Heads of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Offices committed to stronger cooperation to support the integration of ASEAN Economic Community. Officiated by Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Tran Van Tung, the 44^th ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) met in Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam from 30 Jun to 3 Jul 14.  The meeting was encouraged by the good progress of various initiatives under the ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Action Plan 2011-2015.

Chaired by Tan Yih San, Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, the AWGIPC is an ASEAN regional platform to foster a business-friendly IP environment in Southeast Asia that covers 630 million people. Guided by the IPR Action Plan, ASEAN has made notable progress in improving its IP ecosystem and is fast becoming a business-friendly region.

Highlights of the 44^th AWGIPC meeting included the participation of key dialogue partners such as Hideo Hato, Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office, and He Zhimin, Deputy Commissioner of China’s State Intellectual Property Office. The meeting also saw the enlarged engagement with ASEAN Intellectual Property Association which comprised IP practitioners, to better understand the issues faced by the IP community. The ASEAN IP Offices also attended the 6^th ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement Intellectual Property Committee Meeting which addressed initiatives to promote intellectual property and the member states’ accession to the Madrid Protocol. 

All IP Heads discussed and reviewed the progress of the customised ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC) programme which reduces the cost and time to obtain a patent in ASEAN.  Thus far, all ASPEC requests succeeded to receive an office action within six months of filing. Strong collaborative relationships between the ASEAN IP Offices made this possible, as examiners are now able to access and make use of each other’s reports for similar patent applications. To further promote patent work-sharing and exchange of best practices in ASEAN, a ASEAN Community of Practice for Patent Examiners has also been formed in August 2013.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was also signed by Tan Yih San, and Ta Quang Minh, Director General of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP), signalling enhanced cooperation between the two IP Offices. The MOU will see stronger collaborations in promoting IP utilization and more assistance to businesses seeking IP protection in the Singapore and Vietnam markets. Areas of partnership will include quality administration and capacity building, technology transfer and commercialization, IP valuation, as well as promotion of IP to SMEs and the public. 

Ta Quang Minh, Director General of NOIP said, “Singapore is Vietnam’s second largest Foreign Direct Investment partner, and this MOU will serve to further enhance trade relations between our countries. IP is taking up an increasingly larger proportion of our companies’ assets, rendering IP protection and utilization integral to fostering domestic and international investment. With the good relationship and understanding that has been established between NOIP and IPOS, our cooperation in areas such as IP financing and IP promotion to SMEs will certainly to help to boost the value and competitiveness of our businesses”.

Tan Yih San, Chairman of AWGIPC said, “The AWGIPC continues to be a strategic platform for ASEAN IP Chiefs to discuss and work on new IP developments to better support the integration of ASEAN economic community. We look forward to broadening and deepening regional cooperation to improve the capacity and quality of our ASEAN IP offices so as to better assist businesses in the protection and utilisation of their IPs.”