RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/2
30November 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-3867)
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
Decision oftheCouncil forTRIPS of21November 1995
These procedures willbereviewed bytheCouncil, inthelightofexperience, attheendof
1997, interaliatoidentify anyelements which haveproved unduly burdensome inrelation tothe
usefulness oftheinformation provided.
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 30days, except
where otherwise provided bytheTRIPS Council).
2.2 Anysubsequent amendments ofaMember 'slawsandregulations shallbenotified without delay
aftertheirentry intoforce(normally within 30dayswhere notranslation isrequired andwithin 60days
where translation isnecessary).
3. AMember whohasamended alaworregulation tobring itintoconformity withprovisions
oftheTRIPS Agreement inadvance ofitsobligation under theTRIPS Agreement tostartapplying
those provisions willuseitsbestendeavours tonotify suchlaworregulation assoonaspossible after
itsentry intoforce.
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.
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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 intoother
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 contained indocument IP/C/5 indicating howitsnational legislation
responds totherequirements oftheTRIPS Agreement identified inthechecklist. These responses
shallidentify therelevant provisions ofnational lawsandregulations. Theresponses willbecirculated
asadocument oftheTRIPS Council.