The ECAP II Programme

What is ECAPII?
Strong intellectual property rights (IPR) protection is crucial to fostering trade, and achieving the goals and benefits of global integration. Countries with high standards of IPR protection tend to attract more investment, stimulate more innovation, thereby developing more rapidly. Countries with inadequate protection are often vulnerable to patent, copyright, and trade mark infringements that hinder trade flow and economic development.

One of the core objectives of the European Union relations with Asia is to strengthen the mutual trade and investment flows. To this end, the EU has launched a series of economic co-operation programmes, including the EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Co-operation Programme, ECAP II.

Trade and investment relations between the EU and Asia have expanded substantially in recent years. In 2003, EU-ASEAN trade represented 5.8% of total EU trade, and the enlarged EU is currently ASEAN's 3rd largest trading partner, accounting for 14% of ASEAN trade. Significantly, 15% of ASEAN exports are destined for the EU, which makes it ASEAN's 2nd largest export market after the US. South East Asia's current economic strengths and its great longer-term potential continue to make it an attractive region for investment by EU economic operators.  Development of an effective intellectual property rights system thus underpins the establishment of conditions conducive to long-term economic relations.

By participating in ECAP II, ASEAN countries can benefit from European knowledge and experience where intellectual property rights are concerned, particularly in compliance with the WTO agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS. Apart from boosting investors’ confidence, IP rights constitute an essential tool for any country’s own economic development.

With successful implementation of ECAP I which ran between 1993 and 1997, ECAP II specifically responds to the needs of ASEAN countries in their bid to become more active players in the global market, where the use and protection of intellectual property rights enhance competitiveness. Nearly 912,000 inventions from all over the world were disclosed in patent applications in 2004, which in turn were subject of multiple subsequent filings. Global demand for patent rights rose from 10.0 million in 2000 to 23.5 million in 2004. In line with the global trend, patenting activities in ASEAN have gained significant momentum in recent years, as companies from ASEAN countries are expanding their patent strategies to Asia, Europe and the rest of the world.

The fields of trade marks and designs are just as vibrant.  To meet the needs of companies wishing to export to Europe, two instruments offering Europe-wide protection for trade marks and designs are available: the Community Trade Mark (CTM) and the Registered Community Design (RCD).  With the last enlargement of the European Union on 1 January 2007, these exclusive rights can now be registered and protected in 27 EU Member States.  The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), OHIM, is the European agency responsible for registering both the CTM and the RCD.  At the end of 2006, some 553,793 CTM applications had been received from across the world since 1996.  Among ASEAN partners in ECAP II, the number one filer by country of origin for CTMs is Singapore, with 935 applications having been filed.  Thailand followed in second place with 466 applications and Malaysia closely behind having filed 400 CTM applications.  With regard to the Registered Community Design, at the end of 2006, 58,837 applications had been received at OHIM.  With the average number of designs per application standing at 3.86, a total of 227,114 designs were thus received since 2003, of which 214,581 were registered and published.  Thailand is the number one filer of RCD applications from Southeast Asia (206) followed by Singapore (169) and Malaysia (91).

EC-ASEAN Patents and Trade Marks Programme (ECAP I)
From September 1993 to June 1997, ECAP I assisted ASEAN countries in strengthening their systems for the protection of industrial property rights. ECAP I was initially implemented with the six original ASEAN member states namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. After joining ASEAN in June 1995, Vietnam participated in all regional ECAP I activities and a specific national EC-financed IPR co-operation project continued until December 2000. Further to ECAP I success, the European Commission launched a new initiative in response to requests from ASEAN. The EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Co-operation Programme, or ECAP II, officially started in July 2000.

EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Co-operation Programme (ECAP II)
While ECAP I focused on industrial property rights, ECAP II covers the entire spectrum of intellectual property rights, with particular emphasis on enforcement. ASEAN partners in ECAPII are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. With 9 million Euro of total funding, ECAP II was originally foreseen to run until the end of 2006. However Regional activities as well as National activities for Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have been extended until the end of 2007.  More than 200 activities (in the form of training courses, seminars, workshops, study tours, technical assistance) have been accomplished to date since the start of the Programme, with many more in the pipeline.

The overall objectives of ECAP II are:

1. To foster trade, investment and technology exchanges between Europe and ASEAN.
2. To foster intra-ASEAN trade and investment.

ECAP II activities focus on:

• The completion of the legal framework to make the IP laws in the ASEAN countries in line with at least the minimum TRIPs requirements.
• Improvement of the administration of IPR
• Improvement of the enforcement of IPR
• Raising awareness in the ASEAN region on the importance of IPR for the economic development of a country