ARISE + IPR hosted IP commercialisation seminar at Singapore IP Week
ARISE + IPR hosted a seminar on IP commercialisation on 5 September at the IP Week @ SG 2018 conference in Singapore. The seminar entitled ‘Generating Value From Ideas: IP in the Innovation Ecosystem, Key Players and Success Factors’ focused on IP policies and best practices that foster innovation and creativity, for the benefit of the business representatives, rights holders, investors, legal practitioners, officials and academics participating with the final aim to foster regional and economic integration in the ASEAN region. Heads of the ASEAN IP offices and members of the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) joined over 100 attendees at the event.
During the seminar, European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and ARISE + IPR experts presented initiatives aimed at promoting business development and innovation through IP. AWGIPC Chair Freddy Harris, Director General of the Directorate General of Intellectual Property of Indonesia, opened the proceedings, highlighting the importance of IP to economic growth in ASEAN. ARISE+ IPR Team Leader Ignacio de Medrano Caballero gave an overview of the EU-funded projects implemented by the EUIPO in the region. EUIPO Head of Service of the Digital Transformation Department, Inge Buffolo, then explained how artificial intelligence is impacting IP search and examination procedures, demonstrating several new tools for this purpose.
EUIPO Head of Cabinet Nellie Simon, in a presentation on stimulating innovation through technology transfer, noted that the strengthening of IP and IPR significantly boosts investment in research and development. “Intangibles and IP in particular are the backbone of our economies. Technology transfer, whether it is through patenting, licensing, spin-offs, joint ventures or other means, is a key enabler for a wide range of IPR-intensive sectors, in both developed and developing nations, particularly in biotechnology, information technology, health and energy, bringing innovations to the market and generating economic growth,” she said.
A roundtable discussion that followed highlighted some of the success stories in IP commercialisation, with panellists from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Makara Capital, AWA Strategy, National Innovation Agency Portugal (ANI) and the International Trademark Association (INTA). One example cited was Fraunhofer’s licensing of the MP3 encoding format and its contribution to the rapid shift to online music distribution, and the Veniam NetRider device, which enables vehicles to function as mobile data platforms The panelists considered the building of strong relationships between developers, entrepreneurs and IP practitioners to be an important factor for successful IP commercialisation. A Q&A with the panel canvassed considerations for naming new products and the benefits of protecting IP early in the product development process, among other topics.
A dedicated booth for the ARISE + IPR and IP Key SEA programmes was set up at the IP Week @ SG conference. The ARISE + IPR team were on hand to provide information about the programme activities and IP information tools throughout the whole forum. Visitors to the booth included IP officials, legal practitioners and business representatives, among others, with the latter two particularly interested in demonstrations of the ASEAN IP databases. ARISE + IPR representatives also conducted meetings with the AWGIPC to further discuss the implementation of the project.
IP Week @ SG was hosted by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and is one of the premier innovation conferences in Southeast Asia. It included a two-day forum covering the latest developments in IP, an IP Market Place for exhibitors, and a range of parallel events. Approximately 3,000 people from over 40 countries attended the event.