1. AIPPI-Korea hosted“The 6th AIPPI-China, Japan,Korea Trilateral Meeting” on June 8 to 10.

AIPPI Korean Group, in association with Chinese and Japanese Group, successfully held “The 6th AIPPI-China, Japan, Korea Trilateral Meeting” at the Westin Chosun Hotel, Seoul from June 8 to 10, 2007.

The trilateral meeting dates back to the 1980s. Bilateral meetings between Japan and China were held between 1987 and 1999 in Tokyo and Beijing respectively, which played a significant role in improving the cooperation and exchange in the I.P. sectors between the two countries. Members of AIPPI-Korea, in an effort to get Korea involved in such activities in the region, joined from the year 2000 meeting, giving rise to the AIPPI-China, Japan, Korea Trilateral Meeting.

The three countries have so deeply and extensively engaged in the activities related to Intellectual Property that IP experts including IP practitioners worldwide came to regard the KIPO and the CIPO as major international IP operational systems in addition to the USPTO, the EPO and the JPO. Such active involvement of the three countries, therefore, contributed to the significant enhancement of their influence over IP field around the world, which is also expected to get stronger in the future.

Against this backdrop, the trilateral meeting came to draw more attention from each AIPPI Group, which resulted in the consistent attendance of core individuals of AIPPI to the meeting including the Secretary General. Also, whilst it is European Groups that boast the largest number of members as a whole, the success of the trilateral meeting has helped AIPPI members around the world realize how significant the activities of Northeast Asian Groups are.

As a strategic meeting prior to the 2012 AIPPI Seoul Congress, the Secretary General of AIPPI, Michael Brunner, the President of the Japanese Group, Yoshio Kumakura, the Secretary General of the Chinese Group, Lu Pushun, the President of Korean Group, Yoon Bae Kim and other officers including Assistant to Secretary General and Assistant to Reporter General discussed ways to further enhance cooperation for the successful hosting of the AIPPI Seoul Congress in 2012. The Bureau of AIPPI and the Chinese, Japanese and Korean Groups set the priority that at this meeting they would find ways to seek strategic cooperation to successfully host the Seoul Congress in 2012.

On 9th of June, following the Welcoming Reception on the 8th, there were seminars covering two themes presented by two speakers from each group; “Introduction to Current Issues/New Legislation on Intellectual Property” by Ms. Minako Mizuno (Japan), Mr. Christopher Shen Chunxiang (China) and Mr. Sang Ho Seo (Korea), and “ The Law, Rules and Practice of the Trial for Invalidation and Correction of Claims of Issued Patents and its Operation” by Mr. Nongfan Zhu (China), Mr. Katsuomi Isogai (Japan) and Mr. Kook-Chan An (Korea).

On Sunday, 10th of June 2007, some members participated in an excursion arranged by AIPPI-KOREA, which included a visit to several landmarks of Korea such as the Unification Observatory, Kyeong-bok Royal Palace and Insa-dong, the famous traditional street in Korea.

It is hoped that the Trilateral Meeting will continue to contribute to the exchange on Intellectual Property and an enhanced friendship among the three Northeast Asian AIPPI member states of Korea, China and Japan, and this will be a good foundation for the successful hosting of the 43rd AIPPI Seoul Congress.

The Trilateral Meeting also attracted attention from the local media. Following is the coverage on the meeting, which was featured in Korea Herald on June 9, 2007.

①Following is the speech by Mr. Michael Brunner, Secretary General of AIPPI at the opening ceremony of the 6th AIPPI-China, Japan, Korea Trilateral Meeting.
 

Dear Presidents & Honorary President of the Korean, Japanese and Chinese Groups of AIPPI, Dear Members, Ladies & Gentlemen

I have known Mr YB Kim, Korean President of AIPPI for 20 years since the AIPPI Congress in London and we have continued to meet over the years. When the Korean Group of AIPPI first held its Networking Meeting (in 1994) the first guest speaker was my former partner, Peter Jackson, so it was a particular delight to have been invited by Mr Kim to speak with you briefly today in Seoul to give you some idea of what is happening within AIPPI.

This is my first visit here and it is a great disappointment to me that I have to leave early on Sunday morning. However, as I am sure you will appreciate after hearing what I have to say below, that there is much work to be done within AIPPI

The Japanese, Chinese and Korean ‘Tri-lateral’ has become well established in the AIPPI annual calendar and reflects the importance of your three countries in the world economy and in the world of IP. This very day in Korea the Tri-lateral is written up in The Korea Herald!

The increase in IP activity around the world seems to continue unabated. One has only to read national newspapers or watch/listen to television/radio news programmes these days to appreciate how things have changed in a very short while. In yesterday’s Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal, a patent matter was headline news. On yesterday’s BBC World television news and in the newspapers today the Broadcom battle with Qualcomm is also headline news and in the UK there are even two mainstream television programmes devoted to entrepreneurial issues where, increasingly, patents are mentioned as pre-requisites for funding. How long before it’s trade marks, copyright or registered designs too?

All of this means that the demands on practitioners in particular, but also Chief Technology Officers and General Counsel with responsibility for companies’ IP matters grow ceaselessly. No IP practitioner anywhere could seriously expect their work not to grow over the foreseeable future.

Therefore, the role of AIPPI - in improving IP and in helping to establish best practice and harmonisation - is of ever-growing importance too. We have to remember that IP is one of the tools of industrial growth and, in that context, it must play a supporting role in the development of society. How will inventors, companies and the public be properly by IP served if practitioners cannot provide good, clear advice of a global nature? How will all these parties cope with the tide of IP work if we do not implement best practice and agree common standards?

AIPPI has undertaken a progressive programme of work over the next few years and is moving forward on many fronts. Nevertheless, with only a small staff (who all work very hard), there are limits on what we can do and we rely very much on the volunteer members who contribute so much to AIPPI. In particular I want to take the opportunity to thank all the members of AIPPI in China, Japan & Korea who have contributed to our Working Questions for Singapore and who are taking part as speakers in Singapore.

The Executive Committee meeting in Singapore will be a very important meeting because of the many issues and decisions that will be ready to be discussed and taken there.

As to the Working Questions: Divisional, Continuation and Continuation in Part Applications, The Impact of Co-Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights on their Exploitation, and Limitations of Trademark Protection, these are all hot topics in many ways.

There are major questions in many jurisdictions concerning divisional, continuation and continuation in part applications. Not only are developments taking place in the AIPPI ‘tri-lateral’ countries (indeed China has already changed its rules), but this subject is very live in the EPO where major decisions are awaited from the Board of Appeal, and also this is a very hot topic in the USA.

Co-ownership of IP is an increasingly important topic, not least because of the need to improve exploitation and the ways in which IP exploitation is being developed.However, there are presently very different regulations concerning co-ownership around the world. Limitations of Trademark Protection are well acknowledged and, in particular TRIPS make provision for fair use of descriptive terms. This issue has caused numerous difficulties in recent years and AIPPI’s view is that harmonisation in this area would be very welcome.

These are interesting and useful Questions.
In the 4th Forum which takes place before the ExCo meeting we have 12 sessions which we hope will appeal to a wide range of practitioners. The Forum is open to members and non-members of AIPPI, so please tell your non-member colleagues about it.

We shall be hearing experts discuss:

●Recent Developments in IP Enforcement in Asia
●Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Cultural Expressions and whether they are Communal or Property Rights;
●Copyright and Digital Rights Management;
●Do patent prosecution rules and practices lead to legal and commercial uncertainty?
●The interface between IP regulations and pharmaceutical regulations;
●Requirements for granting preliminary injunctions in IPR infringement actions;
●Infringement of IPR, including copyright, over the Internet
●The legal treatment of IPR originating from publicly funded institutions;
●Legal Problems arising from Auctioning ofIPR;
●Enforcement Strategies and Co-operation;
●The Role of IPR in National Development;
●Alternative Dispute Resolution for IPR infringement.

In addition, however, over the past few months, the Bureau has been working with members and committees to innovate and help prepare action on a broad range of initiatives. For example, our new Statutes Committee (Q200) has been working hard to develop improvements in the Stautues for the governance of the Association. The resulting proposals, which will be discussed by the ExCo in Singapore, will be of importance and fundamental to the progress of the Association for coming decades.

Similarly, our new Editorial Advisory Committee (Q197) has made excellent recommendations to the Bureau for major improvements in our communications with the membership and to the world at large. Those recommendations have been whole-heartedly received by the Bureau and will provide the means for the Association to contribute far more value to our membership. Accordingly, the Bureau has asked the Committee to develop its recommendations more deeply to preparefor discussion at, and implementation after, Singapore.

The Bureau is implementing a new Membership Advisory Committee to focus on issues of concern to the membership and to ensure that the Bureau is even better informed of membership issues, concerns and wishes as it makes decisions that affect the membership in the future.

Beyond those developments, The Bureau has been active on many additional fronts. For example, there has been a great deal of engagement with our membership and National and Regional Groups. Visits by various Bureau members and Assistant Secretaries General with the AIPPI Groups or possible new Groups in Egypt, Israel, Chile, India, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and Turkey have taught us much of what is on the minds of those interested in IP and is producing new initiatives. As a direct result, we are involved in organising or supporting regional meetings of the Association in Cairo in December of this year, in India in February and Mexico City in April of 2008. Members of the Bureau will also be attending the Baltic states meeting being held in September in Vilnius. I think you can see how AIPPI is a truly global association..

In that respect, we are actively supporting, and seeking support for, a new Treaty to implement the results of our excellent resolution from Q163 regarding extending “attorney-client” privilege to IP Professionals who are not lawyers. I am sure I do not need to remind you of the difficulties caused by legal advice, which is privileged in one country, but not in another, being made available more widely on a non-privileged basis. Clients and legal systems are well-served both by maintaining in strict confidence, and by protecting from disclosure to third parties, communications between the clients and their advisors made for the purpose of obtaining and providing advice.

The response from governments around the world has been encouraging and the World Intellectual Property Organization is interested enough to have proposed co-sponsoring with AIPPI a special meeting on the subject in May of 2008.

The subject of the Regional meeting in Mexico City has generated enough interest to cause Intellectual Property Owners association to join AIPPI and ASIPI in supporting and cosponsoring the event. The “Impact of the IP Chapters of Free Trade Agreements in the Americas and the Pacific Rim” is a unique topic in which practitioners, governments, academics and industry are vitally interested.

New National Groups are being worked on in a number of countries.

An amicus brief is being considered for filing in the US Supreme Court.We are continuing to develop closer relationships with various other institutions and other IP organizations, including continuing our organisation of coordination meetings with other IP-related NGOs on suitable occasions.

New improvements to our website and Master Calendar of IP events and much more are in various stages of development.

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that this brief overview has given you an insight into what AIPPI is doing around the world. Of course it would not be possible without you ? the members, so we on the Bureau look forward to working with your National Groups in the future.

Thank you, Mr Kim, for inviting me to come here to talk with you all. I wish the meeting great success.

② Summary of Preparation Report for 2012 Seoul Congress.

At the Trilateral Meeting this year, this being a meeting 5 years prior to the year 2012 AIPPI 43rd World Intellectual Property Congress, Micheal Brunner, the AIPPI Secretary General, the Assistant to Secretary General and the Assistant to Reporter General participated in the meeting and reviewed with the Presidents of the Korean, Japanese and Chinese Groups and other officers on how to promote further cooperation between the three groups and successfully host the AIPPI Seoul Congress in the year 2012. Following is the summary of the Preparation Agenda for the AIPPI Seoul 43rd World Intellectual Property Congress in 2012, presented by the Korean Group.

1) AIPPI Korea intends to increase its membership from the present 250 to 500 members by the year 2012

2) It was decided to strengthen the AIPPI Trilateral Meeting and host the next meeting in June 2008 in Japan.

3) AIPPI-Korea will continue to promote a Networking Mission to countries in South-east Asia where there are countries, which are still non-members, to promote AIPPI and the 2012 Seoul Congress..

4) Also, the Korean group will strengthen South-east Asian I.P. Networking and successfully host the North & Southeast Asia I.P. Networking Meeting planned to be held on August 31st in Jakarta Indonesia.

5) At the 2012 AIPPI Seoul Congress, besides a variety of conferences, forums, I.P.-related exhibitions and Networking Meetings, AIPPI-Korea will hold special meetings by industry, field and region.

6) To induce more participation on the part of the members, AIPPI-Korea will seek ways to receive a lower registration fee and fulfill insufficient funds through domestic or international financial aid provided by industry or government after creating an atmosphere of fundraising through exhibitions and sponsor programs

7) For the efficient operation of the 2012 AIPPI Seoul Congress, Korean members will establish a Preparation Committee in October 2007, an Organizing Committee in October 2009, and select
and sign a contract with a PCO in April 2010.

8) In order to receive cooperation from APAA KOREA, LES KOREA, FICPI KOREA and other related international associations in Korea, Japan and China, AIPPI-Korea will develop programs, which induce cooperation with the organizations of neighboring countries.

9) For the successful hosting of the 2012 Seoul Congress, the voluntary participation of members at events such as the 2008 Seoul International I.P. Conference, will be highly encouraged to enhance international conference organizing and operating abilities.

10) In order to encourage the participation of industrial heavyweights, the possibility of permitting the participation of industry insiders as Observers will be considered.

11) When funds are raised through the Seoul Congress they are to be donated to the AIPPI Foundation (established 1997) and the AIPPI-KOREA Foundation, soon to be established.

To sum up, for the successful hosting of the 2012 Seoul Congress, there needs to be an increase in membership in AIPPI-KOREA; extensive networking with other North & Southeast Asian countries; enhanced ability to organize and operate international conference; an ideal Congress program; proper financial management; interest and support by the Korean government;

interest and support by the AIPPI Bureau; stronger ties with neighbouring AIPPI Groups; cooperation with related international organizations; interest and sponsorship by the media; interest and participation by relevant industries; and finally, finding and developing new sponsors.

3. 6th North & Southeast Asia I.P. Networking Meeting on August 31 and September 1, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The 6th North & Southeast Asia I.P. Networking Meeting will be held on August 31 and September 1 in Jakarta, Indonesia. This event is jointly organized by AIPPI-Korea, LES-Korea and other associations and it will be held under 6 sub-themes including “Legal Aspects in Conducting Business in Indonesia”, and “Current Intellectual Property Practices/Issues in ASEAN Countries includingIndonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines.”

This meeting is following a series ofNetworking Meetings that was 2002 and 2004 I.P. Networking Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, 2005 Southeast Asia I.P. Networking Meeting in Hochimin City, Vietnam and Bangkok, Thailand, 2006 Southeast Asia I.P. Networking Meeting in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and 2007 North and Southeast Asia I.P. Networking Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The purpose of the meeting is to exchange I.P.-related experience and knowledge between IP experts of Northeast and Southeast Asia as well as make friendship and strengthen cooperation by providing ample networking opportunities with participants. Further it is expected to give advice as to legal aspects in conducting business in Indonesia for not only foreign participants but also currently residing Korean/Multinational Corporations in Indonesia.

The participants of this meeting will be comprised of as follows:
Korean Corporate Members, Korean IP Professionals (members of AIPPI-Korea & LES-Korea, Patent Attorneys etc.), Korean/Multinational Businessmen in Jakarta, Indonesian IP Professionals, and IP Professionals from other neighboring countries (Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmmar, India, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Papua New Guinea etc.)

4. The 2007 AIPPI/APAA/LES/FICPI  KOREA Joint meeting took place on April 13th, 2007.

The 15th joint seminar and networking meeting of AIPPI-KOREA, APPA-KOREA, LES-KOREA and FICPI-KOREA was held at the Westin Chosun, Seoul on April 13th, 2007. The first joint meeting to take place was at the outskirts of Seoul in 1993, organized by AIPPIalone. In the early days of the meeting,the seminar and activities including mountain climbing were arranged for the weekend but asthe Saturday-off system was established in Korea, the meeting day was moved to Friday.

The meeting began with introductions to the four associations, and continued with two informative lecturespresented by two guest speakers, Mr. Suk-Moo Park, President of Dankuk University Foundation and Mr. Moo-Ik Park, President of Gallup Korea. In the first lecture, Mr. SM Park spoke on “The Significance ofthe Korean Traditional Practical Science in a modern context.” It was followed by Mr. MI Park’s lecture, “Understanding Public-Opinion Polls.”

During the meeting networking time was provided to allow an opportunity to strengthen mutual ties between the members of the groups,as well as share their common interests through guest speakers’ lectures and a workshop. There were discussions on preparations to host the 6th North & Southeast Asia I.P. Networking Meeting in August In Jakarta, and a reception dinner at the end of the meeting.

5. AIPP I 2007 EXCO Meeting will be held from Oct. 5-10 2007 in Singapore

The 2007 EXCO Meeting will be held at Raffles City Convention Center, Singapore on October 5 to 10, 2007. At the meeting, delegates from each country will discuss both administrative and scientific matters including the following 3 Questions:

1) Q193: Divisional, Continuation and Continuation in Part Applications
2) Q194: The Impact of Co-Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights on their     Exploitation
3) Q195: Limitations of the Trademark Protection.

6. The 4th AIPPI World Intellectual Property Forum will be held from Oct. 4-6
2007 in Singapore.

The 4 th AIPPI Forum will be held in Singapore from 4 th to 6 th October 2007. 12 Sessions will cover a wide range of topics including Recent Developments in IP Enforcement in Asia,The interface between IP regulations and pharmaceutical regulations and Legal Problems arising from auctioning of IPR

7. AIPPI Future Events

2007. AIPPI Executive Committee Meeting & Forum……Singapore, (October 4-10)
2008. 41st AIPPI World Intellectual Property Congress……Boston, USA, (September 8-12)
2010. 42nd AIPPI World Intellectual Property Congress……Paris, France
2012. 43rd AIPPI World Intellectual Property Congress……Seoul, Korea
2014. 44rd AIPPI World Intellectual Property Congress……Toronto, Canada

8. New Members during the second quarter of this year

If you are interested in becoming a member, AIPPI-Korea cordially welcomes you.

9. List of AIPPI-Korea Board of Directors

Honorary President: Suk-jae YIM President: Yoon-bae KIM Vice President: Jang-won PARK, Kyung-jae PARK, Man-ho SONG, Kwan-ho SHINN, Young-pil LEE, Ea-Roo KANG , Man-gi PAIK Auditor: Seong-taik KIM, Jae-ryun SONG Secretary: Seong-ki KIM Treasurer: Yang-oh KIM Board of Directors: Kook-chan AHN, Sang-bae AHN, Yoon CHAE, Sun-ryung KIM, Young-chol KIM, Young-mo KWON, Won-hee LEE, Young-hwan PARK, Won SON.