IP Incidental?

By Weerawit WeeraworawitDeputy Secretary General

National Human Rights Commission of Thailand

• ASEAN consisting of 10 member countries:

• Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Phillippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

• The ASEAN Framework Agreement on IP Cooperation

• ASEAN Framework Agreement on IP Cooperation = soft cooperation

• Areas of cooperation:- Exchange of Information- Public awareness- Enforcement of rights- Establishment of international norms and

standards- Establishment of ASEAN trademark and patent

systems

• ASEAN IP cooperation with the other asian countries:

- The ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, 2 April 2008

- The ASEAN-China MOU on Cooperation in the Field of intellectual Property, 21 Dec 2009

• ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement:

- 13 fields of economic cooperation, one of which is IP (Art 53)

- IP cooperation tackled by Part 1 of Annex 5 of the Agreement

- Objectives of IP cooperation are to promote: - creation and commercialisation of IP - exchange of information and sharing of best practices

on transparent and simplified procedures concerning IP - exchange of information and sharing of best practices

on effective protection and enforcement of IP - public awareness of IP

• ASEAN-China MOU on Cooperation in the Field of IP:- Establishment of a periodic Heads of IP Offices Meeting mechanism

to brief each other on latest developments and exchange views on important international issues in the field of intellectual property

- Coordination of issues related to IPRs protection- Exchange of information and experiences in the field of IP including

best practices relating to examinations, quality control, examiners’training and other issues

- Exchange of views and cooperation in the development of IP automation and database

- Exchange of views on major issues related to the international IP systems that are under deliberation at the WIPO and other international fora.

- Other matters mutually agreed.

• Importance of IP asserted by cooperation among ASEAN countries and with other Asian countries

• BUT- IP cooperation is realistic and practicable- No demand on substantive IP issue - Emphasis on cooperation in exchange of

views and experiences, public awareness, capacity development

• IP not incidental to the free trade or comprehensive economic partnership negotiations between ASEAN and Japan and China.

• Focus is to treat IP as an enabling tool of economic cooperation not as a barrier to closer economic cooperation.

• IP deliberately treated in a non-controversial manner. No TRIPS-plus.

• Perhaps more is achieved this way than having the whole FTA negotiations collapse because of controversy over IP cooperation!