News

Intellectual Property Management is The Way to Go! 
Posted on Thursday, September 01, 2005 - 12:00 AM

Starting on 1 September 2005, the 3rd Europe Asia Patent Information Conference (EAPIC) 2005, jointly organised by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and European Patent Office (EPO), takes place at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition. Being the pinnacle event for the Patent professionals in the region, the two day event was officially opened by Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee. The Official Press Release is reproduced.

Intellectual Property Management is The Way to Go!
Patent Information for better IP Management

1. Singapore, 1 September 2005 : Starting today, the 3rd Europe Asia Patent Information Conference (EAPIC) 2005, jointly organised by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and European Patent Office (EPO), takes place at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition till 2nd September 2005. Being the pinnacle event for the Patent professionals in the region, the event is officially opened by Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee.

2. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs remarked that, "This conference presents not only an excellent opportunity for this niche industry and its players for knowledge exchange but also for the synthesis of new projects and partnerships."

3. "We have seen the growth of EAPIC " from conveying the importance of patent information to one that attempts to bring greater technical understanding of its applications in IP strategies, and the overall value it brings to Intellectual Property (IP) management in an organisation. This is in tandem with the general development of the IP agenda in Singapore," he added.

4. The IP sector in Singapore was traditionally defined by the laws and serviced by the legal profession. In today"s globalised economy, businesses" focus is internationalisation. IP becomes the underlying factor facilitating internationalisation and "IP management" and "IP strategies" are the latest buzzwords.

5. EAPIC has been an important catalyst " a force to help precipitate industry"s understanding of the vast knowledge reserves available from patent information, and develop application for its use in the IP strategies of an organisation. EAPIC provides insights into special niches ranging from patent searching and IP intelligence for example : where information from vast databases are mined, analysed and applied in varied ways.

6. Professor Pompidou, President, EPO, affirmed that "The success of the two previous EAPIC meetings and this year's notable participation clearly shows that the valuation and exploitation of patent information is a "moving" subject, if I may say so, for all industrial property stakeholders in Asia and elsewhere. Stakeholders not limited, of course, to the National Offices, but including mainly IP practitioners, multinational corporations, small and medium sized enterprises, research centres, universities and private inventors."

7. Ms Liew Woon Yin, Director-General, IPOS agreed and added "We hope for EAPIC to continue to serve as an effective interface between national IP offices, industry and IP professionals as it is only through continued close association and regular updates, that common interests could dovetail, resulting in collaborations to ensure efficient use of resources for mutual benefit."

8. This year, delegates at EAPIC 2005 would especially benefit from sessions with leading experts from the field of Patent Information. Mr Ian Harvey, Chairman of the Intellectual Property Institute and UK IP Advisory Committee will be delivering the keynote speech. Together with him, 12 other distinguished international practitioners, academics, policy decision-makers and IP professionals have been invited to share their valuable views on topics such as the latest tools and applications that have been developed, and how these can be applied throughout the various stages in the process of IP management (refer to Annex A for the speakers' bios).

9. At the same time, EAPIC 2005 witnesses yet another milestone " the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and IPOS.

10. It is synergistic that these two entities have come together to jointly enhance their collective tools encompassing an IP audit standard " IP Management Protocol (IPMP) to assess the IP management (IPM) readiness of companies. The objectives of the collaboration are to apply this standard to make IPM an integral part of business decision-making and help companies adopt good IP management practices.

11. Elaborating the significance of the collaboration between Singapore and Hong Kong, Mr. K K Yeung, Executive Director, HKPC remarked, "This joint effort between IPOS and HKPC is essential to help enterprises meet the pressing business and legal needs for IP protection. Through the establishment of a mutually recognised system of IP audit, we hope to provide an international benchmark for IP management and protection serving enterprises in the entire Asia-Pacific region. This is especially important at a time when businesses in the region are putting increasing emphasis on creativity and innovation as a strategy for value creation in the manufacturing process. The system is also crucial for the region to stay competitive in its quest for a bigger share in the outsourcing market."