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On 13 and 14 January 2011, in Hanoi, the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam (NOIP), in co-operation with the European Patent Office (EPO), hosted the 6^th ASEAN - EPO Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Conference (HIPOC) addressing the topic: “Elevating ASEAN - EPO relations to a strategic level” 

Participants at the Conference were the heads and senior officials of ASEAN IPOs and the EPO, representatives of Embassies of EU member countries to Viet Nam and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Conference discussed measures to strengthen the cooperation between ASEAN and EPO in order to elevate their relations from to technical level to strategic level. 

The Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Hoang Van Phong and  his first Deputy Minister, Dr.  Nguyen Quan did attend the Conference. 

Addressed at the Conference, Professor Hoang Van Phong said “Realizing the important role of intellectual property, the State and Government of Viet Nam has paid special attention to the development and improvement of the national intellectual property system, including the establishment of an IP legislation which is in conformity with international norms and standards set forth in the TRIPS Agreement of the WTO and other international treaties in the field of intellectual property. These efforts have contributed to the accession of Viet Nam to the WTO in January 2007. He also said that “Viet Nam is committed to further improve its national IP system to meet requirements of international economic integration, thus expanding and promoting trade and investments with all countries and partners in the world” "Viet Nam epitomizes the dynamism and progress of the ASEAN region, which has become an engine for growth in the world economy" said EPO President Benoît Battistelli at the opening of HIPOC. He stressed "Patents are a useful tool for fostering innovation and promoting economic growth”. 

As one of the leading patent offices, the EPO sees it as its mission to work with partner offices in the ASEAN region and elsewhere for the creation of a quality-based patent system at international level which will effectively support the needs of a global economy. 

At the Conference, delegates shared information, experiences and practices of intellectual property offices, discussed measures to resolve common challenges facing the intellectual property offices, in particular patent backlogs, etc…through cooperation mechanisms on information exchanges and work-sharing among them. 

International Cooperation Division