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

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1. Meeting date

2. Chairperson

H.E. Ambassador Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter (South Africa)

3. Intervention by

United Kingdom

4. Agenda item

12 TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING

5. Statement/summary of statement

406.   The United Kingdom strongly believes technical cooperation and capacity building efforts are essential to support the development of a global IP system for the benefit of all. 407.   In document IP/C/R/TC/GBR/1, the UK has submitted its Annual Report on Technical Cooperation in line with its obligations under Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement, and would like to share with you some of the work we have been undertaking together with Brazil, as exemplars of our cross-cutting and wide-ranging technical assistance initiatives. 408.   We have been working closely with Brazil to support them in reinforcing their IP enforcement systems and processes, including visits and best practice exchanges of information. 409.   For example, building on previous engagements with Brazilian authorities and prosecutors, an IP Enforcement expert from the UK Intellectual Property Office and the Detective Superintendent of the UK's Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit visited Brazil in September 2020, together with the UK Intellectual Property attaché based in Sao Paulo, to share UK experiences of tackling IP infringement, particularly IP crime such as counterfeiting and piracy. 410.   During this, we conducted discussions with a wide range of Brazilian enforcement agencies, rights holder representatives and government officials in Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and shared approaches to tackling online copyright infringement through voluntary collaboration. 411.   Wanting to learn from our expertise in tackling online fake goods, Sao Paulo City Hall (which has been undertaking a series of actions to tackle counterfeiting) in March 2020 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IPO of the UK which commits both parties to establishing a framework under which the participants can develop cooperation activities in the field of IP protection, utilisation and enforcement. 412.   We have also supported Brazil in improving its management of administrative processes, such as rights granting. In February 2020, we launched a project designed to develop a Brazilian Intellectual Property Office for the 21st century. 413.   This three-year project will involve a series of actions to modernise processes and increase office efficiency, leading to an improved quality of IP rights granted in a reduced timeframe. 414.   The project will be delivered through close partnership between the IPO of the UK and the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property – by implementing targeted interventions that will bring the country closer to international standards and practices. 415.   These are just some examples of our commitment to providing technical assistance to improve the intellectual property system for all those who use it. You can find more details of our initiatives in the report we submitted, and we would be very happy to answer any further questions.

6. Documents referred to in intervention

7. Conclusion

The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.

8. Summary of the agenda item (if available)

64. The Chair recalled that, at its July 2020 meeting, the Council had agreed to hold the annual review of technical cooperation at its next meeting. Thus, developed country Members had been requested to update information on their technical and financial cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. Other Members, which also provided technical cooperation were encouraged to share information on their activities. The Secretariat had issued a reminder. Intergovernmental organizations, observers to the Council and the WTO Secretariat had also been invited to provide information.
65. The Council had received information from: Japan, Switzerland, Australia, United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway. Since the circulation of the revised agenda, the Council had received further information from the European Union. These reports were being circulated under the new dedicated document series with the symbol IP/C/R/TC/[Member]/1 – where "R" stands for "Reports" and "TC" stands for "Technical Cooperation". The following intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) had also submitted updated information: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Health Organization (WHO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). Their reports were being circulated in the same document series IP/C/R/TC/[IGO observer]/1. Information on the WTO Secretariat's own technical cooperation activities in the TRIPS area could be found in document . She invited Members to introduce their reports.
66. The representatives of the United States of America; the United Kingdom; Japan; Australia; Canada; the European Union; Bangladesh; Switzerland; Brazil; Chad, on behalf of the LDC Group; Mali; and South Africa took the floor.
67. The Chair invited the WTO Secretariat to present its report on technical cooperation activities.
68. The representative of the Secretariat took the floor.
69. The Chair invited the representatives of IGO observers to present their reports on technical cooperation activities.
70. The representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); World Health Organization (WHO); and the United National Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) took the floor.
71. The Chair invited Members to comment.
72. The representatives of Sri Lanka; Chad, on behalf of the LDC Group; and India took the floor.
73. The Chair thanked Members and IGO observers for the valuable information. As some information had been recently submitted and was available only in its original language, she would provide Members an opportunity to make further comments, at the next meeting.
74. The Council took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to the matter at its next meeting.

9. Document symbol and date of distribution

IP/C/M/96, IP/C/M/96/Add.1
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