On 08 November 2024, the World Trade Organization (WTO) advised that its Members had agreed to continue discussions on the arrangements for reviewing the implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). At a meeting of the TRIPS Council on 07 to 08 November 2024, members also discussed the importance of incorporating knowledge about Intellectual Property (IP) into various education programmes. They addressed members’ proposals on preparedness for future pandemics.
Under Article 71.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, the TRIPS Council must conduct a review of the Agreement's implementation after two years and at periodic intervals after that. However, the initial review in 1999 was never completed, and no other review was subsequently initiated. After members began considering relaunching the review and following extensive consultations, the Chair of the Council, Ambassador Sofía Boza of Chile, shared with members a first set of common elements on the format, methodology and timeline for the review.
Under her responsibility, she proposed a process guided by the structure of the Agreement, following the sections on individual IP rights in Part II of the Agreement while also considering the provisions in Parts I, III and IV related to individual IP rights under review. After a first trial period, members would evaluate the modalities for the rest of the review and agree on any necessary changes before moving forward. The review would mainly involve input from members, who would provide information on the implementation of the sections under review, including their experiences, challenges and best practices.
The review would occur mainly in informal meetings, usually scheduled back-to-back with formal Council meetings. Further informal and other meetings may be scheduled, including thematic sessions that could include external stakeholders.
Ambassador Boza noted that the process should ensure a reasonable and manageable frequency of meetings. At the same time, it facilitates capital officials' participation. The review aims to be concluded with an objective report adopted by the TRIPS Council.
Overall, delegations expressed their appreciation for the progress made, noting that they now had a more detailed and concrete picture of the proposed review process. However, they stressed that there were still a number of open questions – particularly on the timeline and the scope of the review – for which some textual suggestions were still being considered by delegations and in capitals.
Ambassador Boza welcomed the “serious engagement” by members and shared her impression that there continued to be momentum towards starting the review very soon. She underlined the willingness of delegations to address outstanding questions and move forward. Members supported the Chair's suggestion to keep this agenda item open so that the formal meeting can resume in a few weeks if a concrete outcome is feasible.
IP and innovation
The Council discussed a paper titled “Intellectual Property and Innovation: Education on IP”, submitted by the “Friends of IP and Innovation”, including Australia, Canada, Chile, the European Union (EU), Hong Kong, the People’s Republic of China (China), Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (US).
Introduced by the EU, the paper invites members to discuss policies, programmes, good practices and challenges of incorporating knowledge about IP into various levels and types of education. These discussions should encompass, among other things, the level of education and how to best include IP in curricula. Members are also invited to discuss which fields of study – for example, business, engineering or arts – could benefit from more profound IP knowledge.
Members took to the floor to share information about successful IP education programmes and initiatives and available online tools, resources and platforms. They also provided examples of effectively integrating IP education into curricula and the importance of focusing on the best design and implementation strategies.
Enhancing IP education through strong cooperation among public authorities, IP experts, educators, and other stakeholders, and fostering partnerships to improve educational outreach and impact was also part of the discussion. Members highlighted that ensuring IP teaching materials, resources, and tools remain practical, up-to-date and grounded in relevant data was essential for fostering a well-informed understanding of IP.
Pandemic response
Members again addressed proposals under paragraph 24 of the Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics, as reaffirmed in the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration of 4 March 2024. Under this provision, the Council is mandated to continue or initiate work to analyse lessons learned and challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including based on proposals by members.
Members continued discussions based on two submissions on “Intellectual Property, Voluntary Licensing and Technology Transfer” by the UK and “TRIPS for Development: Post MC13 Work on TRIPS-Related Issues” by Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt and India. The discussion focused on pandemic preparedness and the role of the WTO in addressing IP challenges.
Some delegations emphasised the need to balance IP rights and public health, calling for a solution to IP issues to ensure access to medical products during future pandemics. Other delegations stressed the importance of updating IP-related matters and supporting voluntary licensing and technology transfer, emphasising the need for evidence-based discussions. The WTO Secretariat's role in supporting intergovernmental negotiations was also discussed.
The Chair referred to the compilation of COVID-19: Measures Regarding TRIPS, which is available on the WTO website. This document contains a non-exhaustive list of IP-related measures taken during COVID-19, compiled by the Secretariat from official sources and verified by the members concerned. She encouraged all delegations to inform the Secretariat of measures that should be included on this list and any update or information on the expiry – or end of application – of such measures.
Non-violation and situation complaints
The Chair recalled the mandate for members to discuss TRIPS non-violation and situation complaints (NVSCs) as agreed by ministers at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi in February 2024. In their Decision, ministers directed the Council for TRIPS to continue its examination of the NVSCs scope and modalities for non-violation and situation complaints and to make recommendations to the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled to take place in Cameroon in early 2026. It was also agreed that, in the meantime, members would not initiate such complaints under the TRIPS Agreement.
Highlighting that the moratorium now has a new “lease of life”, Ambassador Boza called on members to return to substantive discussions to find a permanent solution. She noted her predecessors had made different suggestions on how to have a substantive discussion on this topic. Still, she regretted that members had not taken up these ideas.
Non-violation and situation complaints (NVSCs) refer to whether and under what conditions members should be able to bring WTO dispute complaints where they consider that another member's action, or a particular situation, has deprived them of an expected advantage under the TRIPS Agreement, even though no obligation under the Agreement has been violated.
Members have historically differed on whether such non-violation cases are feasible in intellectual property. Some delegations consider NVSCs essential to maintaining the proper balance of rights and obligations within the TRIPS Agreement while helping to ensure that legitimate obligations are not circumvented or avoided. Others believe there is no place for applying non-violation complaints in intellectual property because of the legal insecurity and curtailment of flexibilities that could ensue and favour their complete ban in the TRIPS area.
Other issues
Members addressed the Council's 22nd Annual Review of developed members' reports on implementing Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, which mandates these members to provide incentives for technology transfer to least-developed countries (LDCs). Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and the EU presented their reports, highlighting individual programmes and initiatives for the benefit of LDCs.
The Chair informed delegations of the Secretariat's intention to hold the Article 66.2 Workshop in early 2025, back-to-back with the first TRIPS Council meeting of the year. This will give LDCs sufficient time to absorb the information provided by developed countries and provide an opportunity to discuss any other proposals.
The Secretariat compiled technical assistance programmes between October 2023 and September 2024. It called members’ attention to the forthcoming Trilateral Symposium entitled “Strengthening Manufacturing Capacities to Respond to the non-communicable Diseases Burden”, hosted by the WTO on 13 December 2024. The Secretariat also announced that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the WTO had launched the call for applications for the 20th edition of the WIPO-WTO Colloquium for Teachers and Researchers of IP Law and Policy, scheduled from 3 to 14 February 2025.
The Chair said that two Members – Tunisia and Armenia – had deposited their instruments of acceptance for the protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement. In addition, Timor-Leste and Comoros have acceded to the WTO in recent months. The amended TRIPS Agreement thereby bound them. This means that the amended TRIPS Agreement currently applies to 141 members.
Recalling that the current period for accepting the protocol runs until 31 December 2025, the Chair encouraged the 25 remaining members to complete their domestic procedures and deposit their instrument of acceptance as soon as possible.
Next meetings
The next meetings of the TRIPS Council are scheduled for 20-21 March 2025, 26-27 June 2025 and 10-11 November 2025.