On 28-29 June, IP Key Latin America held a virtual workshop on the examination procedure for non-traditional trade marks, bringing together over 150 officials and trade mark examiners from all 16 Latin American IP Offices.

The seminar aimed to provide training on non-traditional trade marks to Latin American examiners, as well as promoting best practices in order to increase transparency, legal certainty and predictability for the benefit of examiners and users alike.

As the IP Key SEA Action is designed to facilitate FTA negotiations and IP Dialogues, the project will provide technical expertise and assistance geared towards strengthening knowledge-based policy making in SEA countries through the conduct of IP studies and other forms of assistance as needed. This activity will cover initiatives identified with FTA partner countries in SEA, such as reports, studies, seminars, or meetings, among others, which should be useful in ensuring positive results in the negotiations and dialogues.

This activity provides for the possibility of undertaking ad hoc initiatives upon the request of DG TRADE on aspects related to the implementation of FTAs.

The activity aims to raise awareness on IP protection and enforcement by supporting the monitoring of developments in the SEA countries in relation to the online and physical marketplaces that are identified in the EC Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List (available at https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2020/december/tradoc_159183.pdf).

This activity builds upon FTA monitoring activities undertaken in IP Key SEA Phase I. It seeks to support on-going FTA negotiations with Indonesia and the implementation of the IP provisions of the EU-Singapore FTA (EUSFTA) and the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA).

The activity entails an advanced training programme organised with the European Patent Office (EPO) on efficient search tools and practices for senior patent examiners. It aims to further enhance the quality of patent examination results, continually improve turnaround times and manage workload efficiency. The targeted fields of invention for this training programme are biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, chemistry and computer-implemented inventions.

• 7-10 November 2022: Malaysia
• 8-12 May 2023: Indonesia

This online public event focuses on the latest developments in the respective geographical indication (GI) systems of the EU and South-East Asia. It is intended for producers, SMEs, and the business sector, national authorities from IP, trade, and agricultural agencies, academics, and IP professionals.

Experts from the EU, Malaysia, and the Philippines will present the future of non-agricultural GIs in the EU, the new GI law of Malaysia, the future of the Philippines’ GI system, and the GIview tool.

This activity brings together representatives from the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), and other government agencies related to IPR customs enforcement, as well as experts from the European Union to share best practices on border control and customs enforcement against IP infringements. It also aims to identify long-term solutions and possible areas for future reform, and serves as a platform to facilitate internal coordination between the relevant competent authorities.

The activity will focus on the promotion of integration of data from SEA countries into EU IP tools in order to meet EU standards in the region (such as TMview, DesignView and TMclass), promotion of GIview, taking advantage of the workshop on GIs, as well as on IP enforcement tools aimed to assist EU Businesses and EU Delegations, in particular the IP Enforcement Portal.

The workshop provides a platform for closer coordination and cooperation between EU businesses and national IP enforcement officials in the South-East Asian (SEA) countries. EU best practices on investigative techniques and prosecution strategies for IPR infringement cases in both online and physical marketplaces will be shared, together with tips and strategies for identifying counterfeit products.