| Description: |
IPOBSD has been providing support to Pacific Island IP offices for several years, using the WIPO Singapore Office as a base. To date, we have activities with Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga. In April 2017, WIPO signed a cooperation agreement with Vanuatu and a project will start there soon.
Because of the geographical remoteness of the region and the relatively small size of the offices, it is not very cost effective to provide suport by sending Singapore-based staff on extensive missions for training and technical assistance. While a certina number of missions will always be necessary, there is a need to significantly upgrade the capacity of the offices to utilize WIPO’s IP office solutions and to increase their autonomy to the extend possible.
After discussions with IP Australia, it is proposed to organize an intensive two-week training session in Canberra, Australia, for technical staff from the IP offices of Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. |