On July 7, 2023, the Head of Rospatent Mr. Yury Zubov participated in an informal meeting of the Heads of IP Offices of the BRICS countries, that took place on the sidelines of the 64th Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Member States held in Geneva (Switzerland). The Commissioner of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) of South Africa Mr. Rory Voller chaired the meeting.

The participants presented their general statements and exchanged information on the progress in the work areas specified by the BRICS IP Offices Cooperation Roadmap. In his statement, Mr. Yury Zubov emphasized the importance of joint work on preserving the non-political status of WIPO. Furthermore, the Head of the Russian IP Office proposed to rely on the achievements of the Committee on WIPO Standards related to the development of the 3D and blockchain standards to further the work within BRICS.

An important item on the meeting’s agenda covered the coordination of the BRICS countries’ positions within WIPO. The participants highly appreciated the role of Rospatent in the preparation of the BRICS joint statement presented at the opening of the WIPO Assemblies on July 6, 2023.

In particular, the joint statement emphasized that BRICS is focused on constructive work within the WIPO, its decision-making and negotiating bodies, and welcomes the Organization's efforts to build a balanced and effective international IP ecosystem that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. For their part, the BRICS countries are ready to significantly contribute to this work and believe that the development of a multilateral dialogue on IP-related issues in a constructive manner is of crucial importance and the BRICS format shows an excellent example of this practice.