Replies to questions 49-62: See Argentina's replies to the Check-list of Issues on Enforcement.

Replies to questions 49-62: See Argentina's replies to the Check-list of Issues on Enforcement.

Replies to questions 49-62: See Argentina's replies to the Check-list of Issues on Enforcement.

Replies to questions 49-62: See Argentina's replies to the Check-list of Issues on Enforcement.

Replies to questions 49-62: See Argentina's replies to the Check-list of Issues on Enforcement.

Replies to questions 49-62: See Argentina's replies to the Check-list of Issues on Enforcement.

Article 31 of the National Constitution explicitly states that "the Constitution, the laws of the Nation enacted by Congress in pursuance thereof, and treaties with foreign powers, are the supreme law of the Nation". This means that in the Argentine legal system, treaties are an autonomous source of law, and their application is therefore not dependent on a law incorporating them into Argentine legislation. Article 75, paragraph 22, explicitly ranks treaties higher than laws, which means that in the event of conflict between a national law and a treaty, the provisions of the treaty take precedence. This must be read together with Article 27, which requires treaties signed by the Government to be consistent with the principles of public law set forth in the National Constitution. The system is therefore a monistic one, in which international treaties are accorded a higher status than laws, while both are subordinate to the National Constitution. However, this does not mean that Argentina may not legislate domestically on subject-matter covered by a treaty, since many treaties require national implementing legislation, for example when: (i) They contain clauses which are not directly applicable; (ii) they establish minimum standards of protection, in which case the parties are free to enlarge on them; (iii) they contain clauses allowing the parties to choose the means by which the treaty's objectives are to be fulfilled. The TRIPS Agreement is an agreement which sets forth minimum standards of protection and, in some cases, grants a choice between various methods of protection. Article 1.1 provides that "Members shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of this Agreement within their own legal system and practice". Argentina adopts its domestic intellectual property legislation, notified to the Council on TRIPS and listed in document IP/N/1/ARG/2, within the framework of these provisions. With regard to the question of whether there are national court rulings confirming the direct effect of provisions of international law, and specifically, of the TRIPS Agreement, the following judgments of the National Supreme Court of Justice are listed by way of example: • "Ekmedjian, Miguel Angel v Sofovich, Gerardo and others"; • "Unilever NV v"; • Federal Civil and Commercial Court of Appeal, Chamber No. 3. "Pirelli SPA v National Industrial Property Institute, concerning the refusal of a patent". Case No. 22,932/96, 11 August 1998.

With regard to the request for an example of a case scenario on the use of a geographical indication which misleads the public as to the geographical origin of a product, it should be pointed out that such an exercise exceeds the requirements of Article 63 of the TRIPS Agreement. Article 63, paragraph 1, lays down an obligation to publish "laws and regulations, and final judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application, made effective by a Member pertaining to the subject-matter of this Agreement (the availability, scope, acquisition, enforcement and prevention of the abuse of intellectual property rights)". Paragraph 3 provides that "each Member shall be prepared to supply, in response to a written request from another Member, information of the sort referred to in paragraph 1", including information regarding "a specific judicial decision or administrative ruling or bilateral agreement in the area of intellectual property rights" which affects the requesting Member's rights under the TRIPS Agreement. If a case having the characteristics set out in the question were brought before the Argentine administrative or judicial authorities, those authorities would have to reach a decision consistent with the existing legislation on geographical indications, which has been duly notified. In relation to the second part of the question, there are no known cases of the Argentine administrative or judicial authorities applying Article 22.2(a) and/or (b) in order to prohibit the use of a geographical indication.

Micro-organisms which have been modified from their natural state are patentable under Article 27.3 (b) of the TRIPS Agreement. Patents relating to this type of micro-organism are protected in the same way as other patents, subject only to the provision in Article 20 of the Law on Patents that "in the case of applications relating to micro-organisms, the product to be obtained through a claimed process shall be described together with that in the application, and the strain shall be deposited at an institution authorised for that purpose, in accordance with the rules laid down in the regulations. The public shall have access to the depository institution from the date when the patent application is published, under the conditions established by regulations".

The provisions of Article 27.1 of the TRIPS Agreement are reflected in Article 43 of the Regulatory Decree of the Law on Patents which provides that "a product shall be deemed to be worked when distributed and marketed in a manner sufficient to satisfy domestic market demand, under reasonable commercial conditions".

Article 39 of the TRIPS Agreement is reflected in the Law on Confidentiality – Law No. 24.766 - and the Resolutions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food – Resolutions No. 440/1988 and No. 350/1999 – which were notified to the TRIPS Council in documents IP/N/1/ARG/U/1 and IP/N/1/ARG/U/3. It should be pointed out that under the provisions of Article 63 of the TRIPS Agreement there is no obligation to "explain in detail Argentina's interpretation of the obligations under Article 39.3".

Armenia's legislation is fully compliant with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. However, as the TRIPS Agreement is an international agreement signed and ratified by the Republic of Armenia, its provisions will take precedence over national law to the extent that national law is not in compliance with the Agreement, pursuant to Article 6 of the Armenian Constitution which states: "International treaties that have been ratified are a constituent part of the legal system of the Republic. If norms are provided in these treaties other than those provided by laws of the Republic, then the norms provided in the treaty shall prevail."

Paragraph 8 of Article 5 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia on Patents provides for patent protection for inventions relating to products and processes in all fields of technology, with the following exceptions which comply with Article 27 of the TRIPS Agreement: - Scientific theories and mathematical methods - Methods of economic organization and management - Symbols, schedules and rules - Methods and rules for performing mental acts - Algorithms and programs for computers - Projects and plans for constructions, buildings and for land development - Proposals concerning the outward appearance of manufactured articles intended to satisfy exclusively aesthetic requirements - Plant varieties and animal breeds - Processes for cloning human beings - The uses of human embryos for industrial and commercial purposes - Processes for modifying the germ line genetic identity of human beings - Processes for modifying of genetic identity of animals and also animals resulting from such processes.

The importation is considered as "working" a patent, in accordance with the Clause 1 of Article 12 of the "Law of the Republic of Armenia on Patents", and therefore precludes compulsory licensing. The only exception is the case stipulated by Clause 1 of Article 12 of the TRIPS Agreement, which is regulated by Clause 3 of Article 16 of this law.

All the conditions enumerated in Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement are reflected in Article 16 of the "Law of the Republic of Armenia on Patents".

In accordance with Clause 5 of Article 12 of the "Law of the Republic of Armenia on Patents" the burden of proof shall be on the defendant if the product obtained by the patent process is new. As mentioned in Clause 2 of Article 16 of the "Law of the Republic of Armenia on Patents" the patent owner must prove that not using or insufficiently using of the invention, utility model or the industrial design is stipulated by the valid reason. In accordance with Clause 2 of Article 34, the person lodging a complaint shall be required to substantiate the complaints stipulated by Clause 1 of the same Article. In accordance with Clause 6 of Article 162 of the Civil Procedure Code of RA, when trying the application for considering null and void the act of the state body, local self-government body or its officials, the burden of proving the circumstances which were the grounds for the adoption of the act is on the body which adopted the act or its official.

This question is regulated by the provisions of Chapter 68 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia, which regulates issues of legal protection of undisclosed information, accountability for illegal use thereof and transfer of this authority. In particular, Paragraph 1 of Article 1165 states that any individual who illegally receives, distributes or uses undisclosed information, shall compensate to the rightful owner thereof all damages resulted from this illegal use. In accordance with Paragraph 7 of Article 16 of the "Law of the Republic of Armenia on Protection of Economic Competition" the unfair commercial usage of research data and other undisclosed information which is a result of a large scale work and have been submitted to the authorized body for the approval of agricultural chemical produce or pharmaceuticals obtained by means of using new chemical blend, composition or combination, is prohibited. The disclosure of data referred to in the same clause of this paragraph, except when the disclosure is required on the grounds of public interest, or where guarantees of protection of the data against the unfair commercial usage already exist, is prohibited. In accordance with Paragraph 1 of Article 36 of the "Law of the Republic of Armenia on Protection of Economic Competition" economic entities, bodies of central and local government administration shall incur liability for the infringement of the present Law according to a procedure set out in this and other laws of the RA. The date of protection for undisclosed test data is defined in accordance with Paragraph 4 of Article 1164 of the Civil Code of RA.

In response to your question as to how the term "unfair commercial use" is defined, we are informing you that in accordance with Section 2, paragraph 7, Article 16 of the RA Law on the Protection of Commercial Competition and for the purposes of paragraph 7, Article 16 of the above mentioned law, "unfair commercial use of data" means the sale of data to other persons, use of data for the production of identical or similar products, etc. In relation to the other questions, we are informing you that, in accordance with paragraph 8, Article 16, if the person who illegally uses undisclosed information received this information from a person who is not authorized to disseminate (publish) it, about which the former did not know and was not required to know (the fair buyer), the legal owner of undisclosed information shall be entitled to request from the fair buyer to compensate the losses that the former suffered as a result of the use of undisclosed information, starting from the point when the fair buyer discovered that the use of information was illegal. According to paragraph 10, Article 16, the person who legally and independently receives data that contains undisclosed information, shall have the right to use it irrespective of the rights of the owner of undisclosed information and shall not be responsible for that use with respect to the latter.

This question is regulated by the following articles of the Civil Procedure Code of RA: In accordance with sub clause 2 of Clause 2 of Article 87 of the Civil Procedure Code the complaint must indicate the names (titles) of persons participating in the case, their addresses. In accordance with Clause 1 of Article 90 of the Civil Procedure Code, the issue of acceptance of the complaint is solved solely by the judge. And in accordance with Clause 3 of this article, the judge makes a decision on the acceptance of the complaint in which the time and place of trial are indicated. In accordance with Article 97" Grounds for securing the action" of the Civil Procedure Code: 1. The court, by motion of a person participating in the case, takes measures to secure the action, if the failure to take such measures can make the execution of the court act impossible or difficult. The securing of the action is allowed at any stage of the proceedings. 2. The motion is discussed on the day of its receipt, and a decision is made. In accordance with Clause 2 of Article 93 of the Civil Procedure Code, forwarding the complaints and the copies of attached documents to the defendant, the court forwards the complaints and the copies of attached documents to the defendant in the appropriate form.

Article 44 of the Armenian Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights states the following: Article 44. The measures of ensuring the claim on infringement of copyright and neighbouring rights The court may, in accordance with the provisions defined by the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, upon the request of the persons participating in the case or on his own initiative, undertake measures of ensuring the claim, to seize all allegedly counterfeit copies of the works and phonograms, as well as the materials and the equipment intended for their creation and reproduction, to prohibit the performance of certain acts. In case of the infringement of copyright and neighboring rights, for which criminal liability is provided, the court, with the purposes of ensuring the civil claim submitted or to be submitted in future, shall be entitled to seize all allegedly counterfeit copies, as well as the materials and the equipment intended for their creation and reproduction, and, if necessary, to confiscate and, if not claimed by the plaintiff, destroy them.