112. The Chairperson informed the Council that, since its meeting in April, three new dispute settlement proceedings had been initiated under the DSU. The United States had requested consultations with Canada concerning the term of patent protection (document IP/D/17), and with Argentina concerning patent protection for pharmaceuticals and test data protection for agricultural chemicals; Switzerland had requested to join in these consultations (documents IP/D/18 and WT/DS171/2). The United States had also requested consultations with the European Communities concerning the protection of trademarks and geographical indications for agricultural products and foodstuffs; Canada had requested to join in these consultations (IP/D/19 and WT/174/3). On 15 April 1999, the DSB had agreed to establish a panel to examine the complaint by the European Communities and their member States concerning Section 110(5) of the United States Copyright Act. Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Switzerland had reserved their third-party rights to participate in the panel's proceedings.
