Heads of South and Southeast Asia, Mongolia, Iran IP Offices Meet to Discuss Closer Cooperation

July 27, 2016

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry opened on July 19, 2016 the annual meeting of Heads of Intellectual Property Office Conference (HIPOC) for Countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Mongolia and Iran by highlighting the importance of further adherence by countries in the region to WIPO treaties, notably the Organization’s global IP services.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting on the theme “Conversations on IP Office Management”, Mr. Gurry said there was an increase in demand for IP rights from the region. Asia, he said, now accounted for 43% of all filings under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), as opposed to Europe (29%) and the United States of America (27%).

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry opening the annual meeting of Heads of Intellectual Property Office Conference (HIPOC). Commissioner Shen Changyu (center) of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of the People’s Republic of China also spoke at the opening session. — WIPO Director General Francis Gurry (second from right) opening the annual meeting of Heads of Intellectual Property Office Conference (HIPOC). Commissioner Shen Changyu (center) of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of the People’s Republic of China also spoke at the opening session. (Photo: WIPO)

Managing IP rights

Mr. Gurry expressed hope that more countries in the region will join WIPO’s global IP services as they offer significant advantages for users. He also outlined a list of WIPO services that facilitate management of IP rights, such as the WIPO Digital Access Service (DAS) which is an electronic system allowing priority documents and similar documents to be securely exchanged between participating intellectual property (IP) offices.

He also cited WIPO CASE – Centralized Access to Search and Examination – a system which enables patent offices to securely share search and examination documentation related to patent applications in order to facilitate work sharing programs.

Regional cooperation on IP

Commissioner Shen Changyu of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of the People’s Republic of China, who also spoke at the opening session, highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in advancing economic and social progress through use of intellectual property. He highlighted China’s commitment to the strategic use of intellectual property to further innovation and economic growth.

Commissioner Shen said this grouping of countries has huge potential for using innovation to pursue development objectives. SIPO, he noted, is proactive in its cooperation activities with countries in the region. IP, he said, plays a key role in an increasingly interconnected and globalized world where technological development is a priority, including in China. Mr. Shen referred to SIPO’s funds-in-trust contributions to WIPO, saying this underlined China’s commitment to furthering respect for IP around the world.

Annual forum

The two day meeting brought together some 30 participants from 15 countries and covered a number of issues relating to IP office managements, such as measuring organizational performance, human resources management, building a customer-centric service culture and work-sharing capacity.

This annual meeting serves as an exclusive forum for heads of national IP offices to exchange views with countries in the region and with WIPO on a coordinated long-term technical assistance program which emphasizes the accountability and responsibility of country-level institutions. It is also an opportunity to work closely with WIPO to sustain the results of development cooperation activities in prioritized areas of assistance.