The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, the world’s biggest intellectual property association, presented a roadmap for the future of its organization during the 43rd AIPPI Congress in Seoul which ended Tuesday after a four-day run.

AIPPI’s vice president John Bochnovic, who will serve AIPPI as president for 2013-2014, made the presentation based on a recent report published by a consulting firm on Tuesday. The report consisted of a strategy and recommendations on the future of AIPPI.

The new president said the AIPPI Congress in Seoul was meaningful in opening the opportunity to discuss the future direction of the organization among members for the first time.

AIPPI’s executive committee and its members discussed ways to improve the organizational structure of AIPPI to increase services for members and communication among them, while promoting a number of significant comparative legal studies conducted by AIPPI members and presented to governments. The proactive approach reflected rising demand for IP protection in the world. The AIPPI’s executive committee promised it will seek changes to maintain its leading role in the IP-related studies, but has focused on sharing those studies with its members since its foundation. 

As global growth is driven by technology and innovation, patent protection is at the center of debate in many sectors. IP professionals discussed the direction of IP protection during the Seoul congress. Most of them agreed that a move away from protectionism is needed. If the IP system remains purely protectionist, it could cause some serious imbalances between IP holders and the general public, large corporations like conglomerates and small and medium-sized companies, and in the bigger picture, between rich countries and poor countries. During the 2012 congress, AIPPI members had a chance to review the big picture of intellectual property to define IP-related issues and study possible solutions.

One of highlights on Tuesday was the non-governmental coordination meeting. IP-related world-leading NGOs, which took part in the meeting, were AIPPI, International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, Asia Pacific Patent Attorney and European Communities Trade Mark Association.

The main goal of the informal grouping is to bring together the experiences and views that other IP-related NGOs have with regard to the latest topics and issues in the copyright sector. The main items on the agenda this year were policy regarding the grace period and the implications of a unified patent court in Europe for the global patent system.

The last workshop was on the IP implications of university and industry collaboration. The workshop dealt with patents based on collaboration among nonprofit institutions. Participants discussed how collaboration agreements with mutually acceptable IP terms should be drafted when university and industry register a patent.

The organization committee for the 2012 AIPPI Congress wrapped up the event with a gala dinner in the evening. The dinner started with martial arts and Korean contemporary dance performances.

A fashion show featuring hanbok, Korea’s traditional clothing, was held during the dinner.

AIPPI president Kim Yoon-bae expressed his gratitude to members of the organization committee by naming them one by one.

In his closing remarks, he evaluated the four-day congress as a success thanks to active participation of members and preparatory efforts of the organization committee. About 2,000 IP professionals from all over the world had in-depth discussions on current IP matters through a number of workshops and plenary sessions and built networks among members.

He stressed that the 2012 AIPPI Seoul congress marked the beginning of forthcoming IP networking opportunities in Asia and contributed to the development of AIPPI in the long run.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)