| WIPO To Open Arbitration And Mediation Centre In Singapore |
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By Zakaria Abdul Wahab
SINGAPORE, July 28 (Bernama) -- Intellectual property disputes in the Asia Pacific region need no longer be heard at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) arbitration and mediation centre in Geneva from next year when WIPO open a similar centre in Singapore in January.
WIPO has chosen the city-state to establish the centre, the first outside its Geneva-based headquarters, to cater to regional needs and promote alternative dispute resolution services in the region.
Singapore and WIPO today signed an agreement to pave the way for the setting up of the Singapore Office of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre located at Maxwell Chambers, the republic's international dispute resolution centre.
WIPO director-general Dr Francis Gurry and Singapore Law Minister K. Shanmugam signed the agreement at a ceremony here Tuesday.
The mediations administered by the WIPO centre relate to patent disputes, software/IT, copyright issues, trademark issues including trademark co-existence, telecommunications, employment issues in an intellectual property (IP) context, consultancy and engineering disputes, and domain name disputes.
Matters under the arbitration purview include patent infringements, patent licences, telecommunications purchase and licence agreements, software licences, distribution agreements for pharmaceutical products, research and development agreements, trademark co-existence agreements, consultancy agreements, art marketing agreements and joint venture agreements.
As the only WIPO centre in the region, the Singapore office will also provide training and advice on procedures such as arbitration, mediation and expert determination, and will administer and facilitate hearings in cases conducted under the WIPO rules in Singapore.
Shanmugam said the expansion of WIPO to Singapore bore testimony to the republic's commitment to the protection of intellectual assets and its support of WIPO's efforts to develop the international IP regime.
Gurry said the centre would offer companies and others in the region a cost-effective dispute resolution option and help boost the availability of fully trained professionals to effectively deliver alternative dispute resolution services throughout the region.
WIPO and Singapore will also establish an international WIPO mediation and arbitration scheme for film related disputes, which will be developed by the WIPO centre in collaboration with Singapore's Media Development Authority, and expected to be launched here late this year.
-- BERNAMA
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