Wednesday, 3 June 2009

ASEAN due to hold copyright meeting


Written by Ros Dina
Wednesday, 03 June 2009

ASEAN will hold a meeting on copyright protection on June 15 in Thailand to streamline procedures and reduce piracy, a statement by the bloc said Tuesday.

Var Rath San, director of the Intellectual Property Department, said the meeting would aim to find common ground on patent certification for the 10 ASEAN member states. The talks will focus on harmonising the language and paperwork for each ASEAN member.

"If someone from Thailand wants to use their brand name in Cambodia, he will only have to register in Cambodia ... the application for patents can be done in one place because under current rules, an applicant has to file in each ASEAN country," he said, adding that under current rules, patent applicants must hire 10 lawyers if they wanted patents to apply to all ASEAN states.

Mao Thora, secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, said the proposed system would protect brand names, cut fraud and reduce piracy.

No comments: