Drawing together intellectual property agency officials from around the Pacific, the IPEG workshop on "Using Market Research to Develop Effective IPR Campaigns" was held in Singapore on 12-14 December 2007. The workshop was aimed at helping APEC economies to improve research on public awareness and attitudes to IPR issues. The workshop was designed to help ensure that innovation is protected through the development of enhanced local awareness strategies.
The APEC Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative includes a range of measures that APEC members aim to implement. Four main goals are highlighted:
Reduce Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods - Economies aim to reduce counterfeit and pirated goods trade and combat transnational networks that produce and distribute these items. Actions include establishing guidelines for authorities to inspect, suspend, seize and destroy goods and equipment used in counterfeit and pirated goods trade.
Reduce Online Piracy - Appropriate legal regimes and enforcement systems will be enacted to curtail online piracy and to undermine the online trade in counterfeit goods. This includes the development of guidelines to prevent Internet sales of counterfeit goods.
Increase Cooperation to Stop Piracy and Counterfeiting - Operational contact and the sharing of information between customs and law enforcement agencies will be increased to combat counterfeiting and piracy networks.
Increase Capacity Building to Strengthen Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Enforcement - Member Economies' ability to develop and manage effective anti-counterfeiting and piracy enforcement systems will be increased through education and training throughout the region.
With this mandate, the IPEG group has endeavored to establish IPR Model Guidelines. These include Model Guidelines
to Reduce Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods
to Protect Against Unauthorized Copies
to Prevent the Sale of Counterfeit and Pirated Goods Over the Internet
for Effective Public Awareness Campaigns on Intellectual Property Rights
to Secure Supply Chains Against Counterfeit and Pirated Goods
to Strengthen IPR Capacity Building
IPEG continues to encourage APEC economies to put the model guidelines into practice, and continues to monitor the status of implementation.
The 27th IPEG meeting was held August 15-16, 2008 in Lima, Peru. Representatives from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) participated in the meeting. Members agreed that IPEG will continue its work under the APEC Anti-counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative, as well as the APEC Cooperation Initiative on Patent Acquisition Procedures. IPEG will continue to work and explore options to streamline the patent process and procedures for efficient grant and enhanced protection for patents.
In conjunction with the 27th IPEG meeting, a Peru-sponsored seminar was held on the topic of Raising Awareness and Providing Policy Insights on Promoting Appropriate Access and Protection of Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge in APEC Economies. The results to date of an APEC-funded study -- "Survey on Access to Genetic Resources and Protection of Traditional Knowledge in APEC Economies" focused on "Tradition-based literary, artistic or scientific works; performances; inventions; scientific discoveries; designs; marks, names and symbols; undisclosed information; and all other tradition-based innovations and creations resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields." The presentation explained that "tradition-based" refers to knowledge systems, creations, innovations and cultural expressions which:
have generally been transmitted from generation to generation;
are generally regarded as pertaining to a particular people or its territory; and
are constantly evolving in response to a changing environment.
It was found that most of the APEC economies participating in the survey recognize the importance of Traditional Knowledge and are working to develop strategies to avoid its loss.
