In the framework of the EU-funded IP Key Southeast Asia (SEA) programme, the European Union (EU) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) are organising a trade mark conference on 15-16 October 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand.
New forms of marks or non-traditional trade marks are constantly being developed by trade mark owners to distinguish their products and services, and trade mark offices need to reinvent themselves to meet the demands of an evolving global trade mark landscape. At the same time, well-known trade marks must continue to be protected not only from infringement but also from bad faith registrations. These are the main issues to be discussed by trade mark experts at the IP Key SEA conference on trade marks.
The two-day conference aims to promote the improvement of trade mark examination, protection and enforcement, including the quality and enforceability of trade mark applications filed in IP offices in Southeast Asia. In addition to the protection of well-known marks, the measures taken to prevent bad faith registrations, and the representation and examination of non-traditional trade marks, other topics of conversation will include competency-based trade mark examination and the issues that trade mark owners and IP attorneys face when protecting marks in the digital environment.
Mr Philipp Dupuis, Minister-Counsellor and Head of the Economic and Trade Section of the Delegation of the European Union in Thailand, underscored the importance of trade marks as an intellectual property right. ‘The importance of trade marks is evident in the results of a joint study undertaken by the European Union Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office. The study showed that IPR-intensive industries generated 29.2 % of all jobs in the EU from 2014 to 2016, with 22 % in trade mark-intensive industries’.
The two-day conference will be attended by trade mark experts from the EU, IP offices from Southeast Asia, the academic and business communities, IP attorneys, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the International Trademark Association (INTA).
IP Key SEA is a programme funded by the EU and implemented by the EUIPO to contribute to enhancing the intellectual property rights regimes in selected countries in Southeast Asia.
