GenevaExperts from national intellectual property offices and ministries, international organizations, research institutions and the business community will meet in Geneva on 7-8 July to discuss how to raise awareness about these benefits in the UNECE region, with a special focus on countries with economies in transition.
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.
The above benefits of IP are not automatic. Even when a good IP framework is in place, its effectiveness will depend a great deal on how it is used by companies, entrepreneurs, and research organizations, and whether it is being respected by consumers. Throughout the UNECE region, IP makes less of a positive impact than could be the case because:
- small and medium-sized companies are not aware of how they can use IP to build innovative businesses,
- researchers at universities do not sufficiently understand why their research results may need to be protected by IP before they can be turned into commercially successful innovation,
- consumers do not fully understand how, by buying counterfeit products, they are undermining innovative businesses.
Much is already being done in the UNECE region to tackle the problem, but the results vary considerably. For the countries of the region to be able to harness the full benefits of an effective and balanced IP system, it is critical to evaluate current awareness raising policies, practices and campaigns and for countries to learn from each other.
The 5th Annual Session of the UNECE Team of Specialists on Intellectual Property will bring together international experts involved in IP awareness raising from throughout the UNECE region to exchange experiences, discuss what works and what does not, and identify priorities for future capacity-building activities in this area.
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 United Nations to work in cooperation with the private sector to make available the benefits of new technologies."
For more information, please contact visit: http://www.unece.org/ceci/ip.html or contact Ralph Heinrich ([email protected]).
Ref: ECE/ECID/11/P04