RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/5
18May1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1311)
Council forTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights
NOTIFICATION POSSIBILITIES PROVIDED INARTICLES 1.3AND 3.1
OFTHE TRIPS AGREEMENT
Background Note bytheSecretariat
1. Articles 1.3and3.1oftheTRIPS Agreement allow Members toavailthemselves ofcertain
options inregard tothedefinition ofbeneficiary persons andnational treatment, provided that
notifications aremade totheTRIPS Council. Inresponse torequests fromdelegations, theSecretariat
hasprepared thisnoteinorder toattempt toexplain thenature oftheoptions available todelegations
andofthenotifications required.
I. Article 1.3oftheTRIPS Agreement
2. Article 1.3defines thepersons ofother Members thateachMember mustaccord thetreatment
inregard totheprotection ofintellectual property provided forunder theAgreement. These persons
arereferred toas"nationals" butinclude persons, natural orlegal, whohaveaclose attachment to
other Members without necessarily being nationals. Thecriteria fordetermining which persons must
thusbenefit fromthetreatment provided forunder theAgreement arethose laiddown forthispurpose
inthemain pre-existing intellectual property conventions, applied ofcourse withrespect toallWTO
Members, whether ornottheyareparty tothose conventions.
3. Inrelation toperformers, producers ofphonograms andbroadcasting organizations, Article 1.3
oftheTRIPS Agreement requires eachMember oftheWTO toapply thesame criteria fordetermining
eligible beneficiaries asprovided intherelevant provisions oftheRome Convention. Articles 4,5
and6oftheRome Convention laydown thecriteria forthispurpose. However, according to
Articles 5(3)and6(2)oftheRome Convention, certain criteria applicable toproducers ofphonograms
andbroadcasting organizations maybeexcluded bymeans ofanotification. Article 1.3oftheTRIPS
Agreement requires anyTRIPS Member availing itselfofthesepossibilities tomake suchanotification
totheCouncil forTRIPS.
(a) Producers ofphonograms
4. Inaccordance withthecriteria specified inArticle 5(1)oftheRome Convention asincorporated
intotheTRIPS Agreement, eachMember oftheWTO hastoprotect producers ofphonograms ifany
oneofthefollowing conditions ismet:
(a) theproducer ofthephonogram isanational ofanother WTO Member (criterion of
nationality);
(b) thefirstfixation ofthesound wasmade inanother WTO Member (criterion offixation);IP/C/W/5
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(c) thephonogram wasfirstpublished inanother WTO Member (criterion ofpublication).
Itissufficient ifoneofthese conditions issatisfied.1
5. Thecriterion ofnationality maynotbeexcluded. However, inaccordance withtheprovisions
ofArticle 5(3)oftheRome Convention, aWTO Member maydeclare bymeans ofanotification that
itdoesnotapply either thecriterion offixation orthatofpublication. NoMember mayexclude both
atthesame time. IfaMember doesnotmake anynotification, itwillhavetoprotect eachphonogram
producer which meets anyoneofthethree criteria.
(b) Broadcasting organizations
6. Inaccordance withthecriteria specified inArticle 6(1)oftheRome Convention, eachWTO
Member hastoprotect broadcasting organizations ifeither ofthefollowing conditions ismet:
(a) theheadquarters ofthebroadcasting organization issituated inanother WTO Member;
(b) thebroadcast wastransmitted from atransmitter situated inanother WTO Member.
7. Inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 6(2)oftheRome Convention asincorporated into
theTRIPS Agreement, aWTO Member maydeclare bymeans ofanotification thatitwillprotect
broadcasts onlyifbothconditions aremet,i.e.thattheheadquarters ofthebroadcasting organization
issituated inanother WTO Member andthebroadcast wastransmitted fromatransmitter situated in
thesame WTO Member. Once more, ifnonotification ismade, aWTO Member willhavetoprotect
broadcasting organizations which meeteither ofthecriteria.
II. Article 3.1oftheTRIPS Agreement
8. Article 3.1laysdown thebasicnational treatment obligation. EachMember isobliged toaccord
tothenationals ofother Members treatment nolessfavourable thanthatitaccords toitsownnationals
withregard totheprotection ofintellectual property. Thisobligation issubject totheexceptions already
provided intheParis, Berne andRome Conventions andtheTreaty onIntellectual Property inRespect
ofIntegratedCircuits.Furthermore,inrespectofperformers,producersofphonogramsandbroadcasting
organizations, thisobligation onlyapplies inrespect oftherights provided under theTRIPS Agreement.
9. Twooftheexceptions tonational treatment under theprovisions ofthepre-existing international
conventions referred toareconditional onnotification obligations; these aretheexceptions provided
inArticle 6oftheBerne Convention 1971andArticle 16(1)(b) oftheRome Convention. Article 3.1
oftheTRIPS Agreement requires thatanyMember availing itself ofthese possibilities inrespect of
itsTRIPS national treatment obligations shallmake thenotifications inquestion totheTRIPS Council.
(a) Possibility ofrestricting protection ofworks made bynationals ofnon-WTO Members
10. InaccordancewiththecriteriacontainedinArticle3(1)oftheBerneConvention,asincorporated
intotheTRIPS Agreement byitsArticles 1.3and9.1,WTO Members areobliged togrant protection,
1Ifaphonogram wasfirstpublished inanon-WTO Member butitwasalsopublished, within thirty days ofitsfirst
publication, inaWTO Member (simultaneous publication), itshall beconsidered, inaccordance withtheprovisions of
Article 5(2)oftheRome Convention, asfirstpublished intheWTO Member.IP/C/W/5
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including national treatment, toauthors whoarenotnationals2ofaWTO Member fortheirworks first
published inaWTO Member (criterion ofpublication).3Thisrulecould giverisetothesituation
whereby anational ofanon-WTO country which doesnotprotect inanadequate manner theworks
ofauthors ofWTO Members would nonetheless beeligible tobenefit fromTRIPS protection byfirst
publishing hisorherwork inaWTO Member. Thisisthesituation thatisaddressed, inrelation to
theBerne Convention, byArticle 6(1)oftheBerne Convention, which allows theprotection ofsuch
persons toberestricted, including inrespect ofnational treatment.4Therestrictions permissible under
Article 6(1)oftheBerne Convention inrespect ofBerne member states arealsopermissible under
theTRIPS Agreement inrespect ofWTO Members byvirtue oftheincorporation ofthisprovision
byreference inArticle 9.1oftheTRIPS Agreement anditsrecognition, inrelation tonational treatment,
inArticle 3.1.
11. Thepermissible restrictions oftheprotection ofsuchauthors whoarenotnationals ofWTO
Members areoftwotypes. First, where anational ofanon-WTO Member whoisnothabitually
resident inaWTO Member firstpublishes awork inaWTO Member, theWTO Member offirst
publication mayrestrict theprotection given tothatwork ifthecountry ofwhich theauthor inquestion
isanational failstoprotect inanadequate manner theworks ofitsauthors. Thesecond typeof
restriction ofprotection, including inrelation tonational treatment, isthat,iftheMember offirst
publication restricts protection inthewaydescribed above, other Members mayalsodoso;theyare
notrequired togrant tothework inquestion awider protection thanthatgranted toitintheMember
offirstpublication.
12. Inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 6(3)oftheBerne Convention asincorporated into
theTRIPS Agreement andasreaffirmed inArticle 3.1oftheTRIPS Agreement, aWTO Member which
restricts protection inthese ways isobliged tomake anotification totheCouncil forTRIPS.
13. These possible restrictions ontheprotection ofworks created bynationals ofnon-Member
states appear tohavebeenverylittleusedunder theBerne Convention. According totheinformation
provided bytheInternational Bureau oftheWIPO (depositary ofthe1967and1971ActsoftheBerne
Convention) andtheSwiss Government (depositary ofprevious ActsoftheBerne Convention), no
useofArticle 6hasbeennotified under theBerne Convention itself. Onenotification wasmade earlier,
when thisprovision formed partofthe1914 protocol totheBerne Convention, butthisnotification
isnolonger applicable.
(b) Communication tothepublic oftelevision broadcasts
14. According toArticle 14.3oftheTRIPS Agreement, broadcasting organizations shallhavethe
righttoprohibit thecommunication tothepublic oftheirtelevision broadcasts when undertaken without
theirauthorization. OnthebasisofArticle 14.6, anyWTO Member maylimitthisrighttotheextent
permitted bytheRome Convention.
2Authors whoarenotnationals ofoneoftheWTO Members butwhohave theirhabitual residence inoneofthem,
areassimilated tonationals ofthatMember inaccordance withArticle 3(2)oftheBerne Convention.
3Works firstpublished inanon-WTO Member which were alsopublished, within thirty daysoftheirfirstpublication,
inaWTO Member (simultaneous publication) alsobenefit from theprotection inaccordance withparagraphs (1)(b) and
(4)ofArticle 3oftheBerne Convention.
4Inaccordance withArticle 6(2)oftheBerne Convention, nosuchrestrictions shall affect therights which anauthor
mayhave acquired inrespect ofawork published inaWTO Member before such restrictions were putintoforce.IP/C/W/5
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15. According toArticle 13(d) oftheRome Convention, broadcasting organizations shallenjoy
therighttoauthorize orprohibit thecommunication tothepublic oftheirtelevision broadcasts ifsuch
communication ismade inplaces accessible tothepublic against payment ofanentrance fee;itshall
beamatter forthedomestic lawoftheState where protection ofthisright isclaimed todetermine
theconditions under which itmaybeexercised. However, aStatemay,according toArticle 16(1)(b),
inanotification deposited withtheSecretary-General oftheUnited Nations, declare thatitwillnot
apply Article 13(d). Suchanotification alsoaffects thescope ofthenational treatment obligation of
otherContracting States: theyarenotobliged toprovide similar protection tobroadcasting organizations
whose headquarters areintheState thathasmade thenotification.
16. Theincorporation ofArticle 16(1)(b) intotheTRIPS Agreement byreference means that,if
aMember oftheWTO doesnotwishtogrant thisrighttothebroadcasting organizations ofother WTO
Members, itmaymake anotification tothateffect. Thenotification hastobemade, according to
Article 3.1,totheTRIPS Council. Insuchacase, other Members arenotobliged togrant thisright
tobroadcasting organizations whose headquarters areinthatMember, thusbeing authorized toderogate
from thenormal national treatment rule.
III. Timing andrelationship between various notifications
(a) Timing ofnotifications
17. Notifications under Articles 5(3),6(2)and16(1)(b) oftheRome Convention maybedeposited
atthetimeofratification, acceptance oraccession, oranytimethereafter; inthelastcase, theyshall
become effective sixmonths aftertheyhavebeendeposited. AMember oftheWTO wishing toavail
itself ofthese possibilities under theTRIPS Agreement maysimilarly make suchnotifications tothe
TRIPS Council atthetimeofratification, acceptance oraccession, oranytimelater. Inthefirstcase,
thenotification comes effective fromthebeginning ofthemembership, inthelastcasesixmonths after
thenotification hasbeendeposited.
18. Thenotifications inquestion arerelevant toaMember 'snational treatment andmost-favoured-
nation treatment obligations, either directly soorbecause theyaffect thepersons ofother Members
eligiblefornationalandm.f.n.treatment.TheTRIPSobligationsrelatingtonationalandmost-favoured-
nation treatment (Articles 3,4and5)become effective forallWTO Members asof1January 1996.
IfaMember wishes tohavesuchnotifications effective bythistime, itshould make thenecessary
notifications totheTRIPS Council before 1July1995. However, itmaymake notifications evenat
alaterstage. Inthatcasetheybecome effective sixmonths later. Acountry mayalsochoose tomake
notifications atthetimeofratification, acceptance oraccession.
19. Whereas mostWTO Members already provide some protection forphonogram producers and
aretherefore subject tothenational andm.f.n. treatment obligations inthisrespect asof1January 1996,
some Members maynotyethaveanyparticular form ofprotection forbroadcasting organizations.
Thequestion ofgranting national andm.f.n. treatment, andtherefore theissue ofwhether tomake
anotification inrespect ofrules stemming from Article 6(2)andArticle 16(1)(b) oftheRome
ConventionasincorporatedintotheTRIPSAgreement,wouldnotariseuntilanysuchtimeassubstantive
protection ofbroadcasting organizations isintroduced.
20. AMember oftheWTO wishing toavailitselfofthepossibility stemming fromtheincorporation
oftheprovisions ofArticle 6(3)oftheBerne Convention intotheTRIPS Agreement maymake a
notification totheTRIPS Council atanytime.IP/C/W/5
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(b) Relationship between various notifications
21. Notifications already made under Articles 5(3), 6(2)and16(1)(b) oftheRome Convention
apply between itsContracting States inrelation totheirobligations under thatConvention. Such
notifications have noautomatic status under theTRIPS Agreement, which ispartofaseparate
international treaty -theWTO Agreement. Ontheother hand, possible notifications tobemade under
Articles 1.3and3.1oftheTRIPS Agreement relating tophonogram producers orbroadcasting
organizations willapply between theMembers oftheWTO inrelation totheirobligations under the
TRIPS Agreement andwillnotaffect theexisting obligations between theContracting States ofthe
Rome Convention. Thesame principles apply toanynotifications relating toArticle 6oftheBerne
Convention.
22. Thetextsoftherelevant provisions oftheTRIPS Agreement, Berne Convention andRome
Convention arereproduced intheAnnex.IP/C/W/5
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ANNEX
Agreement onTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights
Article 1
Nature andScope ofObligations
...
3. Members shallaccord thetreatment provided forinthisAgreement tothenationals ofother
Members.1Inrespect oftherelevant intellectual property right, thenationals ofother Members shall
beunderstood asthose natural orlegalpersons thatwould meetthecriteria foreligibility forprotection
provided forintheParis Convention (1967), theBerne Convention (1971), theRome Convention and
theTreaty onIntellectual Property inRespect ofIntegrated Circuits, wereallMembers oftheWTO
members ofthose conventions.2AnyMember availing itselfofthepossibilities provided inparagraph 3
ofArticle 5orparagraph 2ofArticle 6oftheRome Convention shallmake anotification asforeseen
inthoseprovisionstotheCouncilforTrade-RelatedAspectsofIntellectualPropertyRights(the"Council
forTRIPS").
Article 3
National Treatment
1. EachMember shallaccord tothenationals ofother Members treatment nolessfavourable than
thatitaccords toitsownnationals withregard totheprotection3ofintellectual property, subject to
theexceptions already provided in,respectively, theParis Convention (1967), theBerne
Convention (1971), theRome Convention ortheTreaty onIntellectual Property inRespect ofIntegrated
Circuits. Inrespect ofperformers, producers ofphonograms andbroadcasting organizations, this
obligation onlyapplies inrespect oftherights provided under thisAgreement. AnyMember availing
itself ofthepossibilities provided inArticle 6oftheBerne Convention (1971) orparagraph 1(b)of
Article 16oftheRome Convention shallmake anotification asforeseen inthose provisions tothe
Council forTRIPS.
...
1When "nationals" arereferred tointhisAgreement, theyshallbedeemed, inthecaseofaseparate customs territory
Member oftheWTO, tomean persons, natural orlegal, whoaredomiciled orwhohave arealandeffective industrial or
commercial establishment inthatcustoms territory.
2InthisAgreement, "Paris Convention" refers totheParis Convention fortheProtection ofIndustrial Property; "Paris
Convention (1967)" refers totheStockholm ActofthisConvention of14July1967. "Berne Convention" refers totheBerne
Convention fortheProtection ofLiterary andArtistic Works; "Berne Convention (1971)" refers totheParis Actofthis
Convention of24July1971. "Rome Convention" refers totheInternational Convention fortheProtection ofPerformers,
Producers ofPhonograms andBroadcasting Organizations, adopted atRome on26October 1961. "Treaty onIntellectual
Property inRespect ofIntegrated Circuits" (IPIC Treaty) refers totheTreaty onIntellectual Property inRespect ofIntegrated
Circuits, adopted atWashington on26May 1989. "WTO Agreement" refers totheAgreement Establishing theWTO.
3Forthepurposes ofArticles 3and4,"protection" shallinclude matters affecting theavailability, acquisition, scope,
maintenance andenforcement ofintellectual property rights aswellasthose matters affecting theuseofintellectual property
rights specifically addressed inthisAgreement.IP/C/W/5
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Berne Convention
Article 6
(1) Where anycountry outside theUnion failstoprotect inanadequate manner theworks
ofauthors whoarenationals ofoneofthecountries oftheUnion, thelatter country mayrestrict the
protection given totheworks ofauthors whoare,atthedateofthefirstpublication thereof, nationals
oftheother country andarenothabitually resident inoneofthecountries oftheUnion. Ifthecountry
offirstpublication avails itself ofthisright, theother countries oftheUnion shallnotberequired to
grant toworks thussubjected tospecial treatment awider protection thanthatgranted tothem inthe
country offirstpublication.
(2) Norestrictions introduced byvirtue ofthepreceding paragraph shallaffect therights
which anauthor mayhaveacquired inrespect ofawork published inacountry oftheUnion before
suchrestrictions were putintoforce.
(3) Thecountries oftheUnion which restrict thegrant ofcopyright inaccordance with
thisArticle shall givenotice thereof totheDirector General oftheWorld Intellectual Property
Organization (hereinafter designated as"theDirector General") byawritten declaration specifying
thecountries inregard towhich protection isrestricted, andtherestrictions towhich rights ofauthors
whoarenationals ofthosecountries aresubjected. TheDirector General shallimmediately communicate
thisdeclaration toallthecountries oftheUnion.
Rome Convention
Article 5
1. Each Contracting State shallgrant national treatment toproducers ofphonograms if
anyofthefollowing conditions ismet:
(a) theproducer ofthephonogram isanational ofanother Contracting State (criterion
ofnationality);
(b) thefirstfixation ofthesound wasmade inanother Contracting State (criterion of
fixation);
(c) thephonogramwasfirstpublishedinanotherContractingState(criterionofpublication).
2. Ifaphonogramwasfirstpublishedinanon-contractingStatebutifitwasalsopublished,
within thirty daysofitsfirstpublication, inaContracting State (simultaneous publication), itshall
beconsidered asfirstpublished intheContracting State.
3. Bymeans ofanotification deposited withtheSecretary-General oftheUnited Nations,
anyContracting State maydeclare thatitwillnotapply thecriterion ofpublication or,alternatively,
thecriterion offixation. Such notification maybedeposited atthetimeofratification, acceptance
oraccession, oratanytimethereafter; inthelastcase, itshallbecome effective sixmonths afterit
hasbeendeposited.IP/C/W/5
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Article 6
1. EachContracting Stateshallgrant national treatment tobroadcasting organisations if
either ofthefollowing conditions ismet:
(a) theheadquarters ofthebroadcasting organisation issituated inanother Contracting
State;
(b) thebroadcast wastransmitted fromatransmitter situated inanother Contracting State.
2. Bymeans ofanotification deposited withtheSecretary-General oftheUnited Nations,
anyContracting State maydeclare thatitwillprotect broadcasts onlyiftheheadquarters ofthe
broadcasting organisation issituated inanother Contracting State andthebroadcast wastransmitted
fromatransmitter situated inthesame Contracting State. Suchnotification maybedeposited atthe
timeofratification, acceptance oraccession, oratanytimethereafter; inthelastcase,itshallbecome
effective sixmonths afterithasbeendeposited.
Article 16(1)(b)and(2)
1. AnyState,uponbecomingpartytothisConvention,shallbeboundbyalltheobligations
andshallenjoy allthebenefits thereof. However, aStatemayatanytime, inanotification deposited
withtheSecretary-General oftheUnited Nations, declare that:
...
(b) asregards Article 13,itwillnotapply item(d)ofthatArticle; ifaContracting State
makes suchadeclaration, theother Contracting States shallnotbeobliged togrant therightreferred
toinArticle 13,item(d),tobroadcasting organisations whose headquarters areinthatState.
2. Ifthenotification referred toinparagraph 1ofthisArticle ismade afterthedateof
thedepositoftheinstrumentofratification,acceptanceoraccession,thedeclarationwillbecomeeffective
sixmonths afterithasbeendeposited.