A committee of international experts meeting at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva from March 16 to 20, 2009 agreed to simplify the structure of the international system for classifying patents. Reform of the system, known as the International Patent Classification (IPC) system, will ensure more consistent search results and their wider use by industrial property offices.
Allegations of cybersquatting by trademark holders continued to rise in 2008, with a record 2,329 complaints filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), a quick and cost-effective dispute resolution procedure administered by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. This represented an 8% increase over 2007 in the number of generic and country code Top Level Domain (gTLDs and ccTLDs) disputes handled and brings the total number of WIPO cases filed under the UDRP since it was launched ten years ago to over 14,000. To improve efficiency and respond to growing demand, WIPO proposed in December 2008 an “eUDRP Initiative” to render the UDRP paperless.
Peru became the 141st contracting state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) when it deposited its instrument of accession at WIPO on March 6, 2009. The Treaty will enter into force for Peru on June 6, 2009.
Chile became the 140th contracting state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) when it deposited its instrument of accession at WIPO on March 2, 2009. The Treaty will enter into force for Chile on June 2, 2009.
International trademark activity remained robust overall in 2008 with WIPO receiving a record 42,075 applications under the 84-member Madrid system for the international registration of trademarks (“the Madrid system”), representing a 5.3% rate of growth. Filing activity was stronger in the first six months of the year (+6.9% compared to the same period in 2007) than in the second half of 2008 (+3.9%) mirroring a slowdown in global economic conditions.
The use of intellectual property (IP) assets to raise finance – “IP financing” – will be the subject of an information meeting organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization at its Geneva headquarters on March 10, 2009.
International patent filings under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) grew by 2.4% in 2008, to nearly 164,000 applications. While the rate of growth was modest, as compared to an average 9.3% rate of growth in the previous three years, the total number of applications for 2008 represents the highest number of applications received under the PCT in a single year.
The King of Thailand, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, received on January 14, 2009, the WIPO Global Leader Award in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to promoting intellectual property and his important contribution to society as a prolific inventor. The award was presented by WIPO Director General, Mr. Francis Gurry, at a ceremony at the Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin, Thailand. Members of the Privy Council, ministers, senior officials and a high level WIPO delegation were in attendance.
A new international treaty setting standards for trademark registration procedures will become effective in 2009 following its ratification by Australia on December 16, 2008. This is the tenth ratification of the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (“the Singapore Treaty”) and will allow the treaty to enter into force on March 16. 2009.
The approval by Member states of a revised program and budget on December 12, 2008 marked the start of a comprehensive program of strategic change in the direction and work of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) led by Director General Francis Gurry. The process aims to realign WIPO's programs, resources and structures with a new set of strategic goals, so as to enable the Organization to respond more effectively to the rapidly evolving technological, cultural and geo-economic environment.