The ASEAN Project on Intellectual Property Rights (ECAP III), approved by the European Union and ASEAN in 2009, has entered Phase II in December 2012.
The implementation of Phase II has been entrusted to the EU Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) after the recent reformulation and realignment of the project content in accordance with the ASEAN IPR Action Plan 2011-2015. Phase II will be implemented over a period of three years, from 2013 to 2015, and will contribute to the following strategic goals identified by ASEAN in that Action Plan:
- Strengthen the institutional capacity for IP administration and enforcement in the ASEAN region
- Develop the legal and policy frameworks enabling the ASEAN countries to effectively participate in global protection systems for IP
- Promote the use of IP by the productive sector in the ASEAN countries as a tool for development
- Enhance IP institution building and integration in the ASEAN region through intensified collaboration among the ASEAN Members States and with the ASEAN Secretariat
ECAP III Phase II comprises four components, namely:
- Administration and Enforcement: aimed at strengthening the capacity of the administration to deliver quality registration services and enhancing the enforcement of IP rights in the ASEAN countries.
- Legal and Policy Frameworks: aimed at enhancing the legal and policy frameworks enabling the participation of the ASEAN countries in the global protection systems for brands.
- Brand Development: aimed at improving the capacity of the productive sector in the ASEAN countries, especially SMEs, to create, protect and manage their own brands by using IP as a tool for development.
- Regional Integration and Collaboration: aimed at enhancing IP integration within the ASEAN region and strengthening IP collaboration among ASEAN Member States and with the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC).
Key activities to be implemented under each of these components shall contribute to achieve the overall project objective “to further integrate ASEAN countries into the global economy and world trading system to promote economic growth and reduce poverty in the region”, and the specific project objective of “supporting ASEAN regional integration and further upgrade and harmonize the systems for IP creation, protection, administration and enforcement in the ASEAN region, in line with international IP standards and with the ASEAN IPR Action Plan 2011-2015”.
