The delegation of the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) headed by President Saule Tlevlessova visited the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on March 12-13, 2019.

The programme of the visit included a meeting with WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, negotiations with representatives of WIPO Department for Transition and Developed Countries (TDC), and acquaintance with the activities of WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO AMC).

EAPO President Saule Tlevlessova and WIPO Director General Francis Gurry exchanged information on results of activities over the past period, as well as prospects for bilateral cooperation and mutual participation in the coming events.

During the meeting with Director of the WIPO Department for Transition and Developed Countries Michal Svantner and TDC representatives, the participants discussed the details of joint activities planned for the current year.

Special attention was paid to studying the activities of the WIPO AMC. WIPO’s experience in using alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in the field of intellectual property was presented by Mr. Erik Wilbers, Director, Arbitration and Mediation Center, Mr. Ignacio de Castro, Deputy Director, and Mr. Andrzej Gadkowski, Assistant Legal Officer, IP Disputes Section, WIPO AMC.

EAPO delegation was familiarized with the rules of dispute resolution procedures administered by WIPO AMC: mediation, arbitration and expedited arbitration, expert opinions, as well as statistics on the use of these procedures and examples of dispute resolution in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors.

The parties discussed possible ways for cooperation in the dissemination of knowledge on the mechanisms for prevention and settlement of intellectual property disputes provided by the WIPO AMC in the Eurasian region.