[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 144 (Thursday, July 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38790-38791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18933]
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[[Page 38791]]
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
WTO Dispute Settlement Proceeding Regarding Patent Protection in
Pakistan for Pharmaceuticals and Agricultural Chemicals
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 127(b)(1) of the Uruguay Round Agreements
Act (URAA) (19 U.S.C. 3537(b)(1)), the Office of the United States
Trade Representative (USTR) is providing notice that the United States
has requested the establishment of a dispute settlement panel under the
Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO), to examine
Pakistan's failure to make patent protection available for inventions
as specified in Article 27 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), or provide systems that conform
to obligations of the TRIPS Agreement regarding the acceptance of
applications and the grant of exclusive marketing rights. More
specifically, the United States has requested the establishment of a
panel to determine whether Pakistan's legal regime is inconsistent with
the obligations of the TRIPS Agreement, including but not necessarily
limited to Articles 27, 65 and 70. USTR also invites written comments
from the public concerning the issues raised in the dispute.
DATES: Although USTR will accept any comments received during the
course of the dispute settlement proceedings, comments should be
submitted on or before August 30, 1996, to be assured of timely
consideration by USTR in preparing its first written submission to the
panel.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to Sybia Harrison, Office of the
General Counsel, Room 222, Attn: Pakistan Mailbox Dispute, Office of
the U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC
20508.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas Robertson, Associate General Counsel, Office of the General
Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-6800.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 4, 1996, the United States requested
establishment of a WTO dispute settlement panel to examine whether
Pakistan's legal regime is inconsistent with the obligations of the
TRIPS Agreement. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) considered the
U.S. request at its meeting on July 15, 1996. Under the WTO
Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of
Disputes, the DSB must establish a panel at the next DSB meeting where
this request is on the agenda, unless the DSB determines by consensus
otherwise. Under normal circumstances, the panel would be expected to
issue a report detailing its findings and recommendations within six to
nine months after it is established.
Major Issues Raised by the United States and Legal Basis of
Complaint
The TRIPS Agreement requires all WTO Members to grant patents for
the subject matter specified in Article 27 of the Agreement. Article
70.8 of the TRIPS Agreement provides that where a Member takes
advantage of the transitional provisions under the Agreement and does
not make product patent protection available for pharmaceutical and
agricultural chemical inventions as of the date of entry into force of
the WTO Agreement (i.e., January 1, 1995), that Member must implement
measures to permit Members' nationals to file patent applications drawn
to such inventions on or after that January 1, 1995. When the member
fully implements the product patent provisions of TRIPS Agreement
Article 27, these applications must be examined according to the
criteria for patentability set forth in the Agreement, based on the
earliest effective filing date claimed for the application. Patents
granted on these applications must enjoy the term and rights mandated
by the TRIPS Agreement.
The TRIPS Agreement further requires Members subject to the
obligations of Article 70.8 to provide exclusive marketing rights to
those persons who have filed an application under the interim filing
procedures, provided that the product covered by the invention has been
granted marketing approval in the member providing this transitional
protection and another Member, and a patent has been granted on the
invention in another Member.
The legal regime in Pakistan currently does not make patent
protection available for inventions as specified in Article 27 of the
TRIPS Agreement, or provide systems that conform to obligations of the
TRIPS Agreement regarding the acceptance of applications and the grant
of exclusive marketing rights. As a result, Pakistan's legal regime
appears to be inconsistent with the obligations of the TRIPS Agreement,
including but not necessarily limited to Articles 27, 65 and 70.
Public Comment: Requirements for Submissions
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning the issues raised in the dispute. Comments must be in
English and provided in fifteen copies. A person requesting that
information contained in a comment submitted by that person be treated
as confidential business information must certify that such information
is business confidential and would not customarily be released to the
public by the commenter. Confidential business information must be
clearly market ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' in a contrasting color ink at
the top of each page of each copy.
A person requesting that information or advice contained in a
comment submitted by that person, other than business confidential
information, be treated as confidential in accordance with section
135(g)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155)--
(1) must so designate that information or advice;
(2) must clearly mark the material as ``CONFIDENTIAL'' in a contrasting
color ink at the top of each page of each copy; and
(3) is encouraged to provide a non-confidential summary of the
information or advice.
Pursuant to section 127(e) of the URAA, USTR will maintain a file
on this dispute settlement proceeding, accessible to the public, in the
USTR Reading Room: Room 101, Office of the United States Trade
Representative, 600 17th Street, NW., Washington DC 20508. The public
file will include a listing of any comments made to USTR from the
public with respect to the proceeding; the U.S. submissions to the
panel in the proceeding; the submissions, or non-confidential summaries
of submissions, to the panel received from other participants in the
dispute, as well as the report of the dispute settlement panel and, if
applicable, the report of the Appellate Body. An appointment to review
the public file (Docket WTO/D-8, ``U.S.-Pakistan: Mailbox''), may be
made by calling Brenda Webb, (202) 395-6186. The USTR Reading Room is
open to the public from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday.
Jennifer Hillman,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 96-18933 Filed 7-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M