SPECIAL REPORT 9TUESDAY OCTOBER 23, 2012

AIPPI considers ambitious revamp

AIPPI groups and meetings

AIPPI’s policy recommendations

Creations of the ‘beautiful mind’

By John BochnovicVice President, AIPPI

The 43rd World Intellectual Property Congress of AIPPI is taking place in Seoul from Sat-urday until Tuesday, 2012. It is the first time in 20 years that the AIPPI Congress returns to Asia. In that interval of 20 years, the economies of Korea, Japan and China have all assumed posi-tions as leading economies in the world.

During the past 20 years, the AIPPI has reformed and modern-ized its working methods and meetings in an effort to maintain its leading role in the study, de-velopment and harmonization of intellectual property laws around the world. Every two years, AIPPI members gather together at a con-gress for a week of concentrated meetings and workshops focusing on the most current intellectual property law developments in the world.

The Seoul Congress promises to be particularly memorable as the executive committee of AIPPI has been presented with a consultant’s report and recom-

mendations from Robin Rolfe Resources, Inc. It has been the subject of lively discussion. The report and recommendations are part of an AIPPI strategy project designed to study and improve upon the work and activities of AIPPI.

Never before in the history of AIPPI has the organization un-dertaken such a comprehensive analysis with a view for further

strengthening its membership and its role internationally. Based on detailed surveys of members and non-members of AIPPI, the Re-port and Recommendations call for changes in the governance and structure, as well as operations, of AIPPI. The aim is to provide added services for members and more effective and visible commu-nications, in particular to promote the many significant comparative legal studies conducted by AIPPI members and presented to govern-ments.

The strategy project and the work with Robin Rolfe Resources, Inc. is being handled by a task force headed by the vice presi-dent, John Bochnovic, and includ-ing several members of the bu-reau as well as the chairs of the membership committee and the communications committee, two of the five statutory committees of the AIPPI.

The Seoul Congress is helping define a way forward for the fur-ther study and implementation of the recommendations. If it does, the congress will be recognized as one of the AIPPI’s most important meetings in recent times.

By Laurent ThibonDeputy Secretary General, AIPPI

On Saturday, about 2,000 IP spe-cialists from throughout the world converged in Seoul for the 43rd Congress of the International As-sociation for the Protection of Intel-lectual Property.

AIPPI has members from more than 100 countries, either grouped in national groups or regional groups. Where no group exists they are independent members. Each group welcomes IP special-ists of the country or region (such as lawyers, patent and trademarks attorneys, members from industry, academics and judges) and any other person having an interest in intellectual property. The national and regional groups are essential for the AIPPI. When the AIPPI studies a topic, the groups are the fundamental source of information for assessing national laws and practices. When AIPPI wishes to work on harmonization, proposals from the groups and discussions within the groups are the first steps.

AIPPI counts 63 national groups and one regional group. These groups are distributed throughout

the world. Due to the history of the association, most of the groups are in Europe. However, the Asian region counts three very important groups (Korea, Japan and China) which together represent around 20 percent of the membership. The Korean group is the 10th-largest group of AIPPI.

The birth of a new group is always considered an important achievement. A new group ap-pears when the country or region

contains a sufficient number of independent members to form a group. The youngest group of AIPPI is the Turkish National Group. This year, a new group in Sri Lanka will be recognized during the Seoul Congress. In the next years, we expect to see the formation of two new groups: one in the Caribbean region, the other in Vietnam.

The members of AIPPI meet every year. A congress of around 1,800 members is organized every two years. A smaller meeting (ExCo and Forum) is organized in the intermediate years. The AIPPI meetings are hosted in a country by invitation of the na-tional group. The Korean Group of AIPPI is hosting the Congress this year. The next congresses will be in Toronto (Canada) in September 2014, in Milan (Italy) in September 2016 and in Cancun (Mexico) in 2018. The next inter-mediate meetings will be hosted in Helsinki (Finland) in Septem-ber 2013 and in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 2015.

AIPPI was pleased to have been in Korea this year, a country with a long and still growing IP cul-ture.

By Thierry CalameReporter General, AIPPI

One of the missions of AIPPI is to achieve the harmonization and improvement of intellectual prop-erty laws worldwide by conducting comparative legal research and formulating recommendations to entities charged with developing, interpreting or enforcing IP laws.

These recommendations are re-ferred to as resolutions, which, be-cause of the representative nature of the membership of the AIPPI, and its working methods, are in-tended to be a truly worldwide answer to an intellectual property issue of current concern.

Over 700 resolutions have been passed by AIPPI to date. These resolutions are provided to signifi-cant governmental organizations, such as WIPO, WTO and National Patent and Trademark Offices. In this way AIPPI seeks to influence national or treaty policies on intel-lectual property.

Each year, AIPPI studies four is-sues of current concern. The work of researching and formulating the resolutions is a detailed process, the goal of which is to put forth well

thought out resolutions that consider the views of all of the national groups.

The national groups respond to a questionnaire issued by the reporter general’s team. The reporters synthe-size the national groups’ reports into a summary report. A working com-mittee composed of delegates from each national group then prepares a draft resolution which is debated and adopted during the congress.

To allow AIPPI to deal promptly

and effectively with IP matters re-quiring action outside the regular cy-cle for working questions, AIPPI also has standing committees. These com-mittees study questions of emerging or particular urgency and monitor developments in all areas of IP law.

The members of standing commit-tees represent AIPPI in various in-ternational forums, including WIPO standing committees and other meetings of GOs and NGOs, thereby increasing AIPPI’s presence and visibility in those forums. They also participate in public consultations or other projects where it is necessary to study documents and formulate the opinion of AIPPI on the basis of previous resolutions before the next annual meeting. There are over 20 standing committees in place.

A protocol governs the work of special committees, and their output typically is by way of reports, recom-mendations or proposed resolutions.

The work of a special commit-tee may precipitate or evolve into working questions, and conversely, the output of a working question may lend itself to ongoing work by an existing special committee or a new special committee may be set up for this purpose.

By Sun R. KimDirector, Legal and IP of Sungjoo/ MCM GroupChair, IUGT Committee of LES International

“Creations of the beautiful mind.” No, I am not referring to a novel I read last week.

It refers to the definition of in-tellectual property offered by the World Intellectual Property Organi-zation, or WIPO. “Intellectual prop-erty refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images and designs used in commerce.”

In the midst of the infamous “intergalactic” ongoing battle be-tween Samsung and Apple, we tend to think that intellectual property is something complicated and ex-tensive which we see only on news and TV. We may not be aware that a pair of cool basketball shoes your nephew wants for Christmas is armed with a bundle of intellectual property. We may not be aware that your favorite musical that you laughed and cried over last week with your mother or Psy’s “Gang-nam Style” and its viral went video is “stylized” with a bundle of intel-lectual property. We may not be aware that the cold medicine which saved your last night’s sleep is a

bundle of intellectual property. In-tellectual property is closer to our daily lives than we think and these bundles of intellectual property are created by “the minds of people.”

How timely and appropriate that such “minds of people” gather here in Seoul where “creations of the mind” are indeed abundant. The Seoul AIPPI 2012 43rd World Intel-lectual Property Congress is taking place from Saturday until Tuesday at COEX. Being the world’s oldest

global intellectual property associa-tion dating back to 1897, the as-sociation combines the old tradition with the progressive spirit. And so does Seoul, a city embraced with the enigmatic combination of traditional spirit and progressive edginess. The congress program covers different current IP issues that stimulate our intellectual minds. The cultural evening program at the historic tem-ple of Bongeunsa will offer a peace of mind to participants regardless of their religious belief due to its serene surrounding. And the social net-working opportunity offered to 2,000 participants of this conference will surely help the attendees to renew old friendship among colleagues and friends and bind new friendships among working colleagues.

I hope that participants will leave this conference not only with sharpened abilities along with new and renewed friendships but also with the beautiful minds needed for such intellectual creations. And for the people who are generous enough to read my article I hope that they will have a moment to ponder that our daily lives are sur-rounded with beautiful creations of the minds of people, including the newspaper you are reading.

IP experts discuss future patent system

By Seo Jee-yeon

Members of the 2012 APPI Intel-lectual Property Congress in Seoul started ramped up their learning curve on Sunday by sailing through a number of IP-related plenary ses-sions and workshops, following a warm-up period for the first two days.

Attendees expressed their keen interest in the Korean legal sys-tem, in what is one of the fastest-moving IP protection markets in the world as a high-tech export-driven nation.

In the afternoon, a plenary session opened up the topic of the future of the patent system. Panels from the world’s leading national patent of-fices and WIPO discussed improve-ments in legal environments in such major IP markets as the U.S. and Europe, aimed at seeking harmoni-zation in the international patent system. Attendees had a chance to learn how to cope with the global patent system in transition.

The participants enjoyed explor-ing Korean culture in an event at Bongeunsa Buddhist temple.

Another highlight on Sunday was a patent mock trial designed to offer participating IP professionals an op-portunity to raise their understand-ing of procedures for decision mak-ing in the Korean patent court and to catch up with hot topics in global patent protection.

The mock trial dealt with a legal

dispute between a non-practicing en-try, or NPE, in Korea and a chemi-cal company in the U.K. NPEs are organizations that seek revenue by licensing their patents without man-ufacturing products based on them.

To run the mock trial under the

Korean legal system, Kim Young-ki, a judge from the Seoul District Court, was invited as a chief judge, while internationally renowned judg-es, including Randall Rader, chief judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, took part in

the trial as international commen-tators to exchange their views on the case based on their experiences gained in a number of IP-related le-gal battles.

Among the series of workshops and sessions on Monday, four work-

shops were held on pharmaceutical IP. Pharmaceutical patents are fre-quently challenged resulting in cost-ly litigation between the innovator companies and generic companies, particularly in the U.S. and Europe.

Under the topic of settlement of

pharmaceutical disputes and com-petition law, speakers discussed the proper role of settlements in phar-maceutical litigation from a global perspective, keeping in mind the integral connection between patent law and drug regulatory law in their respective jurisdictions. Another pharma workshop dealing with stem cell patents also attracted much at-tention.

Speakers presented new chal-lenges to technology and communi-cation during a workshop on cloud computing and its impact on IP in the afternoon.

The event looked at IP-related clauses in cloud services contacts and considered patent issues in this area, such as inventorship “in the cloud,” as well as copyright questions raised by the creation, copy, stor-age, use, compilation and processing of content, such as authorship and ownership.

It also provided IP owners and practitioners with a general outline into the future of cloud platforms.

(jyseo@heraldcorp.com)

John Bochnovic

Laurent Thibon

Thierry Calame

Sun R. Kim

AIPPI Congress in Seoul offers various IP sessions and workshops

Key AIPPI members discuss perspectives on the future of the patent system at COEX in Seoul on Sunday. AIPPI

09:00 – 12:00 Plenary Session IV Q232 (103+104+105)

09:00 – 10:30 Workshop VII The IP implications of university and industry collaborations (E5+E6)

12:00 – 13:00 General Assembly (103+104+105)

14:00 – 17:30 ExCo Session II (103+104+105)

20:00 – 24:00 Gala Dinner (Hall D1+D2)

AIPPI World Intellectual PropertyCongress at COEX, Seoul

Oct. 23 (Tuesday) program