Minutes - TRIPS Council - View details of the intervention/statement

Ambassador Dacio Castillo (Honduras)
United States of America
11 TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING
214. The representative of the United States said that the US Government, working independently, as well as with other governments and international organizations, offered technical assistance on IPR protection and enforcement to countries around the world, including LDCs. The United States had submitted a report to the TRIPS Council describing these programmes, pursuant to Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement. Regarding US programmes, in FY 2011, the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) had conducted more than 140 training, technical assistance, and capacity building programmes for over 4,300 participants from 137 different countries. Most participants had come from developing and least developed countries. 215. He thanked the Government of Sweden for its generous support for the previous week’s Symposium on LDC Priority Needs for Technical and Financial Cooperation, which had been extremely productive. Several LDCs had provided updates on the status of their TRIPS Agreement implementation. Many LDCs had participated in this programme and had expressed appreciation for the value of IP in supporting innovation and development of their economies. LDCs were progressing with their implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. One point that had been emphasized, however, had been that even once laws were in place and administrative structures were set up, more work still needed to be done. For example, educational campaigns needed to be organized to increase awareness of IP. Judges and new officials at IP offices needed training on IP. The United States had many resources that could be useful for this work. He also said that the United States appreciated the needs assessments that had been filed. It would reach out to LDCs but would also appreciate LDCs reaching out the United States. 216. In this regard, important contacts for technical assistance in the field of IP included the following. For general training, a training database was available at http://www.usipr.gov/. For educational campaigns, to discourage the use of illegal downloads and counterfeit products, the US Embassies should be of assistance. In particular, the Department of State website (http://www.state.gov/e/eb/tpp/ipe/index.htm) contained certain important information with respect to contacts as well as substantive assistance. For more comprehensive assistance, the US Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program provided training to stakeholders responsible for IP enforcement and adjudication of disputes such as government ministries, customs officers, patent examiners and judges. CLDP also conducted programmes on IP Protection and its Impact on the Economy, Technology Transfer, IP Law Curriculum in Law Schools, and Public Awareness Campaigns. Similarly, the USPTO’s GIPA provided training to government officials responsible for IP acquisition, enforcement and adjudication of disputes such as government ministries, customs officers, patent examiners and judges. Finally, he invited to LDCs reach out to him as the designated contact point for technical and financial assistance for implementation of the Agreement.
IP/C/M/71