On Tuesday 20 September 2022, the Africa IP SME Helpdesk is organising the webinar ‘Protecting your trade marks at the OAPI’. Recent amendments to the Bangui Agreement – the governing uniform regional convention of the OAPI – have, among other changes, introduced a series of significant changes to the trade mark registration process in the OAPI IP system.
The ASEAN Trade Mark Convergence Network aims to support the goal of improving trade mark services for the end users by streamlining trade mark practices throughout the ASEAN territories.
Under previous Annual Work Plans (AWPs), three ASEAN Trade Mark Convergence Network meetings have already been held. Under the current AWP, ARISE+ IPR will help to organise the 4th meeting of the ASEAN Trade Mark Convergence Network in November 2022.
From October 2022 to March 2023, ARISE+ IPR intends to create a publication on ASEAN Women in intellectual property (IP). The goal is to identify women mentors and important figures to be examples for female entrepreneurs.
The Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications (the Geneva Act) was adopted on 20 May 2015. It modernises and updates the 1958 Lisbon Agreement. The Geneva Act entered into force on February 26, 2020, following the accession of the European Union. As of April 2022, there are 38 contracting parties of the Geneva Act, covering up to 57 countries. The Geneva Act introduces new features including the coverage of protection for all categories of products and offers protection against any usurpation or imitation.
On 15-16 September 2022, ARISE+ IPR organised a 2-day seminar on how to identify and value intangible assets, including trade marks, industrial designs, and geographical indications. The seminar was intended for SMEs and intellectual property (IP) offices in the ASEAN community. With IP rights, many businesses can improve their business performance and increase their profits. Therefore, this seminar aimed to increase knowledge on how IP valuation could be used to improve businesses and the IP landscape throughout the ASEAN territories.
On 12-13 September 2022, ARISE+ IPR organised a 2-day conference to explore the role of intellectual property (IP) in open innovation settings and technology transfer. The conference covered issues related to:
The participants in this conference were ASEAN research institutions and SMEs involved in highly innovative industries.