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

Ms Irene Young (Hong Kong, China)
2 2 NOTIFICATIONS UNDER PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT
13. The notification from Norway relates to the Act on the Norwegian Industrial Property Office and the Board of Appeal for Industrial Property Rights. The Act was passed by the Norwegian Parliament on 6 June 2012 and repeals the Act on the Norwegian Industrial Property Office from 1910. From the entry into force on 1 April 2013 new and updated provisions on the purpose and tasks of the Norwegian Industrial Property Office and the Board of Appeal and general provisions on case handling were modified, however without affecting the exclusive rights governed by the Patents Act, the Trademarks Act and the Designs Act. The Act was translated into English and the unofficial translation was published on the homepage of the Norwegian Industrial Property Office shortly after the entry into force in 2013. Due to an error that translation was only now notified to the Secretariat.
The Council took note of the notifications and the statements made.
3. The Chairperson invited the Secretariat to provide an update on the legislative measures that had been notified by a number of Members since the Council's meeting in March 2017.

4. The representative of the Secretariat took the floor.

5. The Chairperson invited delegations that had notified a new or revised legislative measure, or given responses or updates to the enforcement checklist, to briefly introduce the changes.

6. The representatives of the European Union; Hong Kong, China; Switzerland; and Norway took the floor.

7. The Chairperson said that, as previous Chairpersons had already noted, notifications to the Council had not been keeping up with the actual development of laws and regulations relating to the TRIPS Agreement. She recalled that Article 63.2 was not a one-off requirement, but required Members to notify any new or amended laws. Therefore, she urged Members to complete any outstanding initial notifications and to keep up to date with notifications on subsequent amendments. The same applied for the Checklist of Issues on Enforcement, which had been established by the Council as an element of Members' notification obligations.

8. The Chairperson invited the Secretariat to provide an update on the development of e-TRIPS, the online platform for filing and consulting notifications and other Council documentation.

9. The representative of the Secretariat briefed Members on the development of e-TRIPS.

10. The Council took note of the notifications and the statements made.

IP/C/M/86, IP/C/M/86/Add.1