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WIPO Director General Visits Japan

Geneva, November 22, 1999
Press Updates UPD/1999/75

The Director General of WIPO, Dr. Kamil Idris, participated in a series of events organized by the Government of Japan to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Japan's accession to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property on Tuesday, November 16, 1999. The Paris Convention applies to industrial property in the widest sense, covering inventions, marks, industrial designs, trade names and geographical indications. Concluded in 1883, it is one of the pillars of the international intellectual property system setting out minimum standards of protection for inventors of 156 states which have signed up to the treaty to date.

In the course of his visit to Tokyo, Dr. Idris had an audience with Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi. Also present were Mr. Takahiko Kondo, Commissioner, Japanese Patent Office, Mr. Todd Dickinson, United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, and Dr. Ingo Kober, President, European Patent Office. Separately, the Director General met with Mr. Takashi Fukaya, Minister of International Trade and Industry and members of the international intellectual property community.

A focal point of these centennial celebrations was a symposium entitled "Intellectual Property Rights - Catalyst of Growth in the 21st Century" which was attended by some 400 participants from government, academic, industry and diplomatic circles. In his opening address, Mr. Takahiko Kondo, Commissioner of the Japanese Patent Office (JPO), stressed the importance of future global patent system and the need enhance and harmonize patent search standards and operations to improve the efficiency of these global systems.

In his keynote address Dr. Idris commended the enormous efforts and achievements of the Japanese industrial property community. Japan has a long and fruitful record of intellectual property protection. It is currently party to ten international treaties administered by WIPO. Recognizing the importance and economic value of intellectual property protection for both developed and developing countries, Japan has made significant financial donations to WIPO for the purposes of development cooperation within the Asia and Pacific region.

The Director General highlighted the growing importance of intellectual property rights, in light of the emergence of knowledge and information based economies. He underlined the crucial role of the intellectual property system in converting information and knowledge into tangible and commercially valuable assets.

During his visit to Tokyo, Dr. Idris conferred a WIPO Gold Medal Award on Dr. Akira Aoki, Patent Agent, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the promotion of international cooperation in the field of intellectual property and inventive and innovative activity. The WIPO Gold Medal Award Scheme, established in 1978, was launched in order to reward inventors and creators and to raise public awareness of their important contribution to society.

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