Decisions of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization United States-Section 211 Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1998 Download the Complete Survey (PDF Format) * Full Text of the WTO Appellate Body Report (PDF Format) ** WTO Appellate Body Report: United States-Section 211 Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1998, WT/DS17/AB/R, adopted 1 February 2002. European Communities, Appellant/Appellee, United States, Appellant/Appellee. Division: Ehlermann, Bacchus, Lacarte-Mur?. Major Topics Addressed by the Appellate Body: Articles 2.1 (incorporation by reference), 3 (national treatment), 15, 16 and 42 (enforcement) of TRIPS, Article 2.1 (national treatment), Article 6 quinquies (enforcement "as is"), and Article 8 (trade names) of the Paris Convention, Article 17.6 of the DSU. 1. Abstract The fundamental issue in this case was whether the U.S. is permitted under TRIPS to deny trademark ownership rights to certain foreign owners of what the U.S. considers "confiscated" intellectual property rights. For these purposes, of course, TRIPS incorporates by reference certain provisions of the Paris Convention. The Appellate Body found that as Section 211 related to ownership, and Articles 15, 16, and 42 of TRIPS address the rights to be accorded to owners, Section 211 did not violate these provisions. Article 6 quinquies of the Paris Convention (incorporated pursuant to Article 2.1 of TRIPS) deals with the form of protection, not the availability of protection, and so also is not violated by Section 211. Finally, Section 211 violates national treatment rules in Article 3 of TRIPS, as well as that incorporated from Article 2.1 of the Paris Convention, by virtue of its requirements of additional procedures for certain foreign persons. * The free viewer (Acrobat Reader) for PDF file is available at the Adobe Systems ** provided by WorldTradeLaw.net
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