Possible interpretations. 3.1 Article 63.1
1. 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) shall be published, or where such publication is not practicable made publicly available, in a national language, in such a manner as to enable governments and right holders to become acquainted with them. Agreements concerning the subject matter of this Agreement which are in force between the government or a governmental agency of a Member and the government or a governmental agency of another Member shall also be published.
Possible interpretations. 3.1 Article 69
Possible interpretations. 3.1 Definitions of products covered by the IPIC Treaty
Possible interpretations. Article 65 contains the transition period available for developed (para. 1), develop- ing (para. 2) and economies in transition countries (para. 3). Article 66.1 contains the transition period for LDCs. These transition periods are effective automatically and do not have to be specifically requested or reserved.
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, no Member shall be obliged to apply the provisions of this Agreement before the expiry of a general period of one year following the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement. This provision lays down a general transition period that applies to all WTO Mem- bers, irrespective of their status. Accordingly, no Member was obligated to fully apply the provisions of TRIPS until one year after the entry into force of the Agree- ment (1 January 1995), i.e., until 1 January 1996. Note that this general transition period is made subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Article 65. 19 In brief, the mailbox rule obliges Members benefiting from a transition period to register incom- ing patent applications for later examination, thus preserving priority and novelty of the relevant inventions. An exclusive marketing right (EMR) has to be granted in lieu of a patent during the transition period, provided that certain important preconditions are met. Note that the obligation to provide EMRs does not apply to LDCs, see below, Section 6.2. For more details on the mailbox rule and on the notion of EMRs, see Chapter 36 (Transitional Provisions).
Possible interpretations. 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.
Possible interpretations. 3.1 Article 1.1, First sentence 24 Nature and scope of obligations
Possible interpretations. The lack of a general interpretation of the meaning and scope of the provision of Article XXI of the GATT gains relevance when it comes to the analysis of the 209 Ibid. 210 GATT Doc. L/5426 (1982), GATT B.I.S.D. (29th Supp.), at 23 (1983). The text of the decision reads as follow: “Considering that the exceptions envisaged in Article XXI of the General Agreement constitute an important element for safeguarding the rights of contracting parties when they consider that reasons of security are involved; Noting that recourse to Article XXI could constitute in certain circumstances, an element of dis- ruption and uncertainty for international trade and affect benefits accruing to contracting parties under the General Agreement; Recognising that in taking action in terms of the exceptions provided in Article XXI of the General Agreement, contracting parties should take into consideration the interests of third parties which may be affected; That until such time as the Contracting Parties may decide to make a formal interpretation of Article XXI it is appropriate to set procedural guidelines for its application; The Contracting Parties decide that:
1. Subject to the exception in Article XXI:a, contracting parties should be informed to the fullest extent possible of trade measures taken under Article XXI.
2. When action is taken under Article XXI, all contracting parties affected by such action retain their full rights under the General Agreement.
3. The Council may be requested to give further consideration to this matter in due course.” 211 See composite text of 23 July 1990, circulated by the Chairman (Xxxx X. X. Xxxxx) of the TRIPS Negotiating Group, document MTN.GNG/NG11/W/76. 212 Document MTN.TNC/W/35/Rev. 1 of 3 December 1990. 213 Part of document MTN.TNC/W/FA of 20 December 1991. possible interpretations of Article 73. By stating that it is for the WTO Members to decide what information is essential for their essential security interests214 and to define which are those essential security interests,215 Article 73 places it- self at the core of the tensions between a traditional decentralized legal order and the institutionalized dispute settlement mechanism embodied in the Dis- pute Settlement Understanding (DSU) of the WTO.216 What is the role left for the dispute settlement organs, if any, when a Member invokes national security as a justification for the failure to comply with its obligations under the “covered agreements”? One interpretation of Article...
Possible interpretations. 3.1 Literary and artistic works
(1) The expression “literary and artistic works” shall include every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression, such as books, pamphlets and other writings; lectures, addresses, ser- mons and other works of the same nature; dramatic or dramatico-musical works; choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show; musical compositions with or without words; cinematographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to cinematography; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography; photographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography; works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science.
(2) It shall, however, be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to prescribe that works in general or any specified categories of works shall not be protected unless they have been fixed in some material form.
Possible interpretations. The public policy interest in encouraging the creation of computer programs does not necessarily require protection solely in the form of copyright. Article 10 re- quires that copyright protection be extended to computer programs. However, TRIPS does not preclude additional forms of protection for computer programs. Thus, under TRIPS, a Member could offer patent, copyright and trade secret pro- tection for computer programs.72 In such a case, the author can choose which form of protection is most desirable assuming of course that, in the case of soft- ware patents, the higher standards of creativity required by patent law are also satisfied. It should be noted that the possibility of alternative forms of protection for computer programs were contemplated prior to TRIPS, and such alternatives do exist in some national laws.73 What TRIPS does require, though, is that one of the options for legal protection is in the form of copyright law. 71 For more details on Article 62 of the TRIPS Agreement, see Chapter 30.
Possible interpretations. 3.1 The functions of the Council
