Concurrently with Suriname’s process of getting a new Industrial Property Law approved, covering patents, utility models, trademarks, designs, and GIs, CarIPI provided technical support to review the final text.

In particular, CarIPI (international cooperation project focused on IP in the Caribbean) assisted the IP Office of Suriname to review the Law in the light of the provisions of the Economic Partnership Agreement, with a view to further align the law with the EU and international provisions.

Strengthening of the institutional framework together with capacity building and training in Plant Varieties Rights (PVR) is a priority for many IP Administrations of the CARIFORUM countries.

Within this activity, CarIPI supported the implementation of a registration framework for PVR in the Dominican Republic, in conformity with UPOV and the national legislation.

The technical assistance provided, concluded with a virtual training session for technical examiners of plant varieties, held on 1st May 2020.

In 2020, ARISE+ IPR provides legal and technical assistance in preparations for accession to as well as the post-accession of the implementation of the Hague Agreement, concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (Geneva Act) for the ASEAN Member States, via two components.

The second edition of the ASEAN Common Guidelines for the Substantive Examination of Trade Marks was published on the ASEAN IP Portal website and on the ARISE+ IPR website. The publication of the updated guidelines marks the end of a multi-year process that began in Bangkok, Thailand, during the 8th Trademark Consultation Meeting organized by ARISE+ IPR, where discussions started on the possible updates for the Common Guidelines.

As of 21 May 2020, Sakpatenti is the first non-EU IP office to fully align trademark examination with IP offices of the European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN). The publication of the following practice papers by Sakpatenti is the final result of the joint cooperation between the Georgian IP Office and the EUIPO:

The EUGIPP (EU-Georgia Intellectual Property Project) is supporting Sakpatenti to draft a set of examination guidelines on trade marks and design as well as on enforcement of IP rights. Such guidelines are intended to directly benefit Sakpatenti examiners, enforcement authorities and users on the predictability and consistency of IP practices in the country. They will also favour the convergence of Georgian practice towards European standards.

On 19 May, the CarIPI project hosted a first large virtual meeting & training on trademarks classification delivered by a senior EUIPO legal expert, Mr Thom Clark, with the participation of representatives of almost all CARIFORUM countries, so as representatives from the CARIFORUM Directorate and the EU Delegation to Barbados (37 participants in total, 5 time zones).

To support the ASEAN Member States’ effort in improving the quality of the examination of trade marks in the region, the ASEAN Common Guidelines on the Substantive Examination of Trade Marks were adopted in 2015 in the framework of ECAP III Phase II. ARISE+ IPR carries on with the initiative through several means, including the support to the updating of the common Guidelines and the organisation of an online training on the revised version published in April 2020.

CarIPI assists the Dominican Republic's Plant Variety Office to strengthen the registration framework in Plant Varieties Rights (PVR) – a priority for many CARIFORUM states.

 The technical assistance provided, concluded with a virtual training session for technical examiners of plant varieties, held on 1 May 2020.

This year ARISE+ IPR has joined the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) Thailand in the organization of the DIP Photo Contest on the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Day. On 26 April 2020, the contest was announced on DIP and ARISE+ IPR social media channels, calling for individuals who are interested in the contest to submit a photo with accompanying description that falls under the theme defined by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), namely ‘Innovate for a Green Future’.