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2008/SOM3/IPEG/026

Agenda item: 5b-ii

Update on IPEG Website and Status of IPEG Public Education and Awareness Resource

Purpose: Information

Submitted by: Australia

/ 27th Intellectual Property Rights Experts’ Group Meeting
Lima, Peru
15-16 August 2008

Update on APEC IPEG website and status of IPEG’s Public Education and Awareness resource

BACKGROUND

At the 23rd APEC IPEG meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, members agreed to form a small group to evaluate the effectiveness of the APEC IPEG website (http://www.apecipeg.org) and provide a proposal for the ongoing management of the site. An update of this review at the 24th APEC IPEG meeting in Canberra, Australia, recommended that the website be phased out, migrating relevant content to the revamped main APEC website and APEC Information Management Portal (AIMP) but retaining an external site for resources and information relating to Public Education and Awareness (PE&A) of IPR. This migration was completed prior to the 26th APEC IPEG meeting in Lima, Peru and an update provided to that meeting.

APEC IPEG WEBSITE

As updated at the last meeting, information and resources such as the links to IPR Service Centres are now available at the APEC IPEG website (http://www.apec.org/apec/apec_groups/committee_on_trade/intellectual_property.html). Thanks to the Secretariat, the APEC IPEG website has been updated to provide updated information and access to important documentation. Information and access is provided to the APEC Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative including the Model Guidelines developed. External sites are also linked to, including IP XPedite and the external PE&A resource.

IPEG PE&A RESOURCE

The IPEG PE&A Resource is now available at http://www.apecipeg-pear.org. This site includes:

APEC IPEG PE&A Workshops developed by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), IP Australia and the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department (HKIPD) as part of an APEC project:

-  APEC Workshop on Effective Strategies for IPR Public Education, 8-10 November 2006, Hong Kong, China (CTI 03/2006)

A key focus of this workshop was to share information and practical experiences on development of IP PE&A strategies as well as how government and industry can work together to improve understanding of IP rights and protection.

-  APEC Workshop on Using Market Research to Develop Effective IPR Campaigns, 12-14 December 2007, Singapore (CTI 12/2007T)

A key focus of this workshop was to share information and practical experiences on combating online piracy as well as using market research to develop effective IPR campaigns.

The presentations and workshop program are available on the site.

Market Research Guide developed in conjunction with the second workshop above. The Guide is a useful reference tool for member economies when they are conducting market research.

PE&A Resource Database: provides access to a library of resources used by APEC member economy IP Offices (Australia, Canada, Hong Kong China, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore) to raise awareness of IP in their local market.

In April 2009, a workshop on APEC IPR Public Education and Awareness Program for SMEs (CTI 06/2008T) will be held in Melbourne Australia. The presentations and papers from this workshop will be placed on the IPEG PE&A resource, along with a toolkit for SME’s. This toolkit will provide a practical resource to assist SMEs to: (i) conduct an IP audit and create an asset register, (ii) identify areas of risk and opportunity to their business, and (iii) seek further legal and/or business advice on their identified IP.

RECCOMENDATION

Australia will continue to work with the APEC Secretariat to improve the APEC IPEG website presence. However, we seek the ongoing support of all APEC IPEG members to provide feedback and relevant information for these sites to keep them up to date and useful.

We propose that the APEC IPEG website and PE&A resource be made a standing agenda item.