Snips of UK Intellectual Property Office’s continued engagements in South East Asia through the Prosperity Fund

We have been seeing these letters, or symbols, almost everywhere as we go on with our daily lives but there is more to these four letters than being part of the alphabet. Taking on a new role as the IP and Economic Officer for South East Asia helped me understand the meaning of (C) Copyright, (R) Registered and (TM) trademark. Through this blog, I do hope to give you a glimpse of my journey to the interesting world of IP.

Working as part of the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the region, the job entails organising activities that share good practice on IP rights in the region as well as helping businesses in the ASEAN become constructive and active players in the world economy. This financial year we have worked closely with the Cross-Government Prosperity Fund in delivering programs aimed to strengthen the protection of IP in the South East Asia. A variety of activities involving IP agencies from Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines have been conducted the past couple of months.

Collaboration … with like-minded institutions.

Our collaboration with the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam (NOIP) was done in September which included trainings and best practice-sharing with UK IPO in dealing with backlog and large-volume clearing, timely examination and decision-making on IP issues and processes.

Reverberate … the raison d’etre of IP and the need for coordination.

A subsequent programme has been conducted in October where experts and delegates from Vietnam held roundtable discussions with UK counterparts highlighting the importance of coordination amongst IP rights enforcement agencies. The event has been graced by Lord Puttnam, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade and Cultural Envoy.

Teach & motivate … to harvest impact and build sustainability.

Building on the continued efforts on IP in the region, a regional IP enforcement workshop has been held in Manila, Philippines working under the theme of “Stemming the tide: Dealing with physical goods to digital crime”. IPO Philippines have hosted policy makers, enforcement agencies and representatives from UK IPO, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines alongside the holding of the 6^th IP Summit in Manila.

The Prosperity Fund has been instrumental in fulfilling UK IPO’s objectives targeted in the development of the ASEAN countries’ IP enforcement and regulatory capacity. With its expertise and experience, the UK is fully committed to the promotion of IP – assisting the international business community in realising its potential, encouraging domestic growth and increased opportunities of trading in the region.

More activities are lined up in the coming months. Expect this blog as the first of a series that will showcase IP activities in the region.  You may also catch the latest on UK’s work on IP through the IP Connect Newsletter.