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.
The fifteen candidates for the post of Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) met with representatives of member states on April 14, 2008, each outlining his or her respective platform and responding to pre-submitted questions from the different regional groups. The Chairperson of the Coordination Committee - following informal consultations last month with representatives of the 83 member body that will nominate a candidate in May for appointment to this position by the WIPO General Assembly in September 2008 - decided on arrangements for the one day informal meeting to give an opportunity for candidates to present themselves and respond to questions.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) signed this week separate cooperation agreements with two leading educational institutions in Mexico – the Technological Institute of Monterrey and the University of Guadalajara – to advance the teaching of intellectual property.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presented two awards at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions on April 4, 2008, as part of the Organization’s commitment to promoting recognition of inventors worldwide.
A one-day meeting of an extraordinary session of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Assemblies on March 31, 2008 ended with agreement to adopt the Organization’s program and budget for 2008/09, as well as a 5% decrease in fees paid for international patent applications.
Against the background of an unprecedented number of cybersquatting cases in 2007, the evolving nature of the domain name registration system (DNS) is causing growing concern for trademark owners around the world. Last year, a record 2,156 complaints alleging cybersquatting – or the abusive registration of trademarks on the Internet - were filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center (Center), representing an 18% increase over 2006 and a 48% increase over 2005 in the number of generic and country code Top Level Domain (gTLDs and ccTLDs) disputes (see Table 1).
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, today hailed the 125th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The so-called “Paris Convention” was signed in the French capital on 20 March, 1883 and is widely considered as the cornerstone of the international industrial property system. One of the main features of the treaty is that it establishes international standards requiring countries to apply the same level of protection to nationals of other contracting parties as they apply to their own nationals.