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Cooperation Activities
IP Australia’s Development Cooperation Activities
Participating actively in APEC- IPEG
Established in 1996, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Intellectual Property Rights Experts’ Group (IPEG) implements a work program which aims to:
- Deepen the dialogue on intellectual property policy;
- Survey and exchange information on the current status of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection and administrative systems;
- Study measures for the effective enforcement of IPR;
- Fully implement the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); and
- Facilitate technical cooperation to implement TRIPS.
The most recent APEC IPEG meetings were held in Canberra in January 2007 and in Chinese Taipei in June 2007. In 2008, both APEC IPEG meetings will be held in Peru.
Click here for more information on the current APEC IPEG activities.
Australia takes a lead role in providing technical assistance through APEC-funded projects. Recent projects have focussed on public education and awareness (PE&A) -
APEC IPEG Public Education and Awareness Program.
This program provided PE&A training and resources to the IPR offices of Chile, Mexico, Thailand and Viet Nam in order to assist these economies to develop or improve IPR public education and awareness programs aimed at promoting the effective use of the IPR system. This program was delivered under the APEC Trade and Investment Liberalisation and Facilitation (TILF) fund.
APEC IPR Public Education and Awareness Platform – 2006 to 2009.
IP Australia, in collaboration with the IP offices of Singapore and Hong Kong, is currently implementing an APEC-funded project which aims to enhance the PE&A skills and resources of all APEC Member Economies. The first phase of the project focused on the importance of strategy in developing and implementing a PE&A campaigns, and culminated in a workshop in Hong Kong in late 2006. This first phase also involved the development of a database of PE&A resources for use by APEC Member Economies. The second phase of the project focused on the role of market research in developing and evaluating PE&A campaigns. The project involved development of APEC IPR Market Research Guidelines and Model Survey Instruments, as well as a workshop in Singapore in December 2007. The third and final phase of this project will focus PE&A campaigns targeting SMEs, and will include a workshop for APEC IP officials in Australia in late 2008.
Helping develop a Regional Trade Mark System in the Pacific
IP Australia, WIPO and AusAID are assisting the Pacific Island Countries develop a regional system for processing trademark applications. On 21 – 23 June 2007, a working group of Pacific IP Officials met in Nadi, Fiji to discuss the text of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement the regional trademark system.
Coordinating with WIPO the seminar on “How to Enhance Intellectual Property Competitiveness in Select Industries in ASEAN”
Working jointly with the World Intellectual Property Organization, IP Australia was involved in the development of the program and provision of speakers at the seminar which was held in Siem Reap in Cambodia from 5 – 6 November 2007.
Training Patent Examiners from Malaysia
From July to September 2007, IP Australia provided in-house training to two senior patent examiners working in the biotechnology section of the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO). A further program was conducted from 21 October to 22 December 2007.
These training programs were designed to enhance the examination skills of MyIPO examiners and their understanding of search and examination practices through examining MyIPO biotechnology patent applications utilising the search tools and strategies available to IP Australia’s patent examiners. These programs also featured a “train-the-trainer” approach, in order to assist the examiners to transfer the skills and knowledge gained at IP Australia to other MyIPO examiners on their return.
Delivering Designs Examiner training to ASEAN countries
IP Australia provided advanced training to 30 senior design examiners from 10 ASEAN IP offices in 2006. This course aimed to improve the search and examination skills of examiners throughout the ASEAN region and was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Helping reconstruct the Tongan Intellectual Property Office
In June 2007, AusAID and IP Australia provided financial assistance toward the reconstruction of the Tongan Intellectual Property and Company Registration Office which was destroyed by fire in November 2006.
Providing expert advice to the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan
In February 2007, IP Australia, undertook an expert mission on behalf of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to assess the human resource and financial planning requirements for the Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan.
Organising Trading Ideas – Future of IP in the Asia-Pacific symposium
In January 2007, IP Australia, under the APEC auspices, organised a major international IP symposium, Trading Ideas – The Future of IP in Asia-Pacific. Topics included harmonisation of IP laws and processes, work sharing, counterfeiting and piracy, and the enforcement of IP rights. AusAID and IP Australia supported participants from developing economies (Cambodia, Laos, Samoa, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) to attend the symposium.
Visit to IP Australia by patent examiners from Korea
During November, two examiners from the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) visited IP Australia to discuss the results of the Joint Prior Art Search Program being conducted between KIPO and IP Australia.
Forthcoming development projects and activities:
Developing leadership skills of senior IP professionals in our region
From February to April 2008, IP Australia will deliver a leadership training program for six senior IP officials from IP offices across Asia. This program is co-sponsored by AusAID under their Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship Program.
In 2008, the leadership training will focus on IP Offices of China, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The program will include coursework, mentoring, participation in IP Australia’s staff leadership program and on-the-job training.
Delivering APEC Public Education and Awareness Program for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
The ‘APEC IPR Public Education and Awareness Program is the third (and final) phase of a public education and awareness project jointly delivered by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department and IP Australia. The program aims to equip APEC Member Economies with the skills and resources to implement public education and awareness which promote the effective use of IPR in the region.
This project builds on the outcomes of ‘APEC IPR Public Education and Awareness Platform’ and ‘APEC IPR Public Education and Awareness Market Research Best Practices’. The principal activities of the project are:
- Delivery of a workshop focusing on ‘Conducting effective IPR PE&A campaigns for SMEs’
- Development of an APEC SME IPR Commercialisation and Management Resource – which will provide practical information to assist SMEs in the APEC region in making critical decisions in the identification, management, protection, commercialisation and enforcement of their IPR.
The workshop will be conducted in Australia in November 2008 over three days and the resource will be developed by the end of December 2009.
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