MINSK, 4 October (BelTA) - Belarus is ready to act as a platform for the pilot projects of the World Intellectual Property Organization aimed at stimulating innovative and inventive activity both at the national and international levels, Chairman of the Belarusian State Committee on Science and Technology Aleksandr Shumilin said as he addressed the Sixty-Second Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO, BelTA learned from the press service of the State Committee on Science and Technology.
According to him, Belarus is interested in maintaining cooperation and expanding legal and technical support from the World Intellectual Property Organization as it implements joint projects aimed at strengthening human resources in intellectual property, raising awareness about the advantages of using tools for protecting the results of intellectual activity and also increasing the quality of services provided by the national patent office by means of introducing the electronic systems such as ePCT, IPAS and WIPO Connect.
"We highly appreciate WIPO's efforts to promote the innovation agenda, to support small and medium-sized enterprises, and to improve the activities of the national patent offices of the member states," said Aleksandr Shumilin. He also noted that in order to implement the memorandum of understanding between Belarus and WIPO, the country has been expanding the network of technology and innovation support centers, which already includes 14 such points.
Belarus is a party to 19 international treaties administered by WIPO. Between 2020 and 2021, the country acceded to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled, and to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement governs the international registration of industrial designs. With the expertise provided by WIPO, Belarus has drafted a national intellectual property strategy for 2021-2030.
Geneva is hosting the Sixty-Second Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO on 4-8 October.
