Report on the implementation of article 66.2
of the TRIPS agreement

Australia

The following communication, dated 26 September 2023, from the delegation of Australia, is being circulated pursuant to paragraph 1 of the Decision on Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement (document _IP/C/28).

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1  OVERVIEW

1.  Australia is committed to implementing Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement. Australia is also committed to sharing information with other WTO Members about incentives and support it offers enterprises and institutions to promote and encourage technology transfer to least developed country Members (LDCs).

2.  This is a full report in respect of Article 66.2 which builds upon annual update reports provided in 2012 (document _IP/C/W/580/Add.2), 2013 (document _IP/C/W/594/Add.7), 2014 (document _IP/C/W/602), 2015 (document _IP/C/W/611/Add.4), 2016 (document _IP/C/W/616/Add.1), 2017 (document _IP/C/W/631/Add.1/Rev.1), 2018 (document _IP/C/W/646/Add.2), 2019 (document _IP/C/W/656/Add.3), 2020 (document _IP/C/R/TTI/AUS/1), 2021 (document _IP/C/R/TTI/AUS/2) and 2022 (document _IP/C/R/TTI/AUS/3). It is submitted in accordance with the TRIPS Council's decision of 20 February 2003 on implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement (document _IP/C/28). Consistent with that decision, developed country Members are to provide annual reports on actions taken or planned in pursuance of their Article 66.2 commitments. The report focuses on incentives that are either targeted specifically at LDCs or at a group of countries which includes an LDC.

3.  In this report, technology transfer is taken to include training, education and the dissemination of knowledge, as well as the intellectual property embedded in transferred goods and services and the dissemination of business information and know-how on which a product, process or service is based.

4.  This report focuses on Australia's efforts to help LDCs create the conditions essential to encourage technology transfer. Technical cooperation in favour of least developed and developing countries to facilitate the TRIPS Agreement's implementation is another discrete obligation, on which Australia reports separately. Australia recognises that some technical cooperation activities may help to create an environment conducive to the creation or acquisition of technologies.

5.  In Australia, many incentives for technology transfer take the form of official development assistance (ODA). These incentives align with Australia's strategic focus on using aid as a catalyst to promote sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. Since 2012, Australia has provided AUD 5.8 million of aid for trade funding to the Australia-World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Funds in Trust (FiT) program, to assist technology and knowledge transfer to least-developed and developing countries in the Indo-Pacific region. The third phase of this program (FiT3) concluded in March 2022. The Australian Government is currently considering funding a further phase of the program, (FiT4), which would build on previous themes, continuing support for a range of intellectual property (IP) capacity building activities to: help establish national IP systems; support accession to WIPO-administered treaties; assist development of legal frameworks and infrastructure for effective knowledge transfer, especially to assist marginalised groups; and increase access to educational materials for the visually impaired. In March 2022, the activities under FiT3 were completed. There were delays and postponement of activities due to global COVID-19 health concerns and subsequent travel restrictions. Development of a judicial toolkit on IP adjudication ('IP benchbook') for judges and judicial officers directed to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has begun. The IP benchbook is intended to be an important judicial resource, serving as a core element of future judicial capacity building programs for judges and judicial officers.

6.  Enterprises and institutions eligible for funding to deliver projects and activities to facilitate technology transfer include government agencies and public institutions, non-government organisations, independent consultants and experts, and universities and research organisations.

7.  Australian aid has been untied since 2006, allowing non-Australian organisations to bid for contracts to supply goods and services under bilateral and multilateral development assistance programmes. Untied aid helps ensure activities represent value for money, are cost-effective and attract the best-available global expertise, thereby achieving the best development results. Consistent with this, Australia's aid-funded incentives for technology transfer are not restricted to Australian institutions and enterprises.

8.  Australia recognises that LDC Members are interested in the outcomes of technology transfer activities. This report's annex includes specific examples of relevant programs and projects in the format suggested by LDCs (document _IP/C/W/561), including work done to deliver safe, effective and accessible COVID-19 immunisation programs.