ASEAN may protect trademarks

ASEAN may protect trademarks

By Riyadi

BANGKOK (JP): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) is gearing up for cooperation on intellectual property
rights and the possible establishment of free trade in services.

ASEAN economic ministers finalized yesterday framework
agreements on the two issues, in addition to agreements on the
free trade of goods under the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)
arrangement.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Amnuay Viravan told a press
conference that ASEAN heads of state/governments will sign the
agreements on Friday.

The economic ministers also agreed to draw up action plans on
free trade in services within three years and plan to report the
plans in the next ASEAN summit to be held in Vietnam.

Yesterday's meeting of economic ministers was chaired by
Brunei Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Pehin Dato
Abdul Rahman Taib. Indonesia was represented by Coordinating
Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto and Minister of
Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo.

Tunky confirmed that the economic ministers had been
successful in preparing all the necessary documents, including
those on services and property rights.

Signing

"We have finalized everything to be signed tomorrow. There is
no problem at all. Everything proceeded very well," Tunky said.

ASEAN Secretary-General Dato' Ajit Singh told reporters that
both framework agreements, drafted by the economic ministers,
will be deliberated in the joint ministerial meeting of ASEAN
foreign ministers and economic ministers today before they are
brought before the fifth ASEAN summit on Thursday.

On the services issue, Singh said that the economic ministers
had identified the areas to be liberalized, including financial
services, air and maritime transportation, telecommunications,
tourism and business services.

Singh said that ASEAN free trade in services will be
consistent with the provisions of the General Agreement on Trade
in Services. He said that it will also complement the AFTA
agreement, which rules free trade in goods.

According to the ASEAN secretariat, the services sector
contributes between 46 percent and 72 percent of the gross
domestic products of the groups members. By 1993, the production
of the services sector was bigger than the manufacturing sector
in all ASEAN countries.

ASEAN currently groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Asked about the timeframe for free trade in services, Singh
said there was still a long way to go.

"Next year, we will start to talk about it into detail. Then,
we will have an agreement. The idea is to talk to have an
agreement," Singh said.

Singh said that there will be cooperation at the ASEAN level
in the area of trade-related intellectual property rights.

One of the items in the framework agreement refers to the
formation of a single standard mechanism to improve the trademark
and copyright registration process among ASEAN members.

A full-fledged patent system is, however, still a few years
away, and the agreement initially is the form of a pledge by
ASEAN governments to study the feasibility of a patent system.

The proposed agreement envisages the setting up of regional
trademark and patent offices modeled on other international
systems. The aim is to have one application, one set of laws and
automatic protection for rights owners within ASEAN.

No timeframe has been set for the establishment of the
offices. However, some sources said it could be finalized by
2000.

A number of ASEAN countries, especially Indonesia, Thailand
and the Philippines, have been criticized for being havens for
violators of intellectual property rights.

ASEAN has been working on the intellectual property agreement
since September last year after realizing improvements were
needed to protect its businesses, boost the confidence of foreign
investors and, ultimately, lure more investment to the region.

Patents and trademarks are the key issues to be discussed
under the heading of intellectual property rights. The framework
agreement involves cooperation on copyrights, industrial designs
and commercial secrets.

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