RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/34/Add.2
17September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3639)
Original: French Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM
DEVELOPED COUNTRY MEMBERS
Addendum
Switzerland
ThepresentdocumentreproducestheupdatedinformationonSwitzerland'stechnicalandfinancial
cooperation activities relevant totheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement, which hasbeenreceived
from thedelegation ofSwitzerland bymeans ofacommunication, dated 2September 1996.IPC/W/34/Add.2
Page2
TECHNICAL COOPERATION INTHE AREA OFINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Technical Assistance Provided bytheFederal Institute
forIntellectual Property, Federal Department
ofJustice andPolice, Berne
MuchoftheinformationcontainedindocumentIP/C/W/12/Add.3of13September1995remains
relevant, particularly thedescription oftheaimsandorganizational aspects oftechnical cooperation
andthecontent ofassistance programmes. Thisdocument should bereadinconjunction withthat
information. Except where mentioned otherwise, itdescribes theactivities thattookplace from
1August 1995 to31August 1996. Itshould berecalled thattheconcern oftheSwiss authorities is
toensure optimum utilization ofavailable resources bothatthemultilateral andbilateral levels, avoiding
duplicationoroverlappingofprogrammes.Accordingly,theyremaininclosecontactwiththecompetent
international organizations inorder toensure proper coordination ofefforts.
Theactivities aredirected chiefly atthedeveloping countries, particularly theleast-developed
countries. However, inorder toprovide anaccurate overview oftheactivities, itwasfeltthattechnical
cooperation withcertain transition countries should alsobeincluded inthisdocument.
Preliminary remark
On1January 1996, theFederal Intellectual Property Office, mentioned indocument
IP/C/W/12/Add.3, became theSwiss Federal Institute forIntellectual Property (Institute).1Asthe
restructuring process required ageneral mobilization ofstaff, there wastemporarily aslight decline
incooperation anddevelopment activities.
I. MULTILATERAL ACTIVITIES
1. Technical cooperation intheframework oftheWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
(Foradescription oftheInstitute 'sactivities intheframework ofWIPO, seedocument
IP/C/W/12/Add.3, pages 4and5oftheEnglish version):
(a) Annual basic training programme atWIPO
Twocountries from French-speaking Africa, Benin andNiger, wereabletobenefit fromthe
two-month annual training programme (from 27August to20October 1995). Afellowship wasawarded
tooneexpert fromeachofthetwocountries. Travel andliving expenses inGeneva, Strasbourg and
Berne werefinanced infullbytheDirectorate ofDevelopment Cooperation oftheFederal Department
ofForeign Affairs. Management, teaching andsupport costs werefinanced bytheInstitute. Oneof
thesubjects offered tothetrainees inconnection withtheirpractical training course inBerne wasthe
1Thischange wasalsomentioned bytheWTO Secretariat inparagraph 9ofdocument IP/C/W/22 dated
26April 1996. Themain purpose ofthisstructural change istoprovide theInstitute withgreater organizational
andmanagerialautonomy,particularlywithrespecttoaccountingandthebudget.Asregardsmattersofapolitical
nature (international affairs, legislation, policies andpositions oftheGovernment), theInstitute continues, like
other federal offices, tooperate under theguidance oftheFederal Council (Swiss Government) andremains
under theresponsibility oftheFederal Department ofJustice andPolice. More specifically andinshort, all
oftheactivities thatarenotpolitical (forexample, delivery oftitlesofprotection orservices toprivate individuals)
must befinanced through feesandemoluments orthrough specific forms ofremuneration.IPC/W/34/Add.2
Page3
application oftheTRIPS Agreement bySwitzerland (e.g.legislative work, monitoring ofapplication).
Thepractical courses covered allareas ofintellectual property.
From 22August to18October 1996, twoexperts, fromMadagascar andChad, willbereceiving
thesame kindoftraining.
(b) Information andtraining visits
Attherequest ofWIPO, theInstitute received delegations from thefollowing countries:
1. People 'sDemocratic Republic ofKorea: InSeptember 1995, representatives ofthe
Office ofInventions helddiscussions withthepatent division oftheInstitute onthe
organization ofdocumentation andinformation services inthefieldofpatents.
2. Czech Republic: InNovember 1995, representatives oftheCzech Industrial Property
Office werereceived bythepatents division. Discussions focused ondocumentation
inthefieldofpatents.
3. Cuba: InNovember 1995, representatives oftheCuban Industrial Property Office
heldaone-day working session ontheprotection ofindustrial designs inSwitzerland
(national andinternational procedures according totheHague Agreement (treaty
administered byWIPO)).
4. China: InDecember 1995, representatives ofthePatent Office heldaone-day working
session onpatent administration.
5. Kenya: InJune1996, representatives oftheKenyan Industrial Property Office attended
discussions anddemonstrations oninformation inthefieldofpatents.
6. Mongolia: InAugust 1996, theMinistry ofCulture ofMongolia helddiscussions with
thecopyright andneighbouring rights service onthetwofollowing subjects: the
structure oftheInstitute astheauthority responsible forbothindustrial property and
copyrights, andthemechanism forthesupervision ofmanagement companies.
Theorganization oftheworking sessions, information, teaching andguidance oftheexperts
andvisitors inBerne arefinanced bytheInstitute.
(c) Participation inseminars andcourses, including theWIPO Academy:
WIPO Academy: inJune1996, arepresentative oftheInstitute wasinvited byWIPO topresent
apaper totherepresentatives oftheLatin American countries ontheroleofintellectual property in
investment andtechnology transfer policies, inparticular inthelightoftheWIPO conventions and
theTRIPS Agreement. Theparticipation oftheInstitute 'srepresentative inthecourse andallrelated
expenses were financed bytheOrganization.
(d) Free-of-charge searches inconnection withpatent applications filedbycitizens ofdeveloping
countries:
Between August 1995andtheendofJune1996theInstitute conducted free-of-charge searches
inconnection withpatent applications filedbycitizens ofthefollowing countries:IPC/W/34/Add.2
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Country Number ofsearches conducted
Algeria 3
Argentina 9
Chile 47
Cuba 2
Egypt 1
Ghana 7
Honduras 1
Jamaica 1
Malaysia 41
Mali 2
Peru 1
Trinidad andTobago 1
Tunisia 1
Venezuela 1
VietNam 1
These searches arecurrently financed through theInstitute 'sordinary budget.
2. Technical cooperation intheframework oftheEuropean Patent Organization (EPO)
Attherequest oftheEPO, theInstitute received agroup oftrainees forfivedaysinthe
framework ofatraining programme ontheuseofCD-ROM technology inpatent information. The
experts came from thefollowing countries:
Argentina
Botswana
BrazilChina
Egypt
IndiaMexico
Peru
Zimbabwe
Living andtravel expenses werecovered bytheEPO. Theorganization oftheworking sessions,
andtheteaching andguidance oftheexperts inBerne were financed bytheInstitute.
II. BILATERAL ACTIVITIES
ContrarytoparagraphI.1above,theactivitiesdescribedbelowarenotsubdividedintocategories.
1. Latvia
InDecember 1995, theInstitute sentsome information totheLatvian Patent Office onthe
organization, operation anddecisions oftheSwiss Appeals Commission inthefieldofintellectual
property (i.e.industrial property andcopyrights/neighbouring rights).
Discussions arecurrently under waywitharepresentative oftheLatvian Patent Office with
aviewtofinancing thepreparation ofaRussian-Latvian-English dictionary inthefieldofintellectual
property,aprojectwhichaimstoenhancepublicunderstandingofthesubjectandtoprovideprofessionals
withanadditional working andcommunication tool.Thisproject isbeing financed bypartofthespecial
"Eastern European countries" credit, administered byGeneral Secretariat oftheFederal Department
ofJustice andPolice.IPC/W/34/Add.2
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2. Thailand
InMarch 1996, theInstitute received representatives oftheMinistry ofTrade. Discussions
focused oncopyrights, patents andtrade marks. Theorganization oftheone-day working session,
information, teaching andguidance oftheexperts inBerne were financed bytheInstitute.
3. VietNam
InJuly1996, arepresentative oftheInstitute wentonanexploratory mission toHanoi with
aview toconcluding abilateral agreement onintellectual property withalarge section devoted to
technical cooperation. Theplanned agreement andthetechnical assistance itwould entail form part
ofthefollow uptoabilateral economic cooperation agreement concluded in1993between Switzerland
andVietNam. Technical assistance willfocus onhelping theVietnamese authorities tospeed upthe
process ofintegration ofVietNamintheworld trade system ingeneral, andmore specifically inthe
multilateralintellectualpropertysystemestablishedbytheWIPOConventionsandtheTRIPSAgreement.
Theproject isentirely financed bytheFederal Office forForeign Economic Affairs ofthe
Federal Department ofEconomic Affairs.