Belarus and WIPO discussed intellectual property projects

From June 4 to 5, a regional seminar “Actual aspects of the use of intellectual property rights” was held in Minsk.

During the event, representatives of Belarus and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) discussed two projects in the field of intellectual property protection.

The first project, according to the chairman of the State Committee for Science and Technology of Belarus, Alexander Shumilin, concerns the accession of Belarus to the Marrakesh Treaty on facilitating the access to published works of the blind and visually impaired or other individuals with limited ability to perceive printed information.

According to Mr. Shumilin, in 2016, the country through the UN entered into an agreement to support the protection of the rights of people with disabilities. In turn, the Marrakesh Treaty provides for the establishment of restrictions and exceptions to copyright in the interests of the blind and persons with visual impairment or other limited ability to perceive printed information. This is necessary for the production and distribution of copies of works in an accessible format for the visually impaired.

“The Marrakesh Treaty allows the visually impaired to receive information on an equal basis with all other people,” said Alexander Shumilin.

The second project, the head of the SCST added, is the Hague Agreement on the International Registration of Industrial Designs.

Joining this Agreement will make it possible to obtain industrial design protection on the world market, which will significantly reduce the costs of Belarus organizations in obtaining such protection.

“We are just starting to work on this project. This is a very promising direction, as we have a lot of industrial designs in our country,” said Alexander Shumilin. In addition, the inclusion of these samples in the WIPO database will promote our technologies.”

Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and other WIPO representatives, as well as members of the Eurasian Patent Organization, the Eurasian Economic Commission, foreign experts from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine participated in the seminar “Current Aspects of Using Intellectual Property Rights”.