Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh had a working session with General Director of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Francis Gurry on October 7 in Geneva, Switzerland on measures to further collaboration between the two sides.
During the meeting, Francis Gurry shared his joy at increasingly fruitful cooperation between WIPO and Vietnam, saying that he hopes to visit Vietnam in the time to come in order to deepen bilateral ties.
For his part, Thanh, who is also Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam, thanked WIPO for its contributions to the development of Vietnam’s intellectual property (IP) system and his agency in particular.
He asked WIPO to support Vietnam in preparing for its joining and implementation of international treaties in this field, calling on the organisation to send experts to help Vietnam train human resources and raise public awareness of international treaties.
Talking to Geneva-based Vietnam News Agency correspondents, Deputy Minister Thanh said WIPO has invited around 650 Vietnamese officials to attend international training courses, conferences and workshops on IP and joined Vietnam in organising training programmes for thousands of local personnel on aspects related to IP protection and implementation.
WIPO has also granted scholarships to Vietnamese staff to join its annual training courses.
Vietnam is a member of the ten international treaties on intellectual property managed by WIPO. The country presents its positive role by sending representatives to permanent meetings of WIPO’s member bodies.
The country is also considering joining other international treaties such as the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs and Models Applicable , the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin , and others related to genre sources, traditional knowledge and fork culture.
WIPO is the global forum for the promotion of IP policies, services, information and cooperation. As a specialised agency of the UN, the organisation assists its 188 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society’s evolving needs.-VNA
