WIPO Members Target Young People In IP Awareness-Raising Campaign

Raising awareness on the value of intellectual property and preventive actions to fight counterfeiting particularly among younger users was among the strategies presented by speakers at the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on enforcement of IP rights this week.

The ninth session of the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) is taking place from 3-5 March. On the second day of the session, a number of countries presented their national initiatives to stifle infringement of IP rights, and underlined the help of WIPO. Many of the countries also are displaying their activities at the WIPO exhibition alongside the ACE meeting (IPW, WIPO, 5 March 2014).

A number of them said they are betting on awareness-raising of the general public, and in particular of the young public, to curb counterfeit goods in the marketplace. The general focus on children and young adults may indicate that the major worry about infringement rests with the internet.

The WIPO secretariat gave a presentation on “Preventive actions, measures or successful experiences to complement ongoing enforcement measures with a view to reducing the size of the market for counterfeited or pirated goods.”

WIPO has developed a “modular, step-by-step Building Respect for IP – Awareness Strategy,” according to the WIPO document [pdf] presented at this session of the ACE. It describes key players who have roles in implementing the strategy as belonging to four categories: the public sector, the private sector, civil society and the media.

Louise van Greunen, director of the Division for Building Respect for IP, said a number of countries asked for help from the division, and underlined that WIPO has a number of available tools to help raise awareness, in particular the WIPO comic books for youth available in several languages.

Costa Rica, IP Tool for Development

Luis Jiménez, deputy director general for the National Registry of Costa Rica, gave a presentation of changes that have been implemented in the country in the last few years to address infringement. IP was considered to serve only the interest of a small group of users, but now it is understood that IP is a “powerful tool for the development of a country,” he said.

According to a document [pdf] presented at the session, Costa Rica has implemented several practical mechanisms: the adoption of a legislative framework for protection, the passing of a decree regulating software protection in the central government, and the creation of the Inter-institutional Commission for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CIPPI).

The Costa Rican Intellectual Property Academy was launched in April 2012. According to Jiménez, the academy is providing courses and training programmes, emphasising the practical aspects of IP, with the assistance of WIPO. The country also has a national strategy for intellectual property for which Jiménez underlined the help of WIPO.

Slovak Republic Targets Youngsters First

Ľuboš Knoth, president of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic, described the process and the goals of the country’s national campaign “IP-Awareness – IP Education – IP Enforcement 2013-2015.” A document [pdf] for the session details the campaign, which has been divided into three segments of target groups.

In 2013, elementary schools and children from 10 to 15 years old were the target of a campaign entitled “nefejkuj.sk” (do not fake). In 2014, consumers will be the object of the next campaign and in 2015, a third campaign is expected to address distributors and producers, according to the document. The key message for children was “IP means knowledge and intelligence,” for consumers “IP means quality,” and for producers “IP means image and profit,” Knoth said.

Encouraging results came out of the 2013 campaign, he said, with at the end of the campaign heightened knowledge and understanding of IP infringement among children. He also mentioned an educational EU-backed project named “sheeplive” which provides short videos subtitled in several EU languages.

Trinidad and Tobago, Building an IP Savvy Society

Richard Aching, manager for technical examination at the Intellectual Property Office of Trinidad and Tobago, said the country also has developed new approaches to enforcement, encouraging respect for IP, and viewing it as a tool for economic development.

Trinidad and Tobago has set up a building respect for IP campaign, detailed in the session document [pdf]. The goals are to build an “IP savvy society by increasing the society’s level of appreciation and value of IP,” and improve market conditions for creative goods by reducing piracy.

The country also considers young people as a primary target group, he said, noting the help provided by the WIPO educational materials. Asked about enforcement measures, he said, “we have not taken the stick away.”

South Africa, Balanced Approach Needed

Amanda Lotheringen, senior manager for copyright and IP enforcement at the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) of South Africa, presented preventative actions and measures to complement enforcement, with a view to reducing the size of the market for pirated and counterfeit goods.

In South Africa, a number of sectors are concerned, she said: software, film, music, gaming and publishing. In the document [pdf] she prepared for the ACE session, she explains that “In essence, the approach must be able to balance the scales between creating awareness about the benefits of IPR and serving the public interest.”

“The massive infiltration of counterfeit and pirated products or ip theft, creates an enormous drain on the global economy crowding out billions in legitimate economic activity and facilitating an underground economy that deprives governments of revenues for vital public services,” she said. This also forces higher burdens on taxpayers, dislocates legitimate jobs, leads to foreign investments loss, and jeopardise the quality of international trade relations.

She mentioned the “Be your Own Buy your Own” campaign, further described in the session document as “moving away from the traditional anti-piracy concept,” and focusing on creativity and the positive side of IP.

League of Arab States Awareness-Raising Cartoons

The League of Arab States also presented a document [pdf] at this session of the ACE. Maha Bakhiet Zaki, director of the Intellectual Property and Competitiveness Department of the League of Arab States, insisted on substantial efforts made by Arab countries to develop intellectual property legislation.

A common framework has been established, she said, which undertakes a number of activities of awareness-raising, in cooperation with WIPO, and organises events in different Arab countries.

She also mentioned a Memorandum of Understanding between the League of Arab States and WIPO, dating back to 2000.

Part of the awareness-raising campaign, a series of four short cartoons, was presented to the ACE. The cartoons address the importance of IP rights in trademarks, trademarks counterfeiting relating to public health, copyright and neighbouring rights, and online piracy, according to the session document.