Vietnam chairs WIPO’s 58th series of meetings of member states’ assemblies

The 58th Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) opened in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 24 (Photo: VNA)

This is the first time held the chairmanship of the WIPO General Assembly for 2018-2019.

The 58th series of meetings attracted about 1,200 delegates from 191 WIPO member states. The Vietnamese delegation is led by Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac.

Addressing the opening ceremony, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said: “Intellectual property (IP) continues to grow in economic and social importance around the world. This increased prominence is being driven by rapid, profound and pervasive technological change, which is shaping the future of the economy and placing increasing value on knowledge in its economic and commercial expression as intangible assets.

“We see this change in the position of IP unfolding in many ways – in demand for IP rights, in attention to IP as a part of innovation and industrial strategy by both governments and enterprises, in trade discussions and in news and analysis within the media and the general public”.

The increased worldwide demand for IP is reflected in positive growth rates in both the membership and use of WIPO’s Global IP Systems, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Madrid System for marks and The Hague System for designs, as well as in the use of the services of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.

Gurry added: “Asia is now the dominant source of all IP applications filed worldwide, accounting, on average across the various IP rights, for over 60 percent of them.”

Admitting challenges in rule making, he called on the member states to increase sharing knowledge and resolve outstanding questions concerning the composition of the Coordination Committee and of the Program and Budget Committee and relating to external offices.

The 58th series of meetings, scheduled to last through October 2, will look into the proposed measures, convene high-level negotiations on the making of IP law, copyright and related rights, patents for inventions, trademarks, industrial design and geographical indications, among others.

Deputy Minister Tac said the Vietnamese delegation will take an active part in the activities of the WIPO General Assembly. This is also a chance for the country to enhance bilateral cooperation on IP through organising meetings and working sessions with other countries and WIPO.

On this occasion, the National Office of IP of Vietnam under the Ministry of Science and Technology will sign some bilateral cooperation documents, including cooperation agreements with WIPO and the IP Office of the UK and a cooperation plan for 2018-2019 with the Cuban Industrial Property Office.

He added that Ambassador Dung’s chairing of the 58th series of meetings is a new milestone in Vietnam’s integration into WIPO, reflecting other member states’ recognition of the active performance of the country as well as the ambassador over the past years. The chairing will be a driving force for Vietnam to fulfill its responsibility towards the world’s IP system and further contribute to WIPO’s activities in the time ahead./.

VNA