Mounting evidence suggests that intellectual property rights and patents in particular are crucial to long-term economic growth. Patents provide a necessary incentive to invest in research and development activity, which in turn builds technological capacity and economic efficiency within an economy.rnrnIn part to meet treaty obligations, several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have over the last 10 years introduced modern intellectual property rights into their legal systems. However, while most ASEAN members have intellectual property laws on the books, they have given insufficient attention to building the requisite infrastructure required to make effective use of these laws.rnrnThis report recommends a series of short-term interventions and presents possible long-term solutions regarding intellectual property rights, patents offices in particular in Southeast Asia. The short-term interventions focus on addressing problems in the flow of work within patent offices, organization of intellectual property policy making bodies, building minimum technological infrastructure, providing assistance in developing intellectual property legislation and providing training for patent office staff and others crucial in the overall intellectual property infrastructure.rnrnThe possible long-term solutions presented includes 1) each ASEAN member makes a deliberate decision to strengthen their respective patent office capacity, 2) the adoption by ASEAN members of a certification process for approving patent applications similar to the one in use in Singapore, and 3) the creation of a regional patent office through a phased long-term solution presented, the report reviews the pros and cons and suggests a general implementation plan. The next step is to continue a meeting of intellectual property policy makers to discuss the options and develop a plan for moving forward.