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ASEAN, Japan Sign IP Cooperation Deal
24 August 2012
On February 8, 2012, the Director General of the Thai Department of Intellectual Property (the DIP), together with the other heads of the intellectual property offices of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations attended a meeting with the Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office in order to set up a cooperative accord between the ASEAN IP Offices and the JPO to improve the capacity and development of the industrial property protection systems in ASEAN countries, namely, trademarks, patents, industrial designs and utility models, report Panisa Suwanmatajarn and Dan Greif of Siam Premier International Law Office in Bangkok.
“In order to firmly implement such cooperation, all parties agreed to structure a Memorandum of Cooperation on Industrial Property between the ASEAN IP Offices and the JPO to be used as a cooperative guideline in the creation of an action plan for each activity under such Memorandum,” said Suwanmatajarn. “All parties further agreed to execute the Memorandum during the upcoming ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Corporations meeting which will be held in Singapore in July of this year.”
Highlights of the draft memorandum include:
• Improving industrial property protection systems by, among others, exchanging experiences and knowledge on industrial property policies, laws, regulations, guidelines and manuals.
• Establishing transparent and streamlined examination procedures by, among others, sharing examination works, exchanging experiences and knowledge on quality control, arranging examiners’ training methods and sharing statistical data as appropriate in a manner consistent with the respective national laws of each country. relation to industrial property.
• Exchanging information and cooperation on appropriate initiatives to promote awareness of protection of industrial property; Cooperating on human resources development to increase capacities of the ASEAN IP Offices.
The Memorandum will last for three years and will be automatically extended for a further period of three years unless one of the parties notifies the other parties of its intent to terminate this Memorandum by a notice in writing at least 90 days before the intended date of termination.
“The DIP believes that this cooperation initiative among JPO and ASEAN IP offices will enhance the capacity of DIP staff members and improve Thai industrial property protection systems to meet international standards,” said Greif.
