South-East Asia

‘Workshops on Advanced Prosecution for Patent Examiners’ were implemented in partnership with the European Patent Office (EPO) sought to continue sharing with the SEA patent offices the European best practices, procedures, tools, and databases in the prosecution of patent applications, to enable the SEA patent examiners to process patent applications in a manner consistent with international standards and with enhanced quality of results. The workshop targeting Malaysia took place during 29 November and 2 December 2021.

On 24 and 25 November 2021, IP Key SEA organised ‘Webinar for EU IPR Owners and Legal Practitioners on IPR Mediation in South-East Asia’. The webinar aimed to promote the use of IP mediation mechanisms as a viable alternative means of dispute resolution among the IPR owners and businesses operating in SEA. It sought to familiarize IPR stakeholders with the IP mediation procedures and requirements in each of the SEA countries, in order to encourage them to avail of such remedies that may facilitate the more expeditious resolution of IP cases.

IP Key SEA organised ‘Workshop for SEA Law Enforcement Authorities on the Identification of Counterfeit Goods’ on 28 and 29 October 2021. The workshop aimed to establish a platform for closer coordination between IPR owners and businesses operating in SEA and IP and law enforcement authorities in terms of the identification of infringing goods being traded in the markets, whether at customs entry points, inland, or in transit.

IP Key South-East Asia (SEA) Project organised ‘Technical Meeting on Voluntary Collaboration Agreements Between IPR Owners and ISPs’ on 8 and 9 November 2021. The technical meetings aimed to continue to raise awareness about the important role of intermediary service providers (ISPs), such as e-commerce and social media platforms, in the protection and enforcement of IP rights in the online environment.

Following the conclusion of Free Trade Agreements with Singapore and Viet Nam, the IP Key SEA Action will provide support and assistance for the implementation of the IPR-related commitments undertaken by the SEA countries. To define specific activities, consultations will be conducted with the relevant government agencies and stakeholders. Indicative activities include studies, seminars, and peer-to-peer meetings that would identify the needs of SEA countries and facilitate the implementation of their FTA commitments.

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 may be needed.

As of 28 July 2021, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) uses and accepts the list of terms from the harmonised database of goods and services (HDB) in TMclass.

Following IPOPHL’s decision to use HDB, there are now 17 IP offices outside the EU which use and accept terms from this database.

The addition of IPOPHL in TMclass brings the total number of participating national and regional IP offices, including ARIPO, OAPI, WIPO and EUIPO, to 85.