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Legislative Texts
WIPO
Article 7
Conference
(1)
(a) There shall be a Conference consisting of the States party to this Convention whether or not they
are members of any of the Unions.
(b) The Government of each State shall be represented by one delegate, who may be assisted by
alternate delegates, advisors, and experts.
(c) The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Government which has appointed it.
(2) The Conference shall:
(i) discuss matters of general interest in the field of intellectual property and may adopt
recommendations relating to such matters, having regard for the competence and autonomy of
the Unions;
(ii) adopt the biennial budget of the Conference;
(iii) within the limits of the budget of the Conference, establish the biennial program of legal–
technical assistance;
(iv) adopt amendments to this Convention as provided in Article 17;
(v) determine which States not Members of the Organization and which intergovernmental and
international non–governmental organizations shall be admitted to its meetings as observers;
(vi) exercise such other functions as are appropriate under this Convention.
(3)
(a) Each Member State shall have one vote in the Conference.
(b) One–third of the Member States shall constitute a quorum.
(c) Subject to the provisions of Article 17, the Conference shall make its decisions by a majority of
two–thirds of the votes cast.
(d) The amounts of the contributions of States party to this Convention not members of any of the
Unions shall be fixed by a vote in which only the delegates of such States shall have the right to vote.
(e) Abstentions shall not be considered as votes.
(f) A delegate may represent, and vote in the name of, one State only.
(4)
(a) The Conference shall meet in ordinary session, upon convocation by the Director General, during
the same period and at the same place as the General Assembly.
(b) The Conference shall meet in extraordinary session, upon convocation by the Director General, at
the request of the majority of the Member States.
(5) The Conference shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
Article 8
Coordination Committee
(1)
(a) There shall be a Coordination Committee consisting of the States party to this Convention which
are members of the Executive Committee of the Paris Union, or the Executive Committee of the Berne
Union, or both. However, if either of these Executive Committees is composed of more than one–fourth of
the number of the countries members of the Assembly which elected it, then such Executive Committee
shall designate from among its members the States which will be members of the Coordination Committee,
in such a way that their number shall not exceed the one–fourth referred to above, it being understood that
the country on the territory of which the Organization has its headquarters shall not be included in the
computation of the said one–fourth.
(b) The Government of each State member of the Coordination Committee shall be represented by one
delegate, who may be assisted by alternate delegates, advisors, and experts.
(c) Whenever the Coordination Committee considers either matters of direct interest to the program or
budget of the Conference and its agenda, or proposals for the amendment of this Convention which would
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