JAKARTA, 10 April 2014 - Fifteen patent examiners from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, commenced the Regional Patent Examination Training (RPET) - a comprehensive, competency-based e-learning programme for patent examiners this month. This programme aims to enhance the readiness of participating offices in the increasingly globalised economy of the future. This follows the pilot programme launched by the Australian Government Agency - IP Australia in April 2013 with support from the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Economic Cooperation Support Program (AECSP).

Mr. Tan Yih San, Chair of the ASEAN Working Group on IP Cooperation (AWGIPC), co-chair of the AANZFTA IP Committee, and Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), congratulated IP Australia on the successful implementation of the RPET in its first year, RPET is a useful programme that helps raise the patent search and examination standard in ASEAN. Participating examiners were pleased with the thoughtful curriculum and professional trainers. The programme is an effective model to reach out to various ASEAN member states.

At the commencement, Ms. Patricia Kelly, Director General of IP Australia remarked that IP Australia is pleased to offer new places to our existing partner offices in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and to expand our RPET community to include two new participating offices in Vietnam and Thailand. In the first year of the RPET, trainees have had the opportunity to improve their competency to conduct patent search and examination activities to the international Patent Cooperation Treaty standards. It has also provided participating offices an insight into how their domestic practices align with these standards. Our experience to date has illustrated that the RPET model is effective in delivering intensive patent examination training to international IP offices. Participating offices have commented that the structure and timing of the programme enables the trainees to develop comprehensive skills that are directly transferable to their day to day work. The current intake of trainees have successfully completed the first two phases of the programme and have now reached the stage where they are transferring their learning into real, on the job examination of patent applications.

Participants said that RPET has introduced them to a more comprehensive, systematic approach to patent examination. It will bring positive impacts on patent search and examination activities in participating offices because the programmes content is ready to be shared with other examiners and senior management. To be able to positively influence patent examination practice and procedures within the region is a good result for the programme.

The 2014 intake of the RPET programme marks an important milestone in strengthening cooperation between members of the AANZFTA.? The inclusion of both Thailand and Viet Nam into the 2014 intake of the programme reflects the importance of continued development of the IP system to encourage innovation and trade within the region. IP officials from Kenya and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation are also involved in the programme. Visit http://aanzfta.asean.org/ for more details.