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

Mr. S. Harbinson (Hong Kong)
B.5 Notifications related to Article 6ter of the Paris Convention
33. The Chairman recalled that Article 63.2 required the Council for TRIPS to consider, in connection with the consultations with WIPO on the notification of national laws and regulations, any action required regarding notifications pursuant to obligations under the TRIPS Agreement stemming from the provisions of Article 6ter of the Paris Convention. Article 6ter concerned protection against the use or registration as trademarks without authorization of state emblems, official hallmarks and the emblems of intergovernmental organizations. In this regard, he drew attention to the discussion of this matter contained in paragraphs 18-21 of document PC/IPL/7/Add.2. As suggested in that document, there would appear to be much sense in exploring the possibility of requesting WIPO to handle these notification functions under the system that it had already established for dealing with such notifications under the Paris Convention. Given that all the substantive provisions of the Paris Convention in its latest version had to be complied with by WTO Members, it could be expected that the large majority of Members would in any event be members of the Paris Convention and therefore making notifications to the International Bureau. A single comprehensive system for the administration of notifications relating to the provisions of Article 6ter would not only avoid wasteful duplication but also facilitate the life of governments and business. Some ideas as to the elements of such a system that might be explored with WIPO were contained in paragraph 21 of document PC/IPL/7/Add.2. 34. The Chairman said that this was a matter on which he had sensed, in his consultations, a great deal of commonality of thinking, namely support for the general thrust of the ideas put forward in document PC/IPL/7/Add.2 and for the initiation of consultations with WIPO as soon as possible on that basis.
IP/C/M/2