ArisePlusIPR

In 2021, ARISE+ IPR organised a series of ‘Seminars on IP Services and Tools for Business’ for local and EU companies operating in the ASEAN Member States, especially SMEs and MSMEs. The IP offices of Cambodia, Singapore and the Philippines provided an overview of their IP systems and introduced the IP tools, services and programmes available in their country. The participants had an opportunity to ask each IP office questions. The seminar for Cambodia took place on 28 July 2021. The seminar for Singapore took place on 6 September 2021.

Among the cluster of Cambodian sea salt farmers in Kampot province in Southern Cambodia, Thaung Enterprise stands out. The sea salt farm has a history since ancient times - the Angkor era. Before 1986, the salt farm was under the control of the state. In 1986, the state offered the ownership to private. The passionate sea salt farm was established then and became a registered private company in 2016.

‘Increasing Non-Oil and Gas Sector Output as a Catalyst for Economic Growth’ is the theme of Brunei Darussalam’s National Development Plan 11, which runs from 2018 to 2023 ([1]).

The previous plan focused on accelerating economic growth and enhancing the human capital’s potential, the current plan goes further and has the following aims:

Every year since 2000, the World Intellectual Property Day has been celebrated on 26 April to promote the importance of intellectual property (IP) and the advantages of owning IP rights (IPRs). IP Offices, government agencies, international organisations, companies, law firms and individuals will participate in this day’s 2021 celebration under the banner ‘IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market’.

In collaboration with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), ARISE+ IPR organised an online training session on the Hague Agreement operations and another online training session on Madrid Protocol operations. Both these training events provided support to ASEAN Member States in the post-accession implementation of these WIPO-administered international treaties.

A new edition of the annual Regional Workshop on IPR Enforcement took place online on 29 April 2021. ARISE+ IPR organised the event to promote the fight against counterfeiting, especially during the COVID 19 pandemic. It also provided a platform to share best practices from the European Union in this field, as well as to share the awareness-raising campaigns on IPR enforcement in general.

Under its Annual Work Plan 3, ARISE+ IPR organised a workshop on ‘Madrid Protocol - A Route to Global Branding’. It was held on 6 April 2021, in coordination with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) and with the support of the Delegation of the European Union in Malaysia. The workshop targeted Malaysian entrepreneurs, aiming to raise awareness on the Madrid Protocol and promote the use of the system among local stakeholders when filing trade marks abroad.

On 25 March 2021, the EUIPO Executive Director, Mr Christian Archambeau, participated in a successful 5th EU-ASEAN Heads of IP Offices Meeting. The meeting was organised under the ARISE+ IPR Project to strengthen the relations between the Heads of ASEAN IP Offices and provide them with a platform for sharing best practices, and to formulate new areas of EU-ASEAN collaboration and points of convergence that take into account the individual IP Offices’ priority areas.

In April 2021, the ARISE+ IPR programme will launch the online training modules and organise a Q&A session for trade mark examiners from the ASEAN IP offices. The activity aims to promote the revised version of the ASEAN Common Guidelines on the Substantive Examination of Trade Marks and increase the ASEAN trade mark examination process’s efficiency.

On 7 and 8 April 2021, the ARISE+ IPR programme organised a two-day webinar on geographical indications (GI) management and promotion for existing and potential GI associations in all the ASEAN Member States (AMS). The speakers, namely GI experts from the EU and representatives from GI associations in the ASEAN and EU, shared their best practices and discuss different topics surrounding the roles of GI associations in the management and promotion of GIs (i.e.