1. The Chair invited the Secretariat to report on notifications that the Council had received since its meeting in October 2019.
2. A representative of the Secretariat said that the Council had received the following notifications under Article 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreement:
a. The Kyrgyz Republic had notified Law No. 45 related to the property rights to a computer program or database created under a government contract; Law No. 50, enacting the Kyrgyz Republic's accession to the Marrakech Treaty for the Blind and the Visually Impaired; and a Law ratifying the Amendment to the TRIPS Agreement;
b. The European Union had notified amendments, and a consolidated version of the 2017 Regulation on the European Union trademark; the 2017 Regulation on cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market; amendments to the Directive implementing the European Union's obligation under the Marrakech Treat for the Blind and Visually Impaired; the 2019 Directive amending the rules on copyright relating to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organizations; the 2019 Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market; and, a 2019 Regulation amending rules on supplementary protection certificates for medicinal products.
c. The Russian Federation had notified an amendment to the Civil Code and other laws, which set out the protection system for Geographical Indications;
d. Brazil had notified two resolutions pertaining to patent requirements in relation to prior art searches carried out by Patent offices of other countries, international or regional organizations;
e. The Republic of Korea had notified an amendment and a consolidated version of the Patent Act, introducing inter alia a patent filing system for foreign languages; an Enforcement Decree relating to the Patents Act; and a consolidated version of the Trademarks Act;
f. Chinese Taipei had notified a consolidated version of its Enforcement Rules of the Patent Act;
g. Ukraine had notified a Law updating its system for protection of Geographical Indications and Appellations of Origin; a law amending its rules on protection of rights in topographies of Semiconductor Products; and a law amending the Customs' rules on treatment of counterfeit and pirated goods;
h. The Czech Republic has notified a consolidated version of its Trademarks Act, accommodating substantial changes to the Trademark registration process, including the introduction of certification marks, the abolition of a requirement for graphical representation, and introduces new trademark types, such as multimedia, positional and hologram marks;
i. Hong Kong, China had notified an Ordinance and Patent Rules introducing the legal framework for setting up a new "original grant" patent system and refining the pre-existing short-term patent system;
j. Canada had notified a consolidated version of its Patent Rules, which included changes following the implementation of the Patent Law Treaty;
k. China had notified its new "Anti-Unfair Competition Law", which further improved trade secret protection; and a consolidated version of its Trademark Law following its fourth revision, which aims to strengthen trademark protection and curb bad faith trademark registrations.
3. He added that, under Article 69, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Korea, Vanuatu and India had provided information on contact points for the exchange of information and cooperation on trade in infringing goods. He noted that, so far 67 Members and 5 international organizations, that are observers, had requested log-in credentials for the e-TRIPS system, and virtually all the submissions of laws under Article 63.2 and of contact points under Article 69 had been made using the e-TRIPS Submission System. The Secretariat, particularly the e-TRIPS team, was ready to assist delegations to further increase use of the system, also for the submission of reports on technical assistance under Article. 67 and on incentives for technology transfer under Article 66.2.
4. The Chair invited delegations that had notified new or revised legislative measures, or submitted updates to their contact points, to introduce their notifications. He also invited other delegations to comment on them.
5. The representatives of the European Union; the Republic of Korea; Ukraine; Canada; China; the Russian Federation; Brazil; Hong Kong, China; Chinese Taipei; the United Kingdom; and, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took the floor.
6. The Chair noted that notifications to the Council were not keeping up with the actual development of laws and regulations relating to TRIPS. He emphasized that Article 63.2 was not a one-off requirement. It obliged Members to notify any new or amended laws, so that the Council was in a position to exercise its monitoring function. He urged Members to keep their notifications updated by submitting any new or revised laws or regulations to the Council, as well as completing their initial notifications in case any material was still outstanding. This applied also to the Checklist of Issues on Enforcement, which had been established by the Council as an element of Members' ongoing notification obligations. He invited Members to submit their notifications through the e-TRIPS Notification System and to contact the Secretariat for any further questions.
7. The Council took note of the notifications and the statements made.
