Collaboration in Times of Crisis

An important objective of the WIPO Singapore Office (WSO) is to promote WIPO services and resources to the business sector. With this in mind, IP professionals are significant stakeholders in efforts to increase awareness, understanding and use of WIPO services and resources. Most IP lawyers, patent attorneys and other IP professionals are members of their national IP association or a regional IP organization. As a result, the IP associations within ASEAN are key contributors to the work of the WSO.

This year’s Roundtable for the Executives of National and Regional IP Associations in ASEAN was the sixth since the inaugural meeting took place in 2016. Due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this roundtable was held via videoconference. It was the second of virtual meeting of the group in 2020.

The roundtable was well attended with seven of the eight national associations joining the meeting. Participants from five regional associations (ASEAN IP Association, AIPPI, Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA), FICPI and INTA) also joined the videoconference.

The agenda was developed after feedback from the associations identified specific topics of interest to the group. As a result, the featured a presentations from WIPO’s Composite Indicator Research Section who delivered a presentation on ASEAN in the Global Innovation Index, and WIPO’s Statistics and Data Analytics Division who discussed filing trends during the pandemic. The WSO presented material relating to WIPO’s International Patent Drafting Training Program, to promote this training opportunity. The agenda was developed after feedback from the associations identified specific topics of interest to the group. As a result, the featured a presentations from WIPO’s Composite Indicator Research Section who delivered a presentation on ASEAN in the Global Innovation Index, and WIPO’s Statistics and Data Analytics Division who discussed filing trends during the pandemic. The WSO presented material relating to WIPO’s International Patent Drafting Training Program, to promote this training opportunity.