HKTDC-World Intellectual Property Organization Sign MOU

14 April 2014 – The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) signed an MOU on 10 April in Geneva, Switzerland. Through the strategic partnership, the HKTDC and WIPO will jointly promote the trading of intellectual property via their respective online marketplaces, the Asia IP Exchange (AsiaIPEX) and WIPO Green. With the signing, WIPO Green becomes the 23^rd partner of the HKTDC’s AsiaIPEX.

HKTDC Assistant Executive Director Raymond Yip and WIPO Deputy Director General Christian Wichard signed the agreement on behalf of their organisations at the WIPO headquarters in Geneva.

Also attending the ceremony were Wang Binying, Deputy Director General of WIPO, Antony Taubman, Director of the Intellectual Property Division of the World Trade Organization, and Chen Hongbing, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland.

Encouraging Collaboration
“Environmental protection is an issue of global concern,” said Mr Yip, at the signing ceremony. “A lot of green products and technologies that are applicable to our daily lives and adopted by the business sector depend on IP trading for their commercialisation.”

“This new partnership will give the hundreds of green technologies hosted on WIPO Green greater exposure in Asia and Hong Kong in particular, contributing technology transfer to this important region,” said Mr Wichard.

AsiaIPEX
Launched this past December, the AsiaIPEX now has users from more than 70 countries and regions, boasting a portfolio of over 25,000 tradable IP items, ranging from patents and copyrights to trademarks.

WIPO Green
Launched by WIPO last November, WIPO Green connects environmental technology and service suppliers and users. The platform, which cooperates with some 15 IP organisations around the world, offers green technology IP assets from a wide range of sectors, including carbon emissions, waste management, energy, agricultural and forestry.

Websites
Asia IP Exchange: http://www.asiaipex.com 
WIPO Green: https://webaccess.wipo.int/green/

Media Enquiries 
Please contact the HKTDC’s Corporate Communication Department:

Joe Kainz                 Tel: (852) 2584 4216           Email: joe.kainz@hktdc.org

About the HKTDC
A statutory body established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and service providers. With more than 40 global offices, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China and throughout Asia. The HKTDC also organises trade fairs and business missions to connect companies with opportunities in Hong Kong and on the mainland, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and online. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com.

About WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. A specialised agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 187 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society’s evolving needs. It provides business services for obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and resolving disputes. It delivers capacity-building programmes to help developing countries benefit from using IP. And it provides free access to unique knowledge banks of IP information.