WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/306/Add.3
18 September 2001
(01-4413)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION FROM
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
Addendum
SWITZERLAND
The present document reproduces the updated information on Switzerland's technical and
financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement, which was
received from the Permanent Mission of Switzerland on 11 September 2001.
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Following documents IP/C/W/12/Add.3 of 13 September 1995, IP/C/W/34/Add.2 of 17
September 1996, IP/C/W/77/Add.3 of 30 Sept ember 1997, IP/C/W/109/Add.1 of 4 September 1998,
IP/C/W/154/Add.2 of 8 October 1999 and IP/C/W/203/Add.1 of 13 September 2000 in which muchof the description of the aims and organizational aspects of technical cooperation remains relevant,
this report describes the activities of the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property ("Institute") in the
field of technical cooperation between 1 September 2000 and 31 August 2001.
1  Drafted along the
same lines as the preceding reports, this documen t draws a distinction between multilateral activities
and purely bilateral activities.  It should be recalled that the concern of the Swiss authorities is to
ensure optimum coordination of available resources, both at the multilateral and bilateral levels, while
avoiding duplication or overlapping of programmes.
I. MULTILATERAL ACTIVITIES
1. Technical cooperation in the framewor k of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO)
(a) Annual basic training programme at WIPO
From 29 August to 22 October 2000, one expert from Chad was able to benefit, in the
framework of the annual basic training programme,  from a two-month training course which was held
in three successive stages: at WIPO in Geneva, at the CEIPI (Centre d’Études Internationales de laPropriété Industrielle) in Strasbourg, and at the Institute in Bern.  The programme at the Institute
covered the entire field of intellectual property, focusing, in particular, on patents, trademarks and
industrial designs.  Emphasis was put on the practical, administrative and organizational work.  As in
the past, the Swiss Federal Agency for Development and Cooperation of the Federal Department
(Ministry) for Foreign Affairs financed the entire programme.  Costs related to teaching and toguidance of the experts in Bern were covered by the Institute.
                                                     
1 (unless otherwise indicated).IP/C/W/306/Add.3
Page 2
From 17 September to 6 October 2001, two experts from Sudan and Zimbabwe  will receive a
similar kind of training.
(b) Information and/or training visits
At the request of WIPO, the Institute received delegations from the following countries:
1. Eastern European countries: On 11 October 2000, a delegation of participants to the
WIPO Academy Session for countries in transition visited the Institute for a
presentation on trademark, patent, indu strial design and copyright matters.
Participants consisted of senior officials from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria , Croatia , Georgia ,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan , Latvia , Poland , Republic of Macedonia , Republic of
Moldova, Romania , Russian Federation , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Ukraine ,
Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonw ealth of Independent States (IPA CIS).
The visit was conducted within the fram ework of the WIPO Academy Session for
countries with economies in transition held in Geneva between 9 to 13 October 2000.
2. People’s Republic of China: On 10 November 2000, a senior delegation of the
National Copyright Administration of the People's Republic of China, visited the
Institute for a presentation on the Swiss Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights.
The presentation focused also on the tasks of the Copyright Department and on the
supervision of Collecting Societies.
3. African countries: On 28 March 2001, a delegation of participants to the WIPO
Academy Session in English visited the Institute for a presentation on the Swiss
system of protection and administration of intellectual property rights.  The
presentation also focused also on patents, trademarks and copyright.  Participantswere officials from Botswana, Eritrea
, Ethiopia , Ghana , Kenya , Lesotho , Malawi ,
Mauritius, Mozambique , Namibia , Nigeria , Uganda , United Republic of Tanzania ,
Zambia, Zimbabwe , Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ,
Southern African Development Community (SADC).  The visit was conducted within
the framework of the WIPO Academy Session in English for African countries held in
Geneva between 26 and 30 March 2001.
4. Azerbaijan: From 4 to 8 June 2001, a dele gation of officials from the Copyright
Agency of Azerbaijan made a study tour or ganized by WIPO.  This tour included, in
addition to a visit to the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, visits to the
Swiss Society for Authors’ Rights in Musical Works (SUISA) and the Swiss
Multimedia Copyright Clearing Center (ProLitteris).
(d) Free-of-charge searches on the state of the art for WIPO in favour of developing countries
Between 1 July 2000 and 31 June 2001, the Institute conducted, upon request of WIPO, free-
of-charge searches on the state of the art for the following countries (the searches were financed
through the Institute’s ordinary budget):IP/C/W/306/Add.3
Page 3
Country Number of searches
Argentina  2
Burundi  3Chile  6
Cuba  1
Democratic People's Republic of Korea  3
El Salvador  3
Jamaica  1
Mali  2
Mexico  1Morocco  2
Senegal  2
Trinidad and Tobago  1
Viet Nam 29
Total 56 searches
2. Technical cooperation in the framework of  the European Patent Organisation (EPO)
 
 Mexico:  On 29 November 2000, two representatives of the Mexican Patent Office (IMPI)
visited the Institute for a presentation on the structure and administration of the Institute, reporting,
controlling, financial analysis, treasury activity and automation.
II. BILATERAL ACTIVITIES
1. Slovak Republic:  On 8 November 2000, senior officials of the Industrial Property Office of
the Slovak Republic visited the Institute for a presentation on the Institute, the statute of the
personnel, application of the systems Management by Objectives (MbO), budget elaboration
and financial planning, financial controlling, financial analysis and treasury activity.
2. Eastern European countries:  Delegations from Hungary  (from 20 to 22 March 2001),
Moldova (from 31 January to 1 February 2001) and the Russian Federation  (from 5 to
6 March 2001) visited the Institute for presentations on the structure and administration of the
Institute, intellectual property law enforcement, application and granting system, financial
planning and budget elaboration, reporting, controlling, financial analysis, treasury activity,
promotion of inventions, database administration and automation.
3. Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:  The Special Programme of Cooperation based on the
Agreement on the Protection of Intellectual Property and Cooperation in the Field of
Intellectual Property signed by Switzerland and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam began
officially on 12 June 2001 with a first round of seminars on the TRIPS Agreement andcopyright.  Several presentations were delivered on this occasion and among them the ones of
the Director of the Copyright Division of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property
on the collective management of copyright and related rights and on the WIPO Internet
Treaties (WCT and WPPT).  Activities of the Special Programme of Cooperation, such as
English language courses, translations and summaries of international intellectual propertytreaties, establishment of a modern library, expert evaluations, etc. have also been completed
or are on their way.  A next round of seminars is foreseen for the end of the year.
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