WIPO SMEs Newsletter January 2013
By the SMEs Section 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 Section, please
visit
http://www.wipo.int/sme.
NEWS
IP PANORAMA TM Module 13: IP Issues in Franchising is Added to the Website
WIPO Advances Toward Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Persons with Print Disabilities
Meeting in extraordinary session in December 17 and 18, 2012, the WIPO General Assembly took a
landmark decision today to convene a diplomatic conference in 2013 to complete negotiations on a
pact to improve access to copyrighted works for the many visually impaired and people with print
disabilities around the world. The General Assembly also expressed gratitude to Morocco for its
offer to host the diplomatic conference.
While some countries have domestic legislation that grants limitations and exceptions for use
of copyrighted works by visually impaired and people with print disabilities, there is a legal
vacuum at the international level. Since 2004,
WIPO’s Standing Committee on
Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) has been considering
whether certain
limitations and exceptions should be harmonized internationally. WIPO’s General Assembly today
decided that discussions relating to a future treaty to benefit visually impaired and people with
print disabilities are sufficiently advanced and mature to convene a diplomatic conference. The
convening of a diplomatic conference signals entry into the final phase of treaty
negotiations.
Some 300 million blind or visually impaired people around the world stand to benefit from a
more flexible copyright regime adapted to current technological realities. Individuals with reading
impairment often need to convert information into Braille, large print, audio, electronic and other
formats using assistive technologies. Only a very small percentage of published books around the
world are available in formats accessible to the visually impaired.
Read
more.
USPTO and EPO Announce Launch of Cooperative Patent Classification System
The U.S. Commerce Department’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the
European Patent Office (EPO) today announced the formal launch of the Cooperative Patent
Classification (CPC) system, a global classification system for patent documents.
An ambitious harmonization effort, CPC is the product of a joint partnership between the USPTO
and the EPO to develop a common, internationally compatible classification system for technical
documents used in the patent granting process that incorporates the best classification practices
from both offices. It will be used by the USPTO and more than 45 patent offices – a user community
totaling more than 20,000 patent examiners – all sharing the same classifications helping to
establish the CPC as an international standard.
Since
October 2010, the USPTO and EPO have worked
jointly to develop the CPC system, which includes approximately 250,000 classification symbols
based on the International Patent Classification (IPC) system thus enabling examiners and patent
users worldwide to conduct searches by accessing the same classified patent document collections.
CPC will lead to more efficient prior art searches and enhance efficiency through work-sharing
initiatives designed to reduce unnecessary duplication of work.
CPC definitions containing a thorough description of the technical subject-matter covered will
be provided for every CPC subclass and regularly updated. Distance learning will be made available
to users in early 2013.
For more detailed information about the new classification system, including the downloadable
CPC schemes, CPC definitions and concordances (e.g. ECLA to CPC and CPC to IPC), please visit the
official CPC
website.
Resources on IP Asset Management
General Information on Training of Trainers Program, the SMEs Section, WIPO
The SMEs Section 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 Section. 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, French, Spanish, Arabic,
Hungarian, Vietnamese and Thai versions on or through the pages at
http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/multimedia/ and
http://www.ippanorama.com/.
CD-ROMs of the English, Arabic, French and Spanish 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 indicating the purpose for which the CD-ROM would be used.
Please note that requests without complete postal address will not be
processed.
LINKS
Towards enhanced patent valorization for growth and jobs
European Commission services have produced a
Staff
Working Document [203 KB] to serve as a basis for future discussions with other EU
Institutions and beyond on the need to enhance patent valorization. The Staff Working Document
presents and analyses the major obstacles European companies, mainly SMEs, have to face in
valorising existing patents, especially ‘dormant patents’. While describing the current European
initiatives aimed at addressing issues in this area, it also outlines short- to medium- and
long-term options for making better use of "dormant patents". For more details, please see
here.
Modernizing Copyright: A Modern, Robust and Flexible Framework
Following the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, and an extensive
consultation process, the UK Government has just published the final part of its response to
consultations:
Modernising copyright: a modern, robust and
flexible framework.
This document details the UK
Government’s response to consultation on a number of areas where copyright legislation appears to
get in the way of reasonable use of copyright works.
How to Make Business Model Innovation Happen
One of many good reasons to focus on the business model is that companies focusing on Business
Model Innovation outperform their industry peers in terms of operating margin and total shareholder
return. In this
in-depth
article Marc Sniukas provides a framework to describe a business model in three easy steps; a
process to start and drive Business Model Innovation within the company and an overview of tools
and how they can be used in Business Model Innovation.
Efficient Resolution of Disputes in R&D Collaborations, Licensing and Other Technology Transfer
The successful development and commercialization of technology requires a carefully integrated
dispute resolution strategy as a key factor in securing the value of technologies and associated
intellectual property (IP) rights developed in research and development (R&D) collaborations
and their subsequent commercialization.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanisms include several procedures that allow parties
to resolve their disputes out of court in a private forum, with the assistance of a qualified
neutral intermediary of their choice. ADR procedures are offered by different arbitral
institutions.
The following
fact
sheetprovides an overview of WIPO ADR mechanisms, principles, advantages and case examples to
assist SMEs, universities, research centers, researchers and others in making a considered choice
on how to resolve future or existing disputes when drafting contract clauses and submission
agreements.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Search Matters 2013 - 25th edition of the EPO's most successful seminar , Hague, March 18 and 19, 2013
This two-day seminar gives experienced patent search professionals from industry and law firms
unrivalled access to the know-how and expertise of many EPO patent examiners and other staff
working in a variety of technical fields. Lectures in the latest developments in patent
classification, search tools and databases will be complemented by a broad range of workshops,
presented by EPO experts, on search strategies and the state of the art in particular technological
fields, such as telecommunications, biotechnology and climate change mitigation.
Further information is available at
http://www.epo.org/learning-events/events/search/search-matters.html
Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications, Bangkok, March 27 to 29, 2013
The 2013 edition of the
Worldwide Symposium on
Geographical Indications is being organized jointly by the World Intellectual Property
Organization and the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) of Thailand. It will take
place at the Centara Grand Hotel (Floor 23, World Ballroom) at Central World. The working languages
of the Symposium are English, French and Thai with simultaneous interpretation.
The
program
of the Symposium covers the technicalities of the subject and recent developments in the field
of geographical indications (GIs) including:a roundup of recent developments and initiatives in the
field of geographical indications, with a particular emphasis on GIs for non agricultural products;
the management of geographical indications, in particular the role of producer groups and the
traceability and control schemes for geographical indications; branding strategies, marketing and
enforcement issues in the field of geographical indications: how marketing-oriented
GI producers and intermediaries build and sustain trust; foresight and horizon scanning
following emerging issues and the current debate to set up an international registration system for
GIs.
NOTE:
The SMEs Section 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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