– Joint Declaration on the Importance of IP and Cooperation among Asian countries –
Kipo held heads of IP Offices Conference in cooperation with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) from April 12 (Wed) to 14 (Fri), 2017.
With theme of “Client-centric IP Services”, HIPOC was attended by the heads of the IP Offices of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, as well as Sun-Taik Kwon, Mayor of Daejeon Metropolitan City and Mario Matus, Deputy Director General of WIPO.
KIPO is one of the 5 global leaders in the field of IP (IP5) and has been leading global IP system. Hyun-suk Lim, Director of the Multilateral Affairs Division of KIPO, said that this conference is an opportunity to share Korea’s experience in developing its economy by using IP with other countries.
KIPO has been developed appropriate technology to other developing countries by using patent information and has developed brands in order to add value to local products. KIPO implemented various WIPO development projects through WIPO Korea Funds-in-Trust and create educational contents that aim to increase the IP capacity of developing countries and foster IP experts.
Seong-Joon Park, Director General of the Intellectual Property Protection & International Cooperation Bureau in KIPO, presented about Korea’s experiences in the economic development. Specifically, he outlined how Korea transformed from a least developed country to one that now is one of the major of economies, and emphasized Korea active plans to be a bridge between developed and developing countries. The heads of the IP offices discussed their roles in providing competent IP services to the public, as well as commit to the general notion that IP must be a priority in national agenda.
With this in consideration, the heads of the IP offices confirmed the importance of IP, with respect to creating a strategy, in response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the role the government needs to play as well as a need to strengthen cooperation within the IP field. Using these facts as a base, a Joint Declaration was signed in Daejeon.
Donggyou Choi, Commissioner of KIPO, stated at the opening ceremony that, as Korea, who successfully turned from international aid recipient, into an aid donor and a global IP leader, the aim is to share this know-how on how to achieve economic development through the use of IP with other Asian countries.
In WIPO’s Mario Matus’ congratulatory speech, he stated “the cooperative efforts between WIPO and KIPO that aim to increase the IP capacity of developing countries have become such achievements and received positive feedback that they are exemplary.”