Ecuador and WIPO Sign MOU

Geneva, March 22, 1999
Press Releases PR/1999/161

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, H.E. Mr. José Ayala Lasso, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday, outlining technical cooperation in the fields of copyright and industrial property. These project will be undertaken in the 2000-2001 biennium.

The Minister also deposited Ecuador's instrument of accession to the Paris Convention on Industrial Property. With this accession, all countries in the Latin American region are now party to the Paris Convention. The Paris Convention lays down basic international principles primarily governing the protection of patents, trademarks and industrial designs. Ecuador's accession will benefit the country's technological and economic development and enhance the international intellectual property cooperation that WIPO actively promotes.

The Memorandum of Understanding, signed in the context of WIPO's cooperation for development program, seeks to support the development of effective national intellectual property systems. Under the terms of the agreement, WIPO will support the recently established Ecuadorian Institute of Intellectual Property (IEPI) in developing a strong, modern and fully operational intellectual property infrastructure in Ecuador. The IEPI, established in 1998, is the official body in Ecuador responsible for industrial property, copyright and plant varity rights issues.

Mr. Ayala Lasso expressed his country's gratitude to WIPO and the Director General for their support in his country's efforts to develop a dynamic and progressive intellectual property infrastructure. He said he looked forward to WIPO's assistance in ensuring the success of the Institute.

The Institute seeks to develop Ecuador's economic and human resource potential to secure economic, social and cultural benefits. Dr. Idris congratulated Ecuador "on pursuing the improvement of the country's intellectual property system with admirable imagination and dynamism".

The Minister and the Director General also opened an exhibition featuring the works of Nelsón Román, a well-known Ecuadorian artist. The exhibition, entitled "Los Amantes de Sumpa" and hosted by WIPO, will be open to the public until April 2, 1999.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO: