The EAPO delegation, headed by President Tlevlessova, took part in the World Congress of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), held in Sydney, Australia.

The 2017 AIPPI World Congress marked the 120th anniversary of the foundation of the Associations, which is one of the oldest and well known international non-profit organizations for intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. In his speech in the opening ceremony, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry mentioned the role, which AIPPI plays in the strengthening and development of international and national systems of IPR protection.

The key interest in the World Congress was the discussion and development of the resolutions on IP matters, such as patentability of computer-implemented inventions, bad faith trademarks, protection of graphical user interfaces, requirements to protection of geographical indications and designations of origin, searching balance between stimulation of creativity and limitation of competition, etc.

An important achievement of the specialized bodies’ plenary sessions of the World Congress was the elaboration of a resolution on genes and genetic material patenting, which should promote the harmonization of legislation and practice in this field at the national and international levels.

A separate day of the World Congress was devoted to panel discussions on patenting in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, organic chemistry, and to differences in approaches in this area in various jurisdictions.

The State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO) also gave a briefing within the frameworks of the World Congress, where representatives of the office introduced the strategy of the People’s Republic of China in the field of IP, informed about the latest developments in the national legislation and in the practice of its application.

In addition to attending the events of the World Congress and exploring the activities of the AIPPI, the EAPO delegation held brief meetings with WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, SIPO Deputy Commissioner He Zhimin, the AIPPI elected Secretary General Olga Sirakova, as well as representatives of the European Patent Office, African Regional Industrial Property Organization and patent attorney firms from different countries.