WIPO plans to open five new offices
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is planning to open five new external offices, according to an official document.
A draft plan for the financial year 2014-2015 year shows that offices in the US, China, Russia and two unnamed African countries will open, joining the existing ones in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Japan (Tokyo) and Singapore (Singapore).
The document was produced by WIPO’s Program and Budget Committee, which is meeting at the organisation’s Geneva headquarters from July 8 to 12.
It says more than 20 member states have asked to host new external offices.
“However, it is believed that a limited network of strategically placed external offices would enhance the quality of service and credibility of WIPO as global service organisation,” the draft says.
WIPO says external offices are meant to carry out work that “cannot be performed” at its Geneva headquarters or that be done “more efficiently or effectively” elsewhere. There are several functions external offices should perform, WIPO says, including providing assistance with services such as the Madrid System and the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
The draft plan notes that China has been chosen to host an office partly because IP is “exploding” there and it has the largest trademark office in the world. A local office in Russia, the report says, would offer “considerable advantages in terms of strengthening the participation of the country in WIPO’s global IP systems”.
For the US, it adds: “Enormous opportunity exists to increase the use of WIPO’s global IP systems through a presence in Silicon Valley.”
In Africa, where interest in both WIPO and IP has been “growing steadily”, the report notes, “the need for capacity-building activities in order to increase the region’s use of, and participation in, the intellectual property system is huge”.
Ed Anderson, partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, said the opening of new offices would be a “good development”.
He added: “For both patent and trademark lawyers, it is good to have local offices (working on a local timeframe) dealing with technical questions about the systems, and it enhances the services.”
Asked whether he thought Silicon Valley, which the WIPO report highlighted as important to the US IP industry, would host the US office, he said: “We would love to have the office here. It’s certainly a key part of the growth of US electronics, medical as well as life sciences industries.”
There are strong demands for further offices, according to the document, with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as India, leading the way. This means that the current list of five new offices could be extended “depending on the response to the current proposal”.
WIPO’s General Assembly will need to approve the proposals for external offices.
