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Singapore and Japan Conducted Joint Intellectual Property (IP) Training Course (with a focus on enforcement) for Asian and ASEAN Countries


1          The IP Academy (IPA), the training arm and a member of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), conducted a 5-day customised training course on Promotion of Effective Intellectual Property Protection for Asian and ASEAN countries from 16 to 20 November 2015. The training course was jointly sponsored by the Singapore Cooperation Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore (MFA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the Japan – Singapore Partnership Programme for the 21st Century.

2          Mr. Kentaro Yoshida, Deputy Director, Southeast Asia Division 2, Southeast Asia and Pacific Department, JICA; Ms. Tan Huay Peng, Technical Cooperation Officer (Asia-Pacific), MFA; and Mr. Mark Lim, Senior Legal Counsel/Faculty of IPA, welcomed the delegation from Asian and ASEAN nations, including Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

3          In its fourth run, the training course enabled participants to learn from one another and from distinguished speakers from Japan and Singapore. We were privileged to have four speakers from Japan’s Patent Office, Copyright Office, Office for Intellectual Property Right Protection and IPR National Center (Tokyo Customs) fly in from Japan to share their experiences in promoting effective IP protection. From Singapore, speakers gave participants a multi-faceted view of IP enforcement from the perspectives of the public sector (the State Courts, Intellectual Property Rights Branch of the Singapore Police Force, Customs, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and IPOS), the private sector (Apple Inc, Recording Industry Association Singapore and Bird & Bird ATMD LLP), academia (Singapore Management University), and international organisations (World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center).

4          Dr. R.J.R. Kasibhatla, Deputy Legal Adviser, Legal Affairs Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, India, an active participant in the training course, had this to say on behalf of all the participants, “The affinity, attention of IPA & IPOS and their administration is highly laudable. Their pivotal role in spreading the knowledge of IPR reflects their wisdom and commitment. We have no words to express our gratitude and regards to them for their undaunted service during our training from 16 to 20 November 2015, except saying that they are SUI-GENERIS and our sincere thanks for all that we gained. We wish them every success and look ahead for further involvement again.”

5          Ms. Chiam Lu Lin, Executive Director of IPA, added, “It is our pleasure once again to provide an opportunity for our Asian and ASEAN delegates to learn from one another. We are sure the participants have benefitted greatly from the esteemed IP experts and practitioners who were speakers at the course. The lively exchange of views had contributed greatly to the success of the course. It’s our honour to work with MFA and JICA, and we look forward to many more future collaborations in the years ahead.”

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