Eun Kyul PARK

1. Program for Assisting Farmers and Producers in LDCs to Procure Brands for their Products- Proposal by the Republic of Korea- Eun Kyul PARK Deputy Director, Multilateral Affairs Division, Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) Republic of Korea October 13, 2009

2. Korean Intellectual Property Office Branding and IPRs • What is Branding? • A Brand is a name, logo, slogan, or design, or a combination of them associated with a product or service • A strong brand communicates the identity of a company or its products to the market • What can IPR Do for Brands? • Brands can be protected by IPR • IPR prevents distinctive value of the original goods from being blurred by inferior goods • IPR tools such as trademarks, collective marks, certification marks, and geographical indications (GIs) can be applied to protect brands

3. Korean Intellectual Property Office IP Strategy • IP Strategy: Branding + Using IPR Tools • The Role of IP Strategy • Branding and proper protection of brands using IPRs can leverage the marketing power and maximize the value of products • Ownership of IPR enables producers to capture the value of their product’s intangible assets • Current Situation of IP Strategy in LDCs • Producers in LDCs seldom have the capacity to brand their products and to use IPR tools

4. Korean Intellectual Property Office Fair Trade and IP Strategy • What is Fair Trade? • A movement that aims to help producers in developing countries by trading local products and advocating the payment of a higher priceto producers as well as social and environmental standards related to the production • Current IP Use in the Fair Trade Sector • Labeling, branding, and certification (including International Fairtrade Certification Mark and Fair Trade Organization Mark) • Ownership of IPR by producers needs to be more encouraged. • The Potential of Using IP Strategy for Fair Trade • IP strategies for local products through brands and IPRs enhance the sales of the products and ensures a higher price to producers. • By adopting IP strategies, particularly ownership of IP by producers, fair trade NGOs will be able to provide a more efficient and sustainable assistance to local producers in LDCs.

5. Korean Intellectual Property Office Objectives of the Proposal • Assist IP Ownership of Producers in LDCs for their Income Increase • Promote the Use of IP strategies by Fair Trade NGOs • Strengthen the Capacity of SME Support Institutions on IP • IP offices, ministries of industry, chambers of commerce, Fair trade NGOs • Create and Disseminate Success Cases on using IP strategy for Local Producers, increasing awareness on IP

6. Korean Intellectual Property Office Relevant Cases- Indian Darjeeling Tea • Product • Indian traditional tea that has been grown in the district of Darjeeling for 150 years • IP Strategy • Establishment of Tea Board of India • Development of the brand name “Darjeeling” and its logo • Registration as a trademark, certification mark, collective mark, and/or GI in many countries • Introduction of a certification system for origin and quality • Benefits • Increase of sales • Attainment of customer loyalty

7. Korean Intellectual Property Office Relevant Cases- East Timorese Fair Trade Coffee • Product • Wild coffee trees that growing in the East Timorese district of Same • IP Strategy • Discover distinctive products • Provision of facility and equipment for coffee processing • Development of the brand name “Peace Coffe” and its logo • Development of the fair trade logo • Registration as trademarks in Korea • Benefits • Increase of sales and expansion of distribution channels • Attainment of customer awareness

8. Finding products to be supported Developing IPstrategies Facilitating access to market Korean Intellectual Property Office Methodology • Target beneficiary products and relevant regions can besearched for with the recommendations of the governments and NGOs • Consultancy of branding experts can be provided to develop IPstrategies • Assistance can be provided to register trademarks in major markets • NGOs are encouraged to secure access of local products to major markets

9. Korean Intellectual Property Office Project Delivery - Conference of Fair Trade NGOs • The conference aims to: • Raise awareness on IP strategies in supporting fair trade • Analyze the current labeling, branding and certification strategies in the fair trade sector • Discuss the potential of IP strategies for further development of the fair trade sector • Identify possible areas in which WIPO could support the development of the fair trade sector by supporting the use of IP strategies • Encourage participation of NGOs in distributing distinctive products of LDCs in the global market

10. Korean Intellectual Property Office Project Delivery - Conference of Fair Trade NGOs (cont’d) • The possible participants to the conference include: • Fair trade NGOs • Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) • World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) • Oxfam, Max Havelaar, etc • Representatives of producers, exporters and other stakeholder • In local industries such as agriculture and handicrafts • Policy makers of: • government agencies responsible for SMEs and export support • IP offices

11. Korean Intellectual Property Office Project Delivery - Development and Implementation of IP Strategies • In order to assist SME support institutions and local producers to developIP strategies, it is proposed to conduct expert consultations to: • Identify Products with Distinctive Value • Start by targeting just a few regions and products • The selection may be based on the potential for increasing and securing income for producers • Develop IP Strategies • Strategy on IP creation • brands and IPR (trademarks, collective marks, certification marks, geographical indications) • Strategy on IP management • Design organizational structure where needed • Plan on formation and/or strengthening of collective management of IP where needed • Licensing, quality management, promotion

12. Korean Intellectual Property Office Project Delivery - Development and Implementation of IP Strategies (cont’d) • Activities supporting the Implementation of IP Strategies • Implementation will be conducted basically by countries themselves with technical assistance from WIPO. However, support from the international IP society can be provided for smooth and effective implementation. • Technical assistance for registration of IPR in major markets may be provided to associations of local producers • Organize workshops for local producers to raise awareness raising and coordinate interests • Encourage engagement of fair trade NGOs as intermediaries for products’ access to markets • Dissemination of the Results • A report on the project results will be published • Additional projects to cover more regions and products

13. Korean Intellectual Property Office Relevance to the Development Agenda • Recommendation 10: To assist Member States to develop and improve national IP institutional capacity through further development of infrastructure and other facilities with a view to making national IP institutions more efficient and promote fair balance between IP protection and the public interest. This technical assistance should also be extended to sub-regional and regional organizations dealing with IP. • For implementation of the recommendation 10, the Member States, in the 2nd session of the CDIP, agreed on: • Activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of SME support institutions on IP (such as innovation center networks, business incubators, universities R&D, institutions, professional associations, chambers of commerce, financial institutions and business angels and IP offices)

14. Korean Intellectual Property Office Relevance to the Development Agenda (cont’d) • Benefits of the project for SME support institutions • They will be able to acquire a methodology on IP strategies to promote local products • The project will have learning-by-doing effects on SME support institutions • The project will raise their awareness on the importance of IP in enhancing business competitiveness and improve their capacity in developing and implementing IP strategies • The project will ultimately enhance the capacity of small and medium-sized producers and farmers in IP • In this way, the project will contribute to the implementation of the Development Agenda

15. Thank You! Eun Kyul PARK Korean Intellectual Property Office Republic of Korea 82-42-481-8604 ekpark@kipo.go.kr