SEMARANG, 20 August 2023 – Today, ASEAN, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), launched the ASEAN Intellectual Property (IP) Register. Powered by a sophisticated information exchange system, the ASEAN IP Register is a one-stop IP information portal that will incorporate up-to-date IP data from all ten ASEAN Member States maintained by WIPO. It will provide a single portal to access complete sets of ASEAN IP data for all stakeholders to conduct patent, trademark and design searches seamlessly.
At the launch ceremony, WIPO Director General Daren Tang commended ASEAN’s remarkable achievements in its journey towards the development of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which is driven by technological adoption and IP-supported innovation. He reaffirmed the WIPO’s commitment to partnering with ASEAN in realising a conducive IP environment, which allows entrepreneurs, innovators, and creators to create, protect, and transform their IP as intangible assets into commercial opportunities in a thriving regional IP ecosystem. The ASEAN IP Register is among numerous WIPO’s technical projects that provide ASEAN businesses and innovators with access to world-class IP services, chartering a new strategy and a new way for IP commercialisation in ASEAN as a region.
According to WIPO statistics in 2022, ASEAN experienced an impressive growth in IP applications. Between 2012 and 2022, even amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, patent and industrial design applications soared by 70% and 80%, respectively. Meanwhile, the number of trademark applications also witnessed a 110% growth. As a result, the WIPO Global Innovation Index 2023 projected that the market value of ASEAN’s leading brands surged beyond $250 billion USD, a strong indication of the surging value of ASEAN’s intangible assets.
Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN, expressed his thanks to Director General Daren Tang and WIPO for their valuable support. He called for a stronger collaboration between ASEAN and WIPO to leverage the ASEAN IP Register to transform the region into a Hub of Excellence in Intellectual Property.
