IP Key SEA organised a consultation meeting with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines in Manila, Philippines, on 6 February to obtain the viewpoints of stakeholders on the development of the country’s geographical indications (GI) system. Participants included producers from different parts of the country, representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, and other stakeholders.

Wednesday, 23 January, IP Key China held its 2019 Annual Appreciation Dinner at the TRB Copper to gather EU and Chinese stakeholders. During Dinner, Ulrich Weigl, Head of Trade Section to the Delegation of the European Union to China, and Jiang Chenghua, Deputy Director General of the Department of Treaty and Law of the PRC Ministry of Commerce, gave a speech to celebrate the past cooperation and mark the beginning of a new year. Mr. Weigl announced that the IP Key China 2019 Annual Work Plan was approved and thanked all partners for their contributions and support.

As of 23 January 2019 the Brunei Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO) has made its trade mark and design data available to the TMview and DesignView search tools.

With BruIPO on board TMview and DesignView now contain data from 68 participating offices.

The integration of BruIPO in TMview and DesignView is a concrete result of the IP Key South East Asia programme directed by the European Commission and executed by the EUIPO.

The IP KEY Latin America project invited representatives from Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, together with representatives of the European Commission, to an information session on the relationship between geographical indications and registered trade marks.

The event took place on October 29 and 30, 2018 at the EUIPO headquarters in Alicante.

This activity, aimed at the Andean Community, addressed the growing use and knowledge of protected geographical indications and their importance as a tool for the sustainable development and prosperity of these countries.