On 15 December 1995 in Bangkok, Thailand, the governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, signed the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Intellectual Property Cooperation.
This Agreement recognises the important role of intellectual property rights in the conduct of trade and the flow of investment among the Member States of ASEAN and the importance of cooperation in intellectual property in the region, as well as expressed a desire to foster closer cooperation in the field of IP and related fields to provide a firm basis for economic progress, the realisation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area and prosperity among the ASEAN Member States.
The Agreement also recognised the need to promote closer cooperation and understanding among the countries in the region in the field of intellectual property and related fields to contribute to regional dynamism, synergy and growth.
For the full text of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Intellectual Property Cooperation, please click here
Moreover, the ASEAN IP Portal (www.aseanip.org) was launched by Thailand in April 2013, in conjunction with World IP Day 2013. Comprising information on ASEAN IP systems, comparative IP-related data, and web links to ASEAN IP Offices, stakeholders of ASEAN Member States can now obtain IP information for the entire ASEAN region via a consolidated platform. This one-stop portal facilitates information flow within the region's IP knowledge network and enables stakeholders to access relevant information such as notices and procedures in a more efficient manner.
It is currently hosted and managed by Singapore, who will be introducing new features to enhance the portal over time. Examples include an electronic application form for the ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC) platform to help patent applicants obtain high quality search and examination results more quickly in ASEAN and ASEAN TMview, a powerful tool to search for information on trademark registrations and trademark applications that have effect in the participating ASEAN countries.
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