December 13, 2021.- With the aim of providing concrete tools to support SMEs in the various issues involving intellectual property in export processes, last Friday the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Pacific Alliance launched the project «Supporting SMEs in the countries of the Pacific Alliance with tools that allow them to make better use of Intellectual Property».
The launch was led by WIPO’s Deputy Assistant Director for Intellectual Property and Innovation Ecosystems, Marco Alemán, and the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the UN and International Organizations in Geneva. Also in attendance were Angélica Romero, Director General of Multilateral Economic Affairs of SUBREI of Chile; María Paula Arenas, Director of Foreign Investment and Services, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MINCIT) of Colombia; Anel Valencia, Deputy Director General of Support Services, Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) of Mexico; and Mauricio Osorio, Deputy Director of Patent Promotion of the Directorate of Inventions and New Technologies, National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) of Peru.
The project expects to count on the expertise of WIPO and the involvement of experts from PA countries to jointly develop materials and inputs that will enable SMEs to understand the importance of intellectual property and take advantage of its commercial value, incorporating educational materials, models and resources adapted for these purposes.
This cooperation between WIPO and the Pacific Alliance is the first cooperation activity between WIPO and the Alliance, and arises from a proposal submitted by Chile in 2019 during its pro tempore presidency.