Bangkok, 21 October 2009
ASEAN and the European Commission today signed a financing agreement aimed at capacity building for a strengthened intellectual property rights (IPR) regime in the region.
The objectives of the initiative, the European Commission - ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Programme III, are to enhance regional integration by strengthening institutional capacity, and legal and administrative frameworks for protecting IPRs in the region.
Better enforcement in order to protect IPRs from misuse such as counterfeiting and piracy is another component of the programme.
"This is an important piece of the jigsaw to lay the foundation for the protection of IPRs in the region", said Dr Surin Pitsuwan, the Secretary-General of ASEAN, at the signing ceremony held in Bangkok today. Thailand's Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot and Ambassador David Lipman, Head of the European Commission Delegation in Bangkok, were also in attendance.
The implementation of this programme will help integrate the region into the global economy in line with the commitments made by the ASEAN Member States under the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
The EUR 5.1 million-programme, to which the European Commission has provided EUR 4.5 million, will be implemented by the European Patent Office over a four-year period. It builds on the results and lessons of two earlier programmes in addressing the challenges of furthering regional harmonisation and long term capacity building issues relating to IP in the ASEAN Member States.
The programme will be implemented by a project team based in Bangkok and hosted by the Thai Department of Intellectual Property under its Ministry of Commerce.
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