H.E. Ambassador Dr. Walter Werner

Brazil

13   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST: PROMOTING PUBLIC HEALTH THROUGH COMPETITION LAW AND POLICY

609.   I would like to comment on two interventions that were made before by Members. 610.   The first one, was a comment made that IP and competition are distinctive disciplines and are implemented by different agencies, thus they should not be discussed at the TRIPS Council. We disagree with that point. We observe for instance that enforcement measures are implemented by very different agencies than those responsible for trademarks and patent applications. Enforcement measures for instance are implemented by customs which have very different disciplines and very different stakeholders involved in comparison with patent offices. The same could be said for copyright and patent, which are dealt by different agencies. The TRIPS Council is mandated to discuss issues which are disciplined by the TRIPS Agreement. This involves copyrights, transfer of technology, patent, enforcement and competition policy. 611.   The second point was a comment made that the International Competition Network already discusses competition. We certainly recognize the very high-level work that is done by the International Competition Network but it is an informal venue, as mentioned on their website, and we do not think that this should preclude discussion at the TRIPS Council. There is an established relation between IP and competition in academic literature and by national agencies. So, we think this is an appropriate forum. We look forward to continuing this discussion perhaps in another session of the Council.

The representatives of South Africa, Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, the United States of America, Japan, the European Union and the WHO took the floor.

53.   The Chair said that the item "Intellectual Property and the Public Interest: Promoting Public Health Through Competition Law and Policy" had been added to the agenda at the request of the Delegation of South Africa. It had been co-sponsored by Brazil and India since the circulation of the revised draft agenda. The co-sponsors had also submitted a communication on this topic (circulated in document IP/C/W/649 and addenda), which included questions to guide the discussion.
54.   The representatives of South Africa, Brazil, India, China, Indonesia, the United States of America, Japan, the European Union and the WHO took the floor.

IP/C/M/90, IP/C/M/90/Add.1