Participating in the Delegation were the Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP), Mr. Tran Viet Hung; Deputy Director of NOIP Mr. Hoang Van Tan; Deputy Director of the Copyrights Office Mr. Vu Ngoc Hoan and representatives of the Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republics of Vietnam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other international organizations in Geneva.
The special feature in the General Assembly’s session this year is that this is the first time WIPO has organized a high-ranking Conference with the participation of more Ministers and Deputy Ministers from member countries. The participation of Ministers and Deputy Ministers has expressed the attention of member countries to the intellectual property field in general and WIPO’s activities in particular.
In the General Assembly of WIPO this time, delegations from 184 member countries have focused on discussions and approved important decisions relating to the development of the world intellectual property system and WIPO’s activities. One of the biggest achievements of this General Assembly is the approval of the decision relating to intellectual protection of traditional knowledge, popular cultures and gene sources on the consensus of WIPO member countries. Accordingly, the General Assembly has extended operations of the Inter-government Committee (IGC) of Intellectual Property, traditional knowledge, popular culture and gene sources and assigned the IGC to draft an international Agreement in order to establish protection mechanisms for these subjects and submit to the General Assembly’s session in 2011.
The General Assembly has approved WIPO’s operation budget for the 2010 – 2011period, reports of the Standing Committee of Copyrights and relating rights (SCCR), reports on activities of the Advisory Committee of Enforcement (ACE), reports on activities of the Standing Committee of Patents (SCP), issues of names of Internet domains, exchanged documents prioritized in the field of patent; approved some contents and decisions relating to Paris Union, Madrid Union, La Hay Union, Lisbon Union, Union of International Patent Clarification (IPC), Union of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and Patent Law Treaty (PLT).
Also in the General Assembly’s session, Vietnam has officially elected to WIPO’s Coordination Committee (the second time since 1983). This is the Committee of operation control and management of WIPO’s activities, including the issue of personnel organization. The election to this Committee has created the opportunity for Vietnam to participate more deeply in the process of making WIPO’s development strategies towards balanced directions, taking into considerations of benefits for developing countries.
The General Assembly has agreed to appoint WIPO’s important positions for the coming term, including the appointment of 4 Deputy General Directors and 3 Assistant General Directors.
Making a speech at the General Assembly’s plenary session, Deputy Minister Nguyễn Quân has emphasized the important role of Intellectual Property for social and economic, science and technology development. The Deputy Minister has highly appreciated the WIPO’s mission in developing a balanced and accessible international Intellectual Property system; as a result creativeness is respected and promoted. The Deputy Minister said over the past years Vietnam has paid special attention and considered the protection of Intellectual Property as an important part of the country’s development strategies. The Deputy Minister has also mentioned advancements which Vietnam has gained with WIPO’s technical supports, assistance and cooperation and on behalf of Vietnam’s Government expressed his thanks for WIPO’s precious supports for Vietnam.
The 47th session of the General Assembly, including the high-ranking Conference, has been successfully organized with important decisions for WIPO’s development strategies in the coming years. Accordingly, the implementation of WIPO’s development program is considered the important factor for developing countries as well as for under-developed countries.
On 23/9/2009, in the meeting with the Vietnamese delegation, WIPO’s General Director, Mr. Francis Gurry has highly appreciated Vietnam’s advancements in the field of Intellectual Propoerty, expressed his satisfactions and willingness to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in the coming time. The General Director will pay an official visit to Vietnam on January 2010.
Besides meetings of the General Assembly, the Vietnamese delegation has bilateral meetings with partners as European Patent Office (EPO); State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO); Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO); Swiss Intellectual Property Institute and professional departments and units of WIPO in order to strengthen cooperation and take advantage of supports from these agencies.
In addition, to strengthen coordination relationships between MOST and the Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republics of Vietnam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organizations and other international organizations in Geneva, the Delegation had a working session with the Head of the Mission, Ambassador Vu Dung. In the meeting, Ambassador Vu Dung has highly appreciated close coordination between MOST and the Mission in solving Intellectual Property issues within WTO and WIPO framework over the past time. Recognizing clearly important roles of Intellectual Property, the two parties have agreed on strengthening coordination relationships in order to timely and efficiently solve relating issues, at the same time, take advantages of technical supports of these two organizations to develop Vietnam’s Intellectual Property system.
On this occasion, Director Tran Viet Hung has awarded the Decision on appointment of Mr. Nguyen Duc Dung – the expert of the International Cooperation Department under the National Office of Intellectual Property, who currently serves for the term in the Permanent Mission of the Socialist Republics of Vietnam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other international organizations in Geneva – to hold the position of the Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department for the 5-year term.