136. The representative of Argentina said that the question posed by the representative of the European Communities as well as the reply by the International Bureau as to whether the Lisbon system facilitated protection or not were irrelevant to the subject-matter under negotiation in the Special Session. Whether or not a registration system facilitated protection and entailed legal effects depended upon the substantive provisions contained in the treaty establishing that system. The Lisbon system's negotiating history and its particular substantive and formal provisions could not automatically be assimilated to justify a claim that under Article 23.4 of TRIPS "to facilitate" would mean having a system equal to, or higher than, Lisbon.
