On July 22-26, 2019, EAPO held the working meetings with the representatives of IP Office Business Solutions Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Gabriel Berlicki and Alexander Novikov.

The meeting was organized in the framework of joint EAPO-WIPO activities aimed at exploring the possibility of implementing the WIPO Industrial Property Automation System (IPAS) for industrial designs in EAPO.

Representatives of EAPO units responsible for the procedural methodology and development of IT systems and electronic services took part in the event.

In the course of the working meetings, the capacity of IPAS general configuration and workflow process, preparation of official publications, integration with the systems for electronic filing and registration of fees was discussed in detail. The WIPO experts presented a comprehensive description of the IPAS system capabilities, as well as examined the existing automated systems and information technologies used in EAPO.

Following the expert discussions, a draft plan for further development of the test version of the system deployed in EAPO was worked out, as well as development of the Proof of Concept stage in order to introduce the industrial designs workflow automation system in EAPO.

WIPO representatives noted a high level of EAPO commitment to use advanced IT tools and systems and confirmed WIPO’s commitment in further support of the project.