WIPO also continued to provide traineeships to officials from developing countries in the fields of industrial property and copyright. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office participated by providing training in the industrial property field, as did the U.S. Copyright Office in the copyright field through its International Copyright Institute.

Patent Cooperation Treaty

A total of 49 countries have ratified or adhered to the Patent

Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of 1990, including the United States. Under the PCT, U.S. citizens and residents may file an international patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington. The effect of the international application is the same as if national applications had been concurrently filed with national patent offices (including the European Patent Office) of those countries party to the PCT which the applicant designates. The international application is then subjected to a search of prior art by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the applicant then decides, on the basis of the international search report, whether it is worthwhile to pursue applications in the various countries designated. Since July 1987, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has also undertaken an international preliminary examination if the applicant requests it.

Brussels Satellite Convention

The United States has been since 1985 a party to the Convention Relating to the Distribution of Program-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite (Brussels Satellite Convention). This convention obliges each contracting state to take adequate and effective measures to prevent the unauthorized distribution on or from its territory of any program-carrying signal transmitted by a nondirect broadcast satellite. While only a small number of countries are party to the convention, they include the predominant users of international satellite communications facilities. The United States continued in 1991 to encourage other countries to join the Brussels Convention, an important agreement with respect to piracy of satellite television signals.

Proposed Protocol to Berne Convention

WIPO convened the first session of the Committee of Experts on a Protocol to the Berne Copyright Convention in November. The proposed protocol is intended to clarify existing, or establish new, international norms under the Berne Convention to take account of the technological developments (e.g., computers) which affect copyright protection.

Registration of Audiovisual Works

The 1989 Treaty on the International Registration of Audiovisual Works is meant to facilitate enforcement of rights and increase the legal security in transactions relating to audiovisual works, and to contribute to the fight against piracy. It provides for establishment of an international register for applications and related materials concerning the exercise of rights in audiovisual works such as motion pictures and television programs, including in particular rights relating to their exploitation. Public access to elements entered into the international system is facilitated by publication in a timely gazette. A comprehensive database of rights owners is to be maintained from which WIPO will be able to provide information electronically to interested parties.

Patent Law Harmonization

Since 1984, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has participated in negotiations, held under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization, on a treaty to harmonize national patent laws. These negotiations resulted in a draft patent law harmonization treaty, consisting of 39 articles and 13 rules covering many aspects of the patent laws. Some provisions in the draft treaty would require controversial changes in U.S. patent law, especially a proposal to adopt a first-to-file system.

The first phase of a Diplomatic Conference was held in June in the Hague to begin reviewing the proposed articles and rules. The review of the entire treaty was not completed, requiring another phase of negotiations which has not been scheduled yet. In the current draft of the treaty, the United States was being asked to make a number of substantive changes to its laws to a first-to-file system, automatic publication of applications and adoption of a patent term measured from the filing date. The United States maintained its long-standing position that it will not recommend adoption of these changes unless, on balance, the treaty offers advantages to U.S. industries.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

The World Meteorological Organization was formally established in 1950 as successor to the International Meteorological Organization, a nongovernmental organization founded in 1873. WMO is responsible for promoting international cooperation in collection, analysis and exchange of meteorological information,

and in the application of meteorology to such areas as aviation, shipping, agriculture and water resource management. Its major programs on weather, climate and water resources serve U.S. strategic and commercial interests, as well as a wide variety of human needs which depend upon timely and accurate exchange of meteorological information.

The WMO Congress, which consists of all members of the organization, meets every 4 years to review program activities, establish general policies and budgetary requirements, and conduct elections for officers of the organization and members of the Executive Council. The 11th Congress met May 1-23.

The Executive Council, a subsidiary body of the Congress, meets at least once a year to supervise implementation of programs approved by the Congress. It is composed of the president and 3 vice presidents of the organization, the 6 presidents of the regional associations, and 26 directors of national meteorological or hydrometeorological services who serve on the Council in their personal capacity for a 4-year term; there is a U.S. member on the Executive Council. The 43rd session of the Executive Council was held May 24-29, following the 11th Congress.

Program Activities

The World Weather Watch (WWW) facilitates the collection, processing and free exchange of meteorological data among its members. Its essential program elements have included the Global Observing System, the Global Data-Processing System and the Global Telecommunication System.

The 11th Congress decided that a Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) should also be established, based on existing or planned operational and research programs for observing the global environment. The Congress stressed that the GCOS should be built upon the Global Observing System and that the Global Telecommunication System would have to be enhanced to allow for timely exchange and global access to GCOS data. The second World Climate Conference in November 1990 had called for establishment of a GCOS to provide observations to monitor the climate system and detect climate change, support climatological applications for national economic development and support research towards improved understanding and prediction of the climate system.

The status of various operational satellite programs was presented to the 11th Congress by the Council's Panel of Experts on Satellites. In addition, the Congress discussed the Tropical

Cyclone Program (TCP) and praised its efforts, especially in the Caribbean.

The Congress expressed concern that commercial activities had the potential to undermine free exchange of meteorological data and products. It therefore requested the Executive Council establish a working group to study the problem associated with commercialization of meteorological products and services, and to recommend future policies. The Executive Council in its session immediately following the Congress established a working group to study the problem and identify measures to reinforce the principle of free and unrestricted international exchange of basic data and products between members.

The objective of the World Climate Program (WCP) is to assist members in understanding climate changes, and, where possible, to mitigate their adverse effects. The WCP was given additional coordination responsibilities in support of the newly created Global Climate Observing System. The Congress decided to reorganize the WCP into four components: the World Climate Data and Monitoring Program, the World Climate Applications and Services Program, the World Climate Impact Assessment and Response Strategies Program, and the World Climate Research Program.

The Climate Studies Fund, renamed the Special Trust Fund for Climate and Atmospheric Environment Activities at the Congress, has as its goal to initiate scientific activities which respond to current international needs, using extrabudgetary contributions over a limited period of time. The Congress reauthorized the Fund for at least 4 more years, and stated the Fund would provide major support towards improving observing systems. It also sought to ensure adequate participation of developing countries in international activities related to climate and environmental issues.

Such serious water problems as drought and major flood hazard have reinforced the need for efficient assessment, development and management of water resources. The Hydrology and Water Resources Program (HWRP) promotes worldwide cooperation in the evaluation and development of water resources through the coordinated establishment of hydrological networks and services, including data collection and processing, hydrological forecasting and warning, and supply of meteorological and hydrological data for planning purposes. WMO members were asked to support the International Conference on Water and the Environment, to be held in Dublin in January 1992. The

WMO is convening the Conference on behalf of UN agencies concerned with water matters.

Through the WMO Atmospheric Research and Environment Program, the organization seeks to promote a better understanding of the atmospheric environment and its processes. The Commission for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS) is responsible within the WMO for promoting and coordinating members' research efforts. The Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), proposed by the 41st Executive Council, was reviewed. The Congress concurred with the actions of the Executive Council to develop the GAW as an early warning system to detect further changes in atmosphere composition and physical parameters of environmental importance. Although technical regulations governing the GAW were submitted, the Congress decided that member countries had insufficient time to consider them and authorized the Executive Council to approve the regulations on its behalf. The Congress expressed appreciation for the initiative of the Secretary General in calling a meeting of experts to assess the atmospheric pollution effects of raging oil well fires in Kuwait and to recommend requirements for increased monitoring of the meteorological and chemical composition of the atmosphere in the immediate and downwind regions. The resulting proposals formed the atmospheric component of the UN Interagency Plan of Action, in which U.S. scientists played a major role.

The 43rd Executive Council established an "emergency assistance fund" based on voluntary contributions to assist countries struck by national disasters, e.g., a tropical cyclone which devastated parts of Bangladesh in April. In a related matter, the Council also adopted rules and procedures for the use of this special fund to help replace destroyed meteorological and/or hydrological infrastructure.

The WMO established the Voluntary Cooperation Program (VCP) in 1967 at the initiative of the United States to provide equipment and training for developing countries to assist them in participating in the WMO's World Weather Watch and other programs. Without the VCP, many developing states would be unable to install costly weather monitoring equipment, so that valuable global meteorological data (currently used by the United States to support civil aviation, shipping and storm detection/warning) would be unavailable.

In 1991 total VCP expenditures amounted to about $7.4 million, divided among provision of meteorological and hydrologi