WIPO SMEs Newsletter October 2011
By the SMEs Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
WIPO SMEs Newsletter is a monthly e-publication providing readers with useful intellectual
property (IP) information contained in articles, case studies, forthcoming IP/SMEs relevant events,
and published presentations featured on our web site. We hope you will find it useful and
informative. We encourage you to share the newsletter or items of interest with friends and
colleagues. For past issues and information on the activities of the SMEs Division, please
visit
http://www.wipo.int/sme.
NEWS
WIPO Releases Compilation of Recent IP Statistics
WIPO released
an overview of
intellectual property (IP) activity in 2009, the last year where full data are available. WIPO
IP Facts and Figures 2011 covers patents, utility models, trademarks and industrial designs and
serves as a quick reference guide for IP statistics gathered from 90 IP offices around the
world. It shows that trademark protection – with over 3 million applications filed per year
since 2005 – is the most sought-after form of IP globally. The China Trademark Office received a
quarter of all trademark applications worldwide in 2009. Figures for industrial designs show
significant growth rates, also owing to high filing activity in China.
When filings in China are combined with those of India, Japan and the Republic of Korea, these
four Asian offices accounted for 37% of total trademark applications. India showed the highest
five-year growth (13.5%) from 2005 to 2009, whereas China had one of the highest annual growth
rates (20.8%) from 2008 to 2009.
Decommissioning of the "classic" PATENTSCOPE and the new PATENTSCOPE 2.0
After 8 years of good service, the "classic" PATENTSCOPE search interface located at
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/index.jspwill be phased out on 13 October 2011 and all search
requests made to the old interface will be redirected to the new PATENTSCOPE system at
http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/search/en/search.jsf.
The two systems have been running in parallel since September 2009 to give end users the time to
switch to the new system and most of the requests are now executed by the new system.
The new system is designed to support all the "classic" PATENTSCOPE features, fields and
search syntax, therefore the migration of the remaining users is expected to be
straightforward.
Making use of the latest developments in open source search and web technologies, the new
system also offers new functionality and improved collections coverage with competitive maintenance
and development costs.
Please consult our FAQ available here:
http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/faqs_oldpatentscope.html
for more detailed information.
US Patent Reform Becomes Law
On September 16, 2011, the President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama signed
the America InventsAct (AIA) into law. The Act has resulted in
a
major overhaul of the U.S. patent system, with a view to make it much easier for inventors to
bring their products to market. On the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) there
is an online guide at
http://www.uspto.gov/AmericaInventsAct. See
also a related article entitled, “
Are
patent reforms good for small businesses?”
S outh Africa , Considering Changes to Intellectual Property Registration System
Creating a model Patent Office for a developing country is not a simple task, as each country
has different needs at different stages, said Mr. James Pooley, Deputy Director General of WIPO,
while speaking at
a
conference on accelerating intellectual property and innovation in in Cape Town, South
Africa.
Training/Learning Resources on IP Asset Management
General Information on Training of Trainers Program, the SMEs Division, WIPO
The SMEs Division of WIPO supports the organization of national Training of Trainers (TOT)
Programs in countries that have translated and/or adapted the basic materials on IP for Business
published by the Division. The objective of the TOTs is to create a critical mass of trainers in
the country with enough knowledge and skills to provide assistance to SMEs on effective IP asset
management at a basic level. For more details, please see
here.
IP PANORAMA TM Multimedia Toolkit
The IP PANORAMA
™ multimedia toolkit is now available in English, Arabic, Hungarian, Vietnamese and Thai
versions on or through the
SMEs Division’s website. CD-ROMs of the
English and Arabic versions are also available on request. Anyone interested in receiving a
free copy of the CD-ROM may email
sme@wipo.int , providing the full postal address, including
telephone number, and indicate the purpose for which the CD-ROM would be used.
Useful Training Packages, Australian Government
Training.gov.au (TGA), the database on Vocational Education and Training in Australia is
offering several training packages on intellectual property including “
Intellectual
Property Strategic Management Skill Set” and “
Diploma of
Franchising.”
LINKS
Honmono: WIPO Publishes an Original Manga Illustrating Why Fakes Are Bad News
This new
mangaoffers
an entertaining and effective means to inform young consumers about the health and safety risks of
counterfeit products. The manga is currently available in English and Japanese. More
information about this outreach initiative can be found
here
.
New Guidance: Strategic Management View of IPRs for OER in UK Higher Education
In order to assist senior management at universities to address the strategic choices that
need to be made in relation to the adoption (or rejection) of an open educational resources
approach, the OER IPR Support Project has published
guidance on Strategic Management of
Intellectual Property Rights for OER in UK Higher Education, available under heading B.8 at
http://www.web2rights.com/OERIPRSupport/diagnostics.html
(in both MS Word and pdf formats).
Do not underestimate the right to your name
On 5 July 2011, the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) rendered its decision in the case
between
Mr
Elio Fiorucci and Edwin Co. Ltd. At issue was whether or not a person may block the
registration of a Community trade mark on the basis of the legal protection that may vest in his or
her name in any given Member State. In 1997, Edwin Co. Ltd. applied for the registration of
the word trade mark ELIO FIORUCCI, seven years after it had bought Mr Elio Fiorucci's fashion
company. In 2003, Mr Elio Fiorucci challenged the validity of the trade mark registration,
claiming that his name enjoyed special protection in Italy.
Getting to Eureka!: How Companies Can Promote Creativity
As global competition intensifies, its more important than ever that companies figure out how
to innovate if they are going to maintain their edge, or maintain their existence at all. Six
Harvard Business School faculty in
this article share insights on the best ways
to develop creative workers.
Intellectual Property Explained
FOTHCOMING EVENTS
Ninth Annual WIPO Forum on Intellectual Property and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises for Intellectual Property Offices and other Relevant Institutions in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Countries
The World Intellectual Property Organization is organizing the Ninth Annual Forum on
Intellectual Property and SMEs for IP Offices and relevant institutions in the member countries of
the OECD. The Forum will be held in the European Patent Office (EPO) Munich on October 19 and 20,
2011. Please see the
provisional
program
The aim of the Forum is to provide an open and interactive platform to share experiences and
views on matters concerning intellectual property for industry and business; in particular, the
participants will discuss:
- IP related key issues of relevance to entrepreneurship and competitiveness of SMEs;
- Outreach activities, technical assistance programs, services and products, as well as best practices on effective us of IP by innovators, creators, entrepreneurs and SMEs;
- Possibilities for cooperation and partnership in the outreach and capacity building activities for greater and more effective use of the IP system by the enterprise sector, especially micro enterprises and SMEs.
Participants, or their sponsoring institutions, have to finance fully their travel and
accommodation costs to attend the Forum.
Those interested in participating in the program may send an email to Mr. Marco Marzano de
Marinis at
marco.marzano@wipo.int
ip4inno Workshops from the EPO This Autumn!
The European Patent Office (EPO) is offering
three 2-day
workshops this November with a selection of topics from over 60 teaching hours of recently
updated material. This popular project is providing business advisors and TTOs with practical IP
strategy training they can use when supporting their own client SMEs, entrepreneurs and start-ups.
The modules cover much more than simply "how to register rights", but rather discuss the business
context in which IP can be commercialised. Modules on IP licensing, valuation, financing and
enforcement provide a complete picture of the role IP plays in protecting and encouraging
innovation.
WIPO Arbitration Workshop, October 13-14, 2011 (Geneva, Switzerland)
Arbitration is a procedure in which a dispute is submitted, by agreement of the parties, to
one or more arbitrators who make a binding decision on the dispute. In choosing arbitration,
the parties opt for a private dispute resolution procedure instead of going to court. The
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center will offer an Arbitration Workshop in Geneva on Thursday,
October 13 and Friday, October 14, 2011. This Workshop will provide intensive basic training
of a practical nature for party representatives in arbitration and for arbitrators, as well as
others wishing to familiarize themselves with the international arbitration process. The
training, which will be conducted by experienced international arbitrators, will focus on the main
principles of international commercial arbitration law and practice, with particular reference to
the practical application of the WIPO Arbitration and Expedited Arbitration Rules (as well as the
WIPO Expert Determination Rules) in intellectual property and technology disputes.
Further information is available at
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/events/
NOTE:
The SMEs Division welcomes voluntary contributions of articles, case studies, news items,
useful links and relevant information concerning forthcoming events of interest to entrepreneurs
and SMEs for inclusion in future issues of this newsletter; contributions may be sent by email to
sme@wipo.int.
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Copyright (c) 2011 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), 34, chemin des
Colombettes, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
