57 manufacturing companies to receive IP training, tools from UN agency under MOU

FIFTY-SEVEN Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) member companies will receive intellectual property (IP)-related training from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on Wednesday (Aug 24).

WIPO, SMF and its associated service unit the Singapore Innovation and Productivity Institute (SIPI) announced in a joint Wednesday press statement that in the collaboration’s first steps, the pilot group of 57 manufacturing companies from across SMF’s 10 industry groups will also gain access to WIPO’s IP Diagnostics Toolkit and IP for Business series of guides.

WIPO is the United Nations agency for intellectual property, innovation and creativity. Its diagnostics toolkit, a self-assessment tool that generates a report on companies’ IP situation, and guides series, which “engages a business on issues of IP management”, will help companies understand IP from a business perspective, the statement said.

SIPI chairman Audrey Yap said: “We are working with WIPO so that it can give our members its international perspective and international resources.”

Further customisation of tools and materials for SMF members is also expected under the partnership.

The MOU signing underlines “how innovation and intellectual property can support the sector’s small and medium enterprises to compete and grow”, said WIPO director general Daren Tang.

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Lennon Tan, president of the SMF, said: “We hope that as we bring access closer to our members of such cutting edge tools, they will make use of this opportunity to understand that IP does not just play a protective function but that businesses can also make use of IP as assets and plan for the same as more and more of our businesses enter the international and digital market arena.”