RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/6
7July1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1596)
Council forTrade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights
PROCEDURES FOR NOTIFICATION OF,AND POSSIBLE ESTABLISHMENT OFA
COMMON REGISTER OF,NATIONAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS UNDER
ARTICLE 63.2
Working Hypothesis
Section 1:General
1. Each Member shallnotify totheTRIPS Council, through theWTO Secretariat, itslawsand
regulations pertaining tothesubject matter oftheTRIPS Agreement (theavailability, scope, acquisition,
enforcementandpreventionoftheabuseofintellectualpropertyrights),inaccordancewiththeguidelines
setoutbelow.
2.1 AsofthetimethataMember isobliged tostartapplying aprovision oftheTRIPS Agreement,
thecorresponding lawsandregulations shallbenotified without delay (normally within ...days).
2.2 Anysubsequent amendments ofaMember 'slawsandregulations shallbenotified without delay
aftertheirpromulgation (normally within ...days).
3. AMember whohasamended alaworregulation tobring itintoconformity withprovisions
oftheTRIPS Agreement inadvance ofitsobligation under theTRIPS Agreement tostartapplying
those provisions willuseitsbestendeavours tonotify suchlaworregulation assoonaspossible after
promulgation.
4. Where, onthedateofitsinitial notification ofalaworregulation relating toaprovision of
theTRIPS Agreement, aMember hasalready communicated thelaworregulation inquestion tothe
International Bureau ofWIPO inalanguage orlanguages consistent withtheseguidelines, thatMember
would befree,ifitsowishes, toprovide theWTO Secretariat withastatement totheeffect thatthe
fulltextcanbefound intheWIPO collections, instead ofsending thefulltexttotheWTO Secretariat.
TheWTO Secretariat would seekfromtheInternational Bureau ofWIPO acopyfromitscollections
which would thenbetreated inaccordance withSections 2and3below.
5. Wherever possible, notifications shallbemade inmachine-readable aswellashardcopyform.
Section 2:Main dedicated intellectual property lawsandregulations
6. EachMembershallnotifyinaWTOlanguagethetextsofitsmainlawsandregulationsdedicated
tointellectual property. These lawsandregulations would include themain lawsandregulations on
theavailability, scope andacquisition ofeachofthecategories ofintellectual property covered bythe
TRIPS Agreement, together withsuchother mainlawsandregulations asarededicated tointellectual
property, suchasthose onborder enforcement.
7. These lawsandregulations willbeimmediately circulated intherelevant WTO language by
theWTO Secretariat toMembers oftheTRIPS Council asCouncil documents. Translation intootherIP/C/W/6
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WTO languages willonlybeundertaken bytheWTO Secretariat ontherequest ofaMember made
intheTRIPS Council andwithin thelimits oftheWTO Secretariat 'sresources.
8. Where anauthentic national textofalaworregulation isnotavailable inaWTO language,
copies oftheauthentic textofthatlaworregulation inanational language shallbenotified, inaddition
tothetranslation intoaWTO language. Such copies shallbeavailable intheWTO Secretariat for
consultation byinterested delegations.
Section 3:Other lawsandregulations
9. Thisheading relates toallnational lawsandregulations which arenotdedicated tointellectual
property rights assuchbutwhich nonetheless pertain totheavailability, scope, acquisition, enforcement
andprevention ofabuse ofintellectual property rights (notably lawsandregulations intheareas of
enforcement andtheprevention ofabusive practices) aswellasthose lawsandregulations dedicated
tointellectual property which arenotconsidered "main lawsandregulations" falling under Section 2
above.
10. Each Member shall notify these lawsandregulations inanational language totheWTO
Secretariat. Theyshallalsoprovide inaWTO language alisting oftheselawsandregulations, together
withabriefdescription oftherelevance ofeachlawandregulation totheprovisions oftheTRIPS
Agreement.
11. Thislisting willbedistributed asaTRIPS Council document totheMembers oftheTRIPS
Council. Thecopies ofthelawsandregulations inquestion willbeavailable forconsultation inthe
WTO Secretariat byinterested delegations. Copies willonlybedistributed asCouncil documents if
arequest ismade intheTRIPS Council. Ifsucharequest ismade andwhere thelawandregulation
inquestion hasnotbeennotified inaWTO language, thenotifying Member shallmake available a
copyofthelaworregulation, orrelevant partofthelaworregulation, inaWTO language. Members
agree tokeepsuchrequests toaminimum and,wherever possible, toseekthetranslation ofaparticular
partofalegislative instrument, rather thanrequest thewhole texttobetranslated.
12. Inregard totheprovisions oftheTRIPS Agreement onenforcement, eachMember shall, in
addition, provide, assoonaspossible afterthedateofitsapplication ofthese provisions, responses
totheattached checklist ofissues (tobeprepared) indicating howitsnational legislation responds to
therequirements oftheTRIPS Agreement identified inthechecklist. These responses shallidentify
therelevant provisions ofnational lawsandregulations. Theresponses willbecirculated asadocument
oftheTRIPS Council.
Section 4:Cooperation withWIPO
13. With aviewtothepossible establishment ofacommon register oflawsandregulations, aset
ofthelaws andregulations notified inaccordance withpoint 1above willbeforwarded tothe
International Bureau ofWIPO. Intheconsultations tobeheldwithWIPO, agreement would besought
that,under theappropriate arrangements forcooperation withthebodies ofWIPO tobeagreed with
thebodies ofthatOrganization, thisnotification would betaken asmeeting theobligations ofWTO
Members alsomembers ofWIPO tocommunicate newlawsandofficial textstotheInternational Bureau
ofWIPO.
14. ThesenotificationsforwardedtotheInternationalBureauofWIPOwouldfacilitatetheexpansion
ofthedatabaseandtransparency functions oftheWIPO collections andpublished lawsinaway
consistentwiththecoverageoftheTRIPSAgreementintermsofitsmembership,coverageofintellectual
property rights andcoverage ofpolicy areas. Intheconsultations, theagreement oftheWIPO wouldIP/C/W/6
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besought tocontinue andexpand thescope ofitspresent activities aimed atthepublic transparency
ofintellectual property lawsandregulations soastotakeintoaccount thecoverage oftheTRIPS
Agreement. Inparticular, consultations willbedirected toexploring thescope fortheexpansion in
thiswayofthecomputerized databaseofWIPO. Thescope fortheassistance ofWIPO tobeavailable
todeveloping country Members inanynecessary translation oftheirlawsandregulations shallalso
beexplored. Thearrangements tobeconcluded withWIPO shallinclude provisions ontheaccess
ofWTO Members andnationals ofWTO Members totheWIPO collections, including thedatabase.