The 61st Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) was held via videoconference on 9-10 September 2020. This was the second online meeting organized for the AWGIPC, due to ongoing travel restrictions. The meeting was chaired by Dr Le Ngoc Lam, Deputy Director General, Intellectual Property Office of Viet Nam (IP Viet Nam), Ministry of Science and Technology. The meeting was also attended by Cambodia’s Department of IP new Director, Mr. Suon Vichea.

The Meeting discussed the outcomes of the Mid Term Review Survey on the IPR Action Plan 2016-2025, and noted the updates from the recently concluded 6th ASEAN Network of IP Enforcement Experts (ANIEE) Meeting. The Meeting also noted the completion of the ASEAN IPR Enforcement Handbook and endorsed the Action Plan of the Intellectual Property Academy Working Group (IPAWG) to set up the Virtual ASEAN IP Academy.

There were also consultation sessions with dialogue partners from the ARISE+ IPR, ASEAN IP Association (AIPA), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Two Heads Meeting were held on the sidelines, namely the ASEAN - Japan Patent Office (JPO) Heads Meeting Special Session, led by its new Commissioner Mr. Toshihide Kasutani, and ASEAN - China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) Heads Meeting, led by its Commissioner Dr. SHEN Changyu.

The 62nd AWGIPC Meeting will be held at the end of November 2020 via video conference.