A new public-private partnership which aims to provide industrial property offices, universities and research institutes in least developed countries with free access, and similar institutions in certain developing countries with low cost access, to advanced tools and services for retrieving and analyzing patent data was launched at WIPO’s headquarters on September 17, 2010. This will support these countries in effectively leveraging the valuable information contained in patent documents to facilitate technological innovation and economic development.
WIPO launched on September 16, 2010 an on-line tool that is linked to its International Patent Classification (IPC) system to facilitate searches for patent information relating to environmentally sound technologies (ESTs). This will help to help in identifying existing and emerging green technologies, as well as potential partners for further R&D and commercial exploitation.
The annual meetings of WIPO member states begin on September 20, 2010 with a two-day high-level ministerial segment on the theme “Innovation, Growth and Development: The Role of Intellectual Property and Member States’ National Experiences.” Some 70 ministers have confirmed their participation in the event, reflecting the importance of intellectual property (IP) in senior policy-making spheres.
A new WIPO report analyzing intellectual property (IP) trends in 2008 and 2009 shows that innovative activity and demand for IP rights dipped during the global economic crisis, but began to recover this year.
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry has welcomed the adoption by member states of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) of a new legal instrument that seeks to protect African traditional knowledge and folklore.
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and the Director General of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, signed an agreement on August 20, 2010 designed to strengthen collaboration between the two organizations.
Experts from WIPO member states rolled up their sleeves this week and got down to the nitty-gritty of discussions aimed at reaching agreement on an international legal instrument (or instruments) to ensure the effective protection of traditional knowledge (TK), traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) and genetic resources (GRs). Their work focused on what is considered to be the most mature of the three subjects - TCEs - covered by the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry wrapped up a three day official visit to Dhaka on July 20, 2010 during which he held a series of high level meetings, including with the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. Talks focused on ways to enhance cooperation between WIPO and Bangladesh as well as a range of issues of interest to least developed countries as a whole. Mr. Gurry also presented to the Prime Minister the results of a WIPO-commissioned study on traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) of Bangladesh.
WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) met from June 30 to July 2, 2010 to address industrial design law issues, the protection of state names against registration or use as trademarks, grounds of refusal for trademark registration and collective and certification marks.
WIPO Director General Francis Gurry wrapped up an official visit to Ukraine this week (June 29 to July 1, 2010) during which he met a number of high level Government representatives, including Mr. Volodymyr Semynozhenko, Vice Prime Minister and Mr. Dmytro Tabachnyk, Minister for Education and Science.