. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/149
14 July 1999
(99-2914)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Communication from the United States
The following communication, dated 8 July 1999, has been received by the WTO from the
Permanent Mission of the United States.
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1. The United States believes strongly that adequate and effective intellectual property
protection and enforcement are key elements of the effective, transparent legal environment that isnecessary for fostering the continued growth of electronic commerce.  Electronic commerce also
promotes the growth of cultural goods and servic es, which is important for economic development at
all levels, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs).  Finally, use of the Internet in areas such
as electronic filing will further economic development by making the acquisitions of rights easier.
2. We recognize the extensive contribution to the development and expansion of electronic
commerce made by existing multilateral agreements and efforts in the World Trade Organization
(WTO) and the World Intellectual Property organization (WIPO).  The work in the TRIPS Council
was aided greatly by the Secretariat's paper, which identified provisions of the Agreement on Trade-
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) that are relevant in this area.  Initial discussions on
the paper emphasized that the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement provide a significant level of
protection for intellectual property in the electronic world because the basic notions, principles andobjectives of intellectual property continue to apply in the face of rapid technological change.  This is
particularly true concerning goods and services protected by copyright and related rights, as well as
trademarked products that are being distributed on-line at an increasing pace.  Given this reality,
proper and timely implementation of the TRIPS Agr eement, including the enforcement provisions, is
an important component of any approach on electronic commerce.
3. Additionally, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and
Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) are extremely vital to el ectronic commerce, especially with respect to the
level of security they provide for materials protected by copyright and neighbouring rights.  Industries
relying on copyright and neighbouring rights are faced with severe problems that affect legalprotection for on-line distribution of their goods and services.  The principles underlying and the
specific features of these two treaties address many of the challenges that the intellectual property-
based industries are facing in the digital environment.  Therefore, near term implementation of both
treaties would serve global electronic commerce objectives.
4. Future work related to the Electronic Commerce Work Programme that takes place in other
fora of the WTO will need to keep pace with the issues related to ongoing developments in
technology, mostly in connection with the Internet.  The TRIPS Council should monitor developments
in other fora and conduct discussions on relevant issues, as appropriate.  Some important issues to be
monitored and/or discussed are:  (1) issues that build upon the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) andthe WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (W PPT);  (2) expanding the scope of exclusiveIP/C/W/149
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rights for sound recording producers for on-line transmission of their recordings;  (3) choice of law
issues relevant to the on-line world;  (4) extensi on of term of protection for copyrighted works, sound
recordings and other objects of neighbouring rights not protected as works;  (5) issues related to
delivery and production of optical media;  (6) improving the ability to enforce rights in an on-line
environment by expanding the presumptions under Article 15 of the Berne Convention;  (7) issuesrelevant to Internet domain names and trademark protection;  (8) issues such as the use of electronic
filing to acquire rights in patents, trademarks, geographical indications;  and (9) protection for
industrial designs and integrated circuit layout-designs.
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