IP Philippines stages fourth int’l heads of IP offices confab
RP is host country for the first time
| 13 November 2007 , Makati City – The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) opens today the 4th Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Conference (HIPOC) 2007 at the Peninsula Manila with close to 100 local and foreign delegates in attendance. IP Philippines is staging the two-day event for the first time in partnership with the European Patent Office (EPO). |  |
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Atty. Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., Director General of IP Philippines, at the 4th Heads of IP Conference (HIPOC) 2007. Atty. Cristobal provided an update on the office’s experience as a self-sustaining agency for two years. |
Atty. Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., Director General of IP Philippines, said that it is an honor for the country to host HIPOC 2007. The international conference, which has the theme “Addressing IP Needs of the Future”, builds on the previous year’s meeting in Singapore on addressing growing workload and office modernization.
“Now, more than ever, the IP system’s immense impact on society is felt in communities around the world,” Cristobal said in his opening remarks. “Many issues like access to affordable medicines and knowledge or the level of protection of IP owners vis-à-vis the public interest are common concerns being debated in our countries and our regions,” he said.
“The common objective is to restore that delicate balance in the IP system to ensure it promotes innovation, making it relevant to our people and spur socio-economic development,” he added.
The first session, presided over by Cristobal, discussed the future of intellectual property rights (IPR) where Dr. Manuel Desantes, Vice President of the EPO, presented the strategic renewal of patent offices and provided future scenarios. These scenarios could serve as tools for IP offices in designing strategies for intellectual property rights. Desantes is accompanied by other EPO officials, namely Niclas Morey, Head of the Asia Unit and; Nicholas Kornig, Asia Co-operation Administrator.
Dr. Andy Noorsaman Sommeng, Director General of the Indonesian Intellectual Property Office; Mr. Mohamad Kamel, Director General of the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO); Ms. Liew Woon Yin, Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and; Tran Viet Hung, Director General, National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) of Vietnam are some of the delegates to HIPOC 2007.
Officials of HIPOC member organizations who likewise presented strategies and perspectives from other trilateral offices and the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) include Margaret Focarino, Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); Hitoshi Amano, Director of the Intellectual Property Department, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Bangkok; Fatima Beattie, Deputy Director General, Intellectual Property Australia; Xing Shengcai, Deputy Commissioner, State Intellectual Property Office of China; Ravi Vedaraman, Controller of the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) – India; Tran Viet Hung, Director General, NOIP Vietnam and; representatives from the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office (NIPO).
In the second session, Dr. Jacques Michel, Consultant of the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) and former Vice President of EPO, presented a comparative assessment study of patent offices in Southeast Asia .
On November 14, presentations include the origins and objectives of the Regional Patent Technical Co-operation (RPTC) Project by Morey; RPTC studies by Johan Amand who is a consultant and former director of EPO and Mogens Baltsen, Head of the Patent Examination Section of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO).
Mart Leesti, Consultant and former CEO of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), will provide the introduction to the topic, enhanced self-autonomy, an overview of office modernization. Meanwhile, Cristobal will talk about IP Philippines’ two years of self-autonomy and the next steps for the office. Sommeng, on the other hand, will present the progress on self-autonomy of the Indonesian Intellectual Property Office. Wiboonlasana Ruamraksa, Deputy Director General of the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) in Thailand , will provide the situation at her office.
Automation as a means for office modernization will be tackled by Kamel who will discuss the progress of office automation at MyIPO ( Malaysia ); Mr. Ly Phanna, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Commerce, will present an update for Cambodia and; Mr. Sisomphet Nhoybouakong, Deputy Director General of the Laos Intellectual Property Office, will present the progress in Laos .
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Dr. Jacques Michel, Consultant of the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) and former Vice President of the European Patent Office (EPO); Niclas Morey, Head of EPO’s Asia Unit and; Dr. Manuel Desantes, Vice President of EPO during the 4th Heads of IP Conference (HIPOC) 2007. |
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Delegates to the 4th Heads of IP Offices Conference (HIPOC) 2007 at the Peninsula Manila , Makati City . |
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Dr. Manuel Desantes, Vice President of the European Patent Office (EPO), learns tinikling during the reception dinner on November 13. The tinikling is the Philippine national dance that imitates the movements of the tikling birds.
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