Heads of WIPO and ASIPI Agree on Importance of Intellectual Property for Business
Geneva, October 23, 2003
Press Releases PR/2003/364
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, and the President of the Inter-American Association of Industrial Property (ASIPI), Mr. Alberto Berton Moreno, agreed on Thursday on the importance of intellectual property as a tool for economic, social and cultural development. The talks between Dr. Idris and the ASIPI delegation, in Geneva, covered issues of mutual concern including possible collaboration between the two organizations to promote use and further development of intellectual property in the Americas, the WIPO Patent Agenda, and the Madrid Protocol for the international registration of trademarks.
Dr. Idris updated the delegation on developments relating to the WIPO Patent Agenda. This initiative serves to coordinate discussions on the future development of the international patent system to ensure that it is more user-friendly, affordable and accessible and that it provides an appropriate balance between the rights of inventors and the general public interest, while taking into account the implications for developing countries.
Dr. Idris also outlined progress in discussions on global harmonization of substantive patent law, particularly in relation to the work of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) in reviewing provisions contained in the draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT). The SPLT aims to simplify, streamline and achieve greater convergence among national law and practice in the examination and grant of patents.
In discussing the Madrid system for the international registration of trademarks, the Director General underlined the need to foster an open debate among policy-makers and business sectors in the Latin American region to promote better understanding of the potential commercial advantages to be derived from using the system, particularly in relation to expanding market access and export promotion. He said that the recent decision by WIPO member states to include Spanish as a working language of the Madrid Protocol as of April 1, 2004, was an additional advantage to be considered by those Spanish-speaking countries that remained outside the system. Currently, international trademark applications under the Madrid Protocol are required to be submitted in English or French. The Madrid system, which currently has a membership of 74 countries, gives a trademark owner the possibility of protecting a trademark in several countries by simply filing one application, in one language, with one set of fees in one currency (Swiss francs). It is a cost-effective and efficient way for trademark holders to ensure protection for their marks in multiple countries through the filing of a single application. An international registration produces the same effects as an application for registration of the mark made in each of the countries designated by the applicant. If protection is not refused by the trademark office of a designated country, the protection of the mark is the same as if it had been registered by that office.
ASIPI is a non-profit organization which brings together concerned IP professionals to study, disseminate and develop industrial property. It groups some 900 members from the Americas. The visiting ASIPI delegation included, Mr. Alberto Berton Moreno (Argentina), President of ASIPI, Mr. Hugo Berkemeyer (Paraguay), Secretary, ASIPI, Mr. Martín Michaus (Mexico), President, Committee of Trademarks, Association of Industrial Property, ASIPI, Mr. Sergio Amenábar Villaseca (Chile), Mr. Peter Siemsen (Brazil), former President, ASIPI and Mr. Marino Porzio (Chile), Attorney-Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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