Building Capacity in Intellectual Property Rights Increases National Wealth 1
UNECE Experts to Discuss Progress
UNECE Team of Specialists on Intellectual Property, 3-4 July 2008
Palais des Nations, room VIII, starting on 3 July at 11 am
Geneva, 1 July 2008 -- An effective and balanced intellectual property (IP) regime increases national wealth and benefits consumers by stimulating research and investment into new technologies and innovative products, and by enabling the transfer of technology, including between countries at different stages of economic development.
Experts from national intellectual property offices and ministries, international organizations, research institutions and the business community will meet in Geneva on 3-4 July to discuss capacity building in intellectual property rights (IPRs) commercialization, protection and enforcement in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) region with a special focus on countries with economies in transition.
However, these benefits are not automatic. Even when a good IP framework is in place, its effectiveness will depend a great deal on how it is applied by the courts and how it is used by companies, entrepreneurs and research organizations. There is significant variation across countries in their capacity to create and improve legal and regulatory IP frameworks, and in the capacity of stakeholders to make the best possible use of existing IP regimes. Without investment in these capacities, progress on the IP front will remain elusive. Much is already being done in the UNECE region, but there is a clear demand for more capacity building, and there is a clear scope for countries to learn from each other.
The 3rd Annual Meeting of the UNECE Team of Specialists on Intellectual Property will bring together beneficiaries, organizers and donors involved in IP capacity building from throughout the UNECE region to exchange their experiences, to discuss what works and what does not, and to identify priorities for future capacity-building activities.
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Ralph Heinrich
Secretary to the UNECE Team of Specialists on Intellectual Property
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 1269
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 0178
E-mail: [email protected]
or
Mr. Tony Bonnici
Associate Economic Affairs Officer
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 2246
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 0178
E-mail:
[email protected]
UNECE Economic Cooperation and Integration Division
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Website: http://www.unece.org/ceci/ip.html
1 This event contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, in particular Goal 8 “Develop a global partnership for development” which inter alia calls for the UN to work in cooperation with the private sector to make available the benefits of new technologies.
Ref: ECE/ECID/08/P05