field ofbiotechnology related to intellectual property to serve as abasis for information exchange and study by WIPO.

Invitations: Experts from various sectors and interestgroups relevant to biotechnology.

November 16 to 20 (Geneva)Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights(Third Session)The Committee will continue its work based on the resultsof its second session (May 4 to 11, 1999).

Invitations: As members, the States members of WIPOand/or of the Berne Union, and the European Community;as observers, other States and certain organizations.

Calendar of meetingsW

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Products

The following new products were issued by WIPO:

What is Copyright ? (English) No. L450CR/E, FreeWhat is an Industrial Design ? (English) No. L450ID/E, FreeFAQs (English), No. L450FQ/E, FreeWhat is a Patent ? (English) No. L450PA/E, FreeWhat is a Trademark ? (English) No. L450TM/E, FreeGeneral Information (1999 Edition) (Arabic) No. 400(A), FreeGeneral Information (1999 Edition) (Russian) No. 400(R), FreeSymposium on the International Protection of Geographical Indications in the Worldwide Context, Eger,October 24 & 25, 1997 No. 760(E), 20 Swiss francs

IPLEX CD-ROM No. 1/1999

As from September 1999, WIPO will resume publication of the IPLEXCD-ROM. The IPLEX CD-ROM is a full-text database containing thetexts, in English and French, of national and regional laws and multilateraland bilateral treaties in the field of intellectual property, along with infor-mation relating to them. It will be updated once every quarter.

The IPLEX CD-ROM No. 1/1999, will update the database, as containedin the IPLEX CD-ROM No. 3/1997 (third quarter of 1997), with the textspublished in Industrial Property Laws and Treaties/Lois et traités de pro-priété industrielle/Copyright and Neighboring Rights Laws andTreaties/Lois et traités de droit d’auteur et de droits voisins up to June1999.

To use the IPLEX CD-ROM, a minimum configuration is needed of:

a compatible MS Windows PC■ Windows® 95/98 or Windows® NT 4.0■ CD-ROM Drive■ Pentium processor, 100 megahertz (MHz)■ Minimum: 16 megabytes (MB)■ Recommended: 10 MB of free hard disk space

Subscription

The IPLEX subscription price for a full calendar year is 1,200 SwissFrancs.

IPLEX CD-ROM No. 1, 1999, will be distributed free of charge to theexisting subscribers of the IPLEX series.


WIPO publications may be obtained from the Information Products Section:WIPO34, chemin des Colombettes P.O. Box 18CH-1211 Geneva 20Switzerland

Orders should indicate: (a) the number or letter code of the publication desired, the language (E forEnglish, F for French etc.), the number of copies; (b) the full address for mailing; (c) the mail mode (surface or air). Prices cover surface mail. Bank transfers should be made to WIPO account No. 487080-81,at the Swiss Credit Bank, 1211 Geneva 70, Switzerland.

phone: 41 22 338 91 11fax: 41 22 740 18 12e-mail: [email protected]

wipo magazine, issue nos. 7-8, 1999 · the creation of a european patent system, and the...

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