EPO strengthens international partnerships at WIPO General Assemblies 2024
A delegation from the European Patent Office (EPO), led by President António Campinos, has met with national patent offices from around the world in the margins of the General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva.
The annual gathering provided a valuable platform to strengthen strategic partnerships that support the quality and accessibility of the international patent system, a priority in the recently published Strategic Plan 2028. Over the course of the mission, the EPO held almost 30 meetings, including bilateral sessions with representatives from offices across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania as well as with close European partners Georgia and Ukraine.
During these meetings, the EPO signed new bilateral work plans with Peru, Georgia and Chile, which outline the co-operation activities for the year ahead. A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on patent classification with Canada was signed to improve consistency of practices and enable improved flow of data between the EPO and CIPO. A new Patent Prosecution Highway was signed with New Zealand, which aims to accelerate the patent process for users.
The EPO also used the opportunity to emphasise the impact of close co-operation between IP offices on delivering high-quality and timely services that provide innovators the confidence and certainty they need to bring new technologies to market. Many exchanges explored how expanding the validation system, which currently enables patent protection in 45 countries through a single EPO grant procedure, would benefit users, partner offices and the wider innovation ecosystem. As part of these discussions, the Republic of Djibouti formally requested to open negotiations towards a validation agreement.
About the WIPO General Assemblies
The 65th series of meetings took place at WIPO's headquarters in Geneva from 9 to 17 July. These meetings enable WIPO to update its member states on its progress and discuss future policies. The 2024 Assemblies were held in a hybrid format.
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