IP Key SEA organised a study visit on plant variety protection (PVP) in Viet Nam on 5-6 November for high-level officials from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. Co-organised by the Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam, the activity  provided a practical understanding of the benefits of a strong PVP system and of membership in the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention).

As a major step in the process of building and consolidating an IPR network in the region, IP Key LA will hold the IP Enforcement Week in Mexico, with the collaboration of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, the Council of the Federal Judiciary, the General Administration of Customs and the EU Delegation to Mexico. Between November 12th and 16th, activities will take place in different venues of Mexico City.

A roundtable discussion between EU and Indonesian experts was held in Jakarta on 24 October to share recent developments in relation to the new patent law of Indonesia as well as international best practices on patent examination procedures. Representatives from the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) of Indonesia, the Delegation of the European Union to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, European Patent Office (EPO), and IP Key SEA participated in the dialogue.

IP Key SEA organised dialogues in Viet Nam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia on 17 - 24 October for local customs authorities to share expertise on IP enforcement practices and border control measures with EU experts. The activity aimed to further intensify the level of coordination and engagement of local law enforcement authorities in curtailing trade in IPR infringing goods.

IP Key Latin America, with the support of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Brazil (INPI) and of the European Patent Office (EPO), hosted a workshop in Rio de Janeiro on the use of free patent information tools of the EPO.  The activity is in line with the experience of the European Union Intellectual Property Network which promotes the adoption of common practices and the development and deployment of technological tools that help improve the functioning of IP offices and provide easy access to information on patents, trademarks and designs.

IP Key LA organized a series of seminars in Peru and Ecuador, in collaboration with CPVO, UPOV, INDECOPI, SENADI, and the CAN. These events took place in the final days of august, with the objectives of promoting best practices and generating awareness about plant varieties protection.

As of 22 October 2018 the National Registry of the Republic of Costa Rica (RNPCR) has made its trade mark and design data available to the TMview and DesignView search tools.

With RNPCR on board TMview and DesignView, both tools now contain data from 68 participating offices.

With the addition of more than 275.000 trade marks from RNPCR, TMview provides information and access to more than 51,9 million trade marks in total. DesignView contains more than 14,1 million designs, including more than 1700 designs from RNPCR.

IP Key LA and the EU brought their experience in convergence and harmonization criteria to the Trade mark Experts Sub Regional Workshop of Central American countries and the Dominican Republic jointly organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and The General Direction of Intellectual Property of Honduras (DIGEPIH).