The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, met with the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Kurmanbek Bakiev, during an official visit to that country on June 16 and 17, 2008 to mark the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Kyrgyz State Patent Service. Dr. Idris also met with the Prime Minister, Mr. Igor Chudinov and a number of senior representatives from government and academia.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is hosting an Inter-regional Forum in Geneva on July 1 and 2, 2008, to explore possible strategies for intellectual property (IP) administrations in developing countries, least-developed countries (LDCs) and certain countries in Europe and Asia, to respond to the diverse and expanding needs and expectations of the IP user community. The Forum will focus on practical measures that may be taken to improve and expand the range of value-added services available to all stakeholders, including the public, to forge relations with the IP user community and to ensure that IP administrations are better able to support national development objectives. The Forum will take place at WIPO’s headquarters and will bring together heads of IP offices and other senior officials of countries from all regions and is open to all interested member states of WIPO.
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, welcomed the accession by the African Intellectual Property Organization (known by its French acronym OAPI - Organisation africaine de la propriété intellectuelle) to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs on June 16, 2008. The Geneva Act is one of the three treaties that govern the Hague System for the international registration of industrial designs and offer businesses in all participating countries a simple, affordable and efficient way of obtaining and maintaining their industrial designs portfolios.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will launch in September 2008 a pilot program to assist indigenous communities to document their own cultural traditions, archive this heritage for future generations, and safeguard their interest in authorizing use of their recordings and traditions by third parties.
Heads of intellectual property (IP) academies and training and research institutes from across the globe meeting in Beijing under the umbrella of the Global Network on Intellectual Property Academies (GNIPA) on May 8 and 9, 2008, agreed to intensify efforts to strengthen collaboration between particpating institutes, to promote the development of effective IP training programs for diverse target groups and to galvanize support for the Network. The Symposium, hosted by the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) discussed, a number of key issues relating to IP education, training and research. The first such Symposium was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in March 2007 and the next Symposium will be hosted by the European Patent Office (EPO) in 2009.
The Coordination Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) nominated Mr. Francis Gurry, a national of Australia, to become the next Director General of WIPO. The candidate will have to be appointed by the WIPO General Assembly at its next meeting, which is scheduled from September 22 to 30, 2008.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reinforced its cooperation with the Republic of Ghana with the signing on May 7, 2008 of an intellectual property (IP) development plan which aims to build the country’s capacity to create, protect and utilize IP as a power tool for economic growth and development. The IP Development Plan also seeks to ensure that the IP offices and potential users of the IP system - such as universities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), chambers of commerce and industry, research and development institutions and copyright organizations - have the technical capacity to use the intellectual property system. The agreement was signed, on behalf of the Republic of Ghana, by H.E. Joe Ghartey, Attorney General and Minister for Justice.
This year’s World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, 2008 focuses on celebrating innovation and promoting respect for intellectual property (IP). In his message to mark the eighth World IP Day, Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), highlights the intrinsic link between creativity, innovation and IP. Dr. Idris pays tribute to inventors around the world who have driven technological advances and enriched our collective cultural heritage.
Sao Tome and Principe became the 139th contracting state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) when it deposited its instrument of accession at WIPO on April 3, 2008. The Treaty will enter into force for Sao Tome and Principe on July 3, 2008.
As part of its efforts related to the protection of intangible cultural heritage, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has partnered with the Permanent Mission of Indonesia in Geneva, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG) to support a performance of the Wayang Shadow Puppet Theatre, an exquisite portrayal of Indonesia’s living heritage.