GENEVA, JULY 15 – Italy is participating, along with other 192 Member States in the yearly session of the General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which began yesterday in Geneva. The specialized agency of the United Nations promotes the use and protection of intellectual property at international level as a primary incentive for innovation and creativity.
The work of the Assemblies will continue until the 22nd of July and will allow to take stock of WIPO’s latest activities on global IP services availability, on the normative IP agenda implementation and on the definition of the global IP Ecosystem. Intellectual property is one of the drivers of economic growth and employment. Companies, large and small, that make an intensive use of their intellectual property rights (copyright and related rights, trademarks, patents, industrial designs and geographical indications) represent a vital sector of the national economy.
In her speech delivered today, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN in Geneva, Marie Sol Fulci, reiterated the strong support of Italy for the Lisbon System, which protects geographical indications and designations of origin, and expressed appreciation for the recent new Member States accessions to the System.
Ms Fulci also underlined the importance of innovation in the field of intellectual property for Small and Medium Enterprises, as a useful tool for economic growth, and recalled its role in the promotion of the Italian System. “Italy’s support for the WIPO agenda remains unchanged,” she reiterated, “first of all we are in favor of its regulatory agenda and we support WIPO initiatives towards business and services”.
In Italy, WIPO’s activities are mainly followed by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, of Economic Development, of Agricultural Policies and of Culture within a multistakeholder process at national level which involves numerous institutional and private actors. (@OnuItalia)