The 44th Session of the Standing Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT/44) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 17 to 20 May 2021.
The meetings took place in a mixed regime, with the presence in the hall and online participation. According to the Agenda, during the current session of the SCT Committee, several topics were discussed related to:
- Industrial Design Protection for Graphical User Interfaces (GUI);
- Temporary Protection Provided to Industrial Designs at Certain International Exhibitions;
- Settlement of Conflicts Between Trademarks and Domain Names (DNS)
- Protection of Country Names and Geographical Names of National Significance, including in the Domain Name System (DNS);
- Protection of Geographical Indications.
The full agenda of the SCT/44 Committee can be accessed at https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/sct/en/sct_44/sct_44_1_prov_2.pdf.
The SCT/44 Committee was attended by more than 190 representatives from WIPO Member States, international governmental and non-governmental organizations. The representative of the Republic of Moldova, Simion Levitchi, Head of the Trademarks and Industrial Design Department, AGEPI, participated in online meetings.
The SCT/44 Committee meeting was opened by WANG Binying, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, who mentioned the importance of the current Committee meeting to discuss the topics according to the Agenda. She noted that the interest of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in intellectual property has been growing recently. It is the responsibility of the SCT to facilitate the use by SMEs of the opportunities offered by trademark protection systems.
The subject of the convening of the Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (DLT) remains a priority for WIPO and is to be discussed at the General Agenda in the autumn of 2021. It is also important to ensure the temporary protection of industrial design in certain international exhibitions and the protection of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in the context of IT development.
Regarding trademark protection, WANG Binying noted that according to the Agenda, the topics related to the protection of country brands in the Member States, the protection of country names and geographical names of national significance will be addressed.
WANG Binying invited Member States to participate in the Virtual Exhibition on Geographical Indications which will be inaugurated on the occasion of WIPO Geographical Indications Symposium (6-8 September 2021).
During the meeting were discussed the topics for an information session on geographical indications, scheduled for the next SCT meeting.