South-South Collaboration and Triangular Cooperation for

Access to Information and Knowledge, Innovation Support

and Technology Transfer
Interregional Expert Meeting
5-6 May 2015, Lima, Peru

Antonio A.R. Mendoza

antonio.mendoza@asean.org
 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
• Founding: 8 August
1967 by Indonesia,
Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand

• Enlargement: Brunei
Darussalam (1984); Viet
Nam (1995); Lao PDR
and Myanmar (1997);
and Cambodia (1999)

• The ASEAN Charter: 15

December 2008

• Ultimate goal: The

ASEAN Community in
2015
 Pillars of the ASEAN Community
A Community based on three
fundamental pillars:
•ASEAN Political and Security
Community (APSC)
•ASEAN Economic Community
(AEC)
•ASEAN Socio-Cultural
Community (ASCC)
Roadmap for an ASEAN
Community 2015 that includes
three Community Blueprints,
which provide the impetus for
the realization of the ASEAN
Community 2015
 ASEAN at a glance (2013)
Merchandise ASEAN Trade Services
Trade (Merchandise) Trade
GDP GDP/capita
Country (US$ million) (US$ PPP) As share of GDP (%)
Brunei 16,117 73,775 93.42 27.85 17.46
Cambodia 15,659 3,111 117.02 26.31 32.10
Indonesia 862,568 9,484 42.80 10.97 10.22
Lao PDR 10,283 4,532 57.23 37.27 12.78
Malaysia 312,072 23,089 139.15 38.17 27.41
Myanmar 56,661 3,464 42.89 18.05 6.25
Philippines 269,025 6,404 44.27 8.47 14.44
Singapore 297,941 78,762 262.89 69.37 87.07
Thailand 387,534 14,130 123.41 26.75 29.48
Viet Nam 171,219 5,315 154.64 23.09 13.02
ASEAN 2,397,079 *9,397 104.77 25.39 24.69
Source: ASEAN Statistics; data for 2013
*weighted average
ASEAN Economic Community
ASEAN IPR Action Plan 2011-2015
Initiatives under the ASEAN IPR Action Plan
Dialogue Partners
ASEAN Patent Search and Examination Cooperation (ASPEC)

• regional patent work-sharing arrangement among nine AMS IP Offices (except Myanmar)
• reference to earlier work done by an AMS IP Office could help an examiner in another
AMS IP Office to develop his search criteria or strategy more quickly, helping to reduce
effort in searching and assisting the examiner to understand the claimed invention faster
• processes will be advanced out of turn until grant when an ASPEC request is filed
• applicants in ASEAN have started using the ASPEC facility and initiatives will be
undertaken to move ASPEC from an applicant-driven system to an office-driven system
in the longer term.
• future work will involve collaboration with dialogue partners for possible assistance and
usage of IT platforms for bibliographic data and document sharing, and information
exchange among AMS, and other IP offices
 Regional Network of Patent Libraries
• establishment of a network of patent libraries in ASEAN
• seeks to increase access to global scientific and technological information
• intended to support R&D activities by providing technical assistance to
universities that agree to establish patent libraries in the region
• a regional meeting was convened with the participation of representatives from
universities and research institutions
• next plans will include, among others, capacity-building activities and developing
technical infrastructure and information
• immediate steps for consideration include formalizing engagements with focal
universities and research institution and establishing technology and innovation
support networks
 Reduction of Turnaround Time
for Trademark Registration
• sharing and implementation of best practices aimed at eliminating backlog in trademark
applications
• adoption of Common Guidelines for Substantive Examination of Trademarks, a reference
document prepared by AMS IP Offices to enhance the quality and transparency in the
substantive examination of trademark applications
• the Common Guidelines contain principles and standards that could be applied regardless
of the manner in which the individual AMS IP Offices carry out the examination process
according to domestic laws
• usage of Common Guidelines is intended to focus the practices of the AMS IP Offices to
enable a higher level of consistency in the decisions of examiners and to reduce average
turnaround time for the registration of trademarks
• setting-up of the ASEAN TMView, an online platform that contains information on more than
2 million trademarks applications and registrations having effect in ASEAN and which
provides users with a practical tool to obtain data on trademarks in the region
Copyright Exceptions and Limitations

• information-sharing and exploring best practices on copyright

exceptions and limitations for the visually impaired and persons with
disabilities
• an environmental scan was conducted in ASEAN on the legal,
institutional and social cultural situation relevant to installing copyright
limitations
• a workshop was convened to look at the state of law of copyright which
could impede access information by VIPs and to share the recent
developments at the international level regarding the subject
 GRTKTCE
• information-sharing and exchange of best practices on GRTKTCE
protection and establishment of national and regional databases on
GRTKTCE
• an issues paper on IP and GRTKTCEs was drafted to catalogue and
describe the available options to address policy issues
• there are varied interests and concerns in respect of these subjects and
that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ template to protecting GRTKTCEs may not likely
be workable at this time, given variations in national priorities, the legal
and cultural environment and the needs of traditional communities
 Enforcement
• information awareness activities (including development of
information materials) on enforcement, and private sector
involvement in anti-piracy and information awareness campaigns

• steps are being explored to set up an online platform for publicly

available statistical information relating to IP enforcement,
including the status of IP cases in the judiciary
Thank You.