Article 68
Council
for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
The
Council for TRIPS shall monitor the operation of this
Agreement and, in particular, Members’ compliance with
their obligations hereunder, and shall afford Members the
opportunity of consulting on matters relating to the
trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. It
shall carry out such other responsibilities as assigned
to it by the Members, and it shall, in particular,
provide any assistance requested by them in the context
of dispute settlement procedures. In carrying out its
functions, the Council for TRIPS may consult with and
seek information from any source it deems appropriate. In
consultation with WIPO, the Council shall seek to
establish, within one year of its first meeting,
appropriate arrangements for cooperation with bodies of
that Organization.
Article
69
International
Cooperation
Members
agree to cooperate with each other with a view to
eliminating international trade in goods infringing
intellectual property rights. For this purpose, they
shall establish and notify contact points in their
administrations and be ready to exchange information on
trade in infringing goods. They shall, in particular,
promote the exchange of information and cooperation
between customs authorities with regard to trade in
counterfeit trademark goods and pirated copyright goods.
Article
70
Protection
of Existing Subject Matter
1. This
Agreement does not give rise to obligations in respect of
acts which occurred before the date of application of the
Agreement for the Member in question.
2. Except
as otherwise provided for in this Agreement, this
Agreement gives rise to obligations in respect of all
subject matter existing at the date of application of
this Agreement for the Member in question, and which is
protected in that Member on the said date, or which meets
or comes subsequently to meet the criteria for protection
under the terms of this Agreement. In respect of this
paragraph and paragraphs 3 and 4, copyright
obligations with respect to existing works shall be
solely determined under Article 18 of the Berne
Convention (1971), and obligations with respect to the
rights of producers of phonograms and performers in
existing phonograms shall be determined solely under
Article 18 of the Berne Convention (1971) as made
applicable under paragraph 6 of Article 14 of
this Agreement.
3. There
shall be no obligation to restore protection to subject
matter which on the date of application of this Agreement
for the Member in question has fallen into the public
domain.
4. In
respect of any acts in respect of specific objects
embodying protected subject matter which become
infringing under the terms of legislation in conformity
with this Agreement, and which were commenced, or in
respect of which a significant investment was made,
before the date of acceptance of the WTO Agreement by
that Member, any Member may provide for a limitation of
the remedies available to the right holder as to the
continued performance of such acts after the date of
application of this Agreement for that Member. In such
cases the Member shall, however, at least provide for the
payment of equitable remuneration.
5. A
Member is not obliged to apply the provisions of
Article 11 and of paragraph 4 of
Article 14 with respect to originals or copies
purchased prior to the date of application of this
Agreement for that Member.
6. Members
shall not be required to apply Article 31, or the
requirement in paragraph 1 of Article 27 that
patent rights shall be enjoyable without discrimination
as to the field of technology, to use without the
authorization of the right holder where authorization for
such use was granted by the government before the date
this Agreement became known.
7. In
the case of intellectual property rights for which
protection is conditional upon registration, applications
for protection which are pending on the date of
application of this Agreement for the Member in question
shall be permitted to be amended to claim any enhanced
protection provided under the provisions of this
Agreement. Such amendments shall not include new matter.
8. Where
a Member does not make available as of the date of entry
into force of the WTO Agreement patent protection for
pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products
commensurate with its obligations under Article 27,
that Member shall:
(a) notwithstanding
the provisions of Part VI, provide as from the date
of entry into force of the WTO Agreement a means by which
applications for patents for such inventions can be
filed;
(b) apply
to these applications, as of the date of application of
this Agreement, the criteria for patentability as laid
down in this Agreement as if those criteria were being
applied on the date of filing in that Member or, where
priority is available and claimed, the priority date of
the application; and
(c) provide
patent protection in accordance with this Agreement as
from the grant of the patent and for the remainder of the
patent term, counted from the filing date in accordance
with Article 33 of this Agreement, for those of
these applications that meet the criteria for protection
referred to in subparagraph (b).
9. Where
a product is the subject of a patent application in a
Member in accordance with paragraph 8(a), exclusive
marketing rights shall be granted, notwithstanding the
provisions of Part VI, for a period of five years
after obtaining marketing approval in that Member or
until a product patent is granted or rejected in that
Member, whichever period is shorter, provided that,
subsequent to the entry into force of the WTO Agreement,
a patent application has been filed and a patent granted
for that product in another Member and marketing approval
obtained in such other Member.
Article
71
Review
and Amendment
1. The
Council for TRIPS shall review the implementation of this
Agreement after the expiration of the transitional period
referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 65. The
Council shall, having regard to the experience gained in
its implementation, review it two years after that date,
and at identical intervals thereafter. The Council may
also undertake reviews in the light of any relevant new
developments which might warrant modification or
amendment of this Agreement.
2. Amendments
merely serving the purpose of adjusting to higher levels
of protection of intellectual property rights achieved,
and in force, in other multilateral agreements and
accepted under those agreements by all Members of the WTO
may be referred to the Ministerial Conference for action
in accordance with paragraph 6 of Article X of the
WTO Agreement on the basis of a consensus proposal from
the Council for TRIPS.
Article
72
Reservations
Reservations
may not be entered in respect of any of the provisions of
this Agreement without the consent of the other Members.
Article
73
Security
Exceptions
Nothing
in this Agreement shall be construed:
(a) to
require a Member to furnish any information the
disclosure of which it considers contrary to its
essential security interests; or
(b) to
prevent a Member from taking any action which it
considers necessary for the protection of its essential
security interests;
(i) relating
to fissionable materials or the materials from which they
are derived;
(ii) relating
to the traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war
and to such traffic in other goods and materials as is
carried on directly or indirectly for the purpose of
supplying a military establishment;
(iii) taken
in time of war or other emergency in international
relations; or
(c) to
prevent a Member from taking any action in pursuance of
its obligations under the United Nations Charter for
the maintenance of international peace and security.
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