The protection of intellectual property rights and their enforcement is a foundational enabler for innovation, promoting foreign trade and investment as well as boosting economic development.
In recognition of their importance, intellectual property rights were featured in the 1995 Osaka Action Agenda — APEC's strategic roadmap for achieving free and open trade and investment in the region.
In 1996, the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) established an Intellectual Property Rights Get-Together (IPR-GT). The aim was to ensure the adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights in the Asia-Pacific region through legislative, administrative and enforcement mechanisms based on the principles of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement) and other related agreements. In 1997, the CTI made the IPR-GT an official APEC group with explicit terms of reference and renamed it the Intellectual Property Rights Experts' Group (IPEG).
Topics that IPEG’s work engages with include:
- Trademark links
- Deepening the dialogue on intellectual property (IP) policy
- New technologies
- Patent grace periods
- International IP dispute resolution
- IP enforcement
- IP commercialization & securitization of IP assets
- Interoperability
In 2023-2024, IPEG’s key focus areas are:
1. IP Financing
2. IP in the Digital Economy and Interconnectivity
3. IP for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
IPEG held its 56th Meeting in Palm Springs, California, USA on 19-20 February 2023 and its 57th Meeting in Seattle, Washington, USA on 1-2 August 2023. Its next plenary, IPEG’s 58h Meeting, will take place in Peru in the beginning of 2024.
Last page update: October 2023
Contacts
Chair
Email: [email protected]
Program Director
Current Activities
CTI’s priorities and key activities
- Support for the multilateral trading system
- Advancing regional economic integration, including the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific Agenda
- Trade facilitation and strengthening connectivity and infrastructure
- Promoting innovative development and inclusive approaches
- Engagement with the business sector and industry dialogues.
An overview of the work of the CTI and its 11 sub-fora—the dialogues, initiatives and achievements made in 2022—are encapsulated in the 2022 CTI Annual Report to Ministers.