WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/DS196/1
IP/D/22
6 June 2000
(00-2220)
Original:  English
ARGENTINA – CERTAIN MEASURES ON THE PROTECTION OF PATENTS
AND TEST DATA
Request for Consultations by the United States
The following communication, dated 30 May 2000, from the Permanent Mission of the
United States to the Permanent Mission of Argentina and to the Chairman of the Dispute Settlement
Body, is circulated in accordance with Article 4.4 of the DSU.
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My authorities have instructed me to request consultations with the Government of Argentina
pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of
Disputes (DSU) and Article 64 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual PropertyRights (TRIPS Agreement) (to the extent that it in corporates by reference Article XXII of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994), concerning the following matters relating to Argentina's
regimes governing patents in Law 24,481 (as amended by Law 24,572), Law 24,603 and
Decree 260/96;  and data protection in Law 24 ,766 and Regulation 440/98, and in other related
measures.  The United States believes that:
– Argentina fails to protect against unfair commercial use of undisclosed test or other data,
submitted as a requirement for market approval of pharmaceutical or agricultural chemical
products;
– Argentina improperly excludes certain subject matter, including micro-organisms, from
patentability;
– Argentina fails to provide prompt and effective provisional measures, such as preliminary
injunctions, for purposes of preventing infringements of patent rights from occurring;
– Argentina denies certain exclusive rights for patents, such as the protection of products
produced by patented processes and the right of importation;
– Argentina fails to provide certain safeguards for the granting of compulsory licenses,
including timing and justification safeguards for compulsory licenses granted on the basis of
inadequate working;
– Argentina improperly limits the authority of its judiciary to shift the burden of proof in civil
proceedings involving the infringements of process patent rights;  and
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IP/D/22
Page 2
– Argentina places impermissible limitations on certain transitional patents so as to limit the
exclusive rights conferred by these patents, and to deny the opportunity for patentees to
amend pending applications in order to claim certain enhanced protection provided by the
TRIPS Agreement.
The United States considers that Argentina's legal regimes governing patents and data
protection are therefore inconsistent with Argentina's obligations under the TRIPS Agreement,
including Articles 27, 28, 31, 34, 39, 50, 62, 65 and 70 of the Agreement.
This request for consultations supplements and does not replace the United States' earlier
request for consultations made in WTO Document WT/DS171/1, notified 6 May 1999.
We look forward to receiving your reply to this request and to fixing a mutually convenient
date for these additional consultations.
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