International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property

Type:	Non-Profit
Industry:	Intellectual Property
Founded:	1897
Headquarters:	AIPPI General Secretariat Tödistrasse 16 P.O. Box 8027 Zurich
Country:	Switzerland
Website:	www.aippi.org
Facebook:	AIPPI
Twitter:	@AIPPI_ORG
Key People
Yoon Bae Kim, President John Bochnovic, Vice-President Stephan Freischem, Secretary General

International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) derived from its French name Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle is an international, non-profit organization composed of professionals and entities in private, public and academics engaged in the field of Intellectual Property. The organization's primary objective is to develop and improve the global intellectual property protection of copyrights, designs, trademarks, trade names, patents and other intellectual property rights. The organization also aims to eradicate illegal and unfair business and trade practices. Since its establishment, AIPPI has adopted 700 Resolutions that were presented to international governmental organizations, World Intellectual Property Organization. Yoon-Bae Kim is the current president of the AIPPI and its' headquarters is located in Zurich, Switzerland.

History

In 1983, the Paris Convention for Intellectual Property Rights was signed. Following this significant event was the establishment of AIPPI on May 8, 1897 in Brussels by experts in the field of intellectual property. The organization conducted annual congresses and reunions, however its activities were interrupted by the World War 1 in 1914. Eugen Blum, a Swiss Patent Attorney restored AIPPI in 1925 in Switzerland.

Organizational Structure

AIPPI's membership is comprised of corporations and individuals in different professions, such as engineers, judges, lawyers, patent lawyers, scientists and patent lawyers who are actively engaged and interested in issues related to intellectual property rights and protection. These members belong to one of the 64 National Groups or Regional Group. Independent members from countries without an existing AIPPI Group are affiliated with the international organization. AIPPI has four primary international bodies, which include:

• General Assembly- delegated to handle the adoption and modification of statutes, all members has the right to participate
• Executive Committee-the principal decision making body, composed of around 300 delegates from the different groups of AIPPI
• Council of Presidents-is composed of AIPPI group presidents and representatives of independent members
• Bureau-is lead by the president of AIPPI, along with the vice-president, the secretary general, the reporter general, treasurer general, and their deputies and assistants who supervise the activities of the organization.

The organization is also composed of a General Secretariat and Staff with different committees including the Programme Committee, Finance Advisory Committee, Nominating Committee, Communications Committee and Membership Committee.

ICANN Involvement

Q160 ICANN Task Force

The Q160 ICANN Task Force is a special committee of AIPPI which was tasked to monitor, evaluate and to provide advice regarding specific issues or policies raised by ICANN that would impact the interest of the association. The committee is also responsible in developing proposals to solve the issues, to establish contacts, represent the voice and interests of AIPPI and to seek support within the ICANN bodies most particularly within the IP Constituency of the GNSO.

Most of the staff and members of Q160 ICANN Task Force are also members of the IP Constituency such Guillermo Carey, former Chairman of Q160 in 2004 also served as Intellectual Property Constituency Representative to the Names Council of the DNSO; Mark Partridge, who also served as Chairman of the committee in 2009 served as Member of ICANN's IRT Jane Mutimear, current co-Chairman of Q-160 was elected president of the IP Constituency in 2002. After her term as president in 2003, she was re-elected as vice-president until 2005.

Other members of AIPPI such as Jannik Skou, also served as member of the IP Constituency. He is active in providing the internet community with important information and opinions about ICANN issues along with Dr. Torsten Bettinger, Q160 Secretary.

Meanwhile former ICANN chairman Peter Dengate Thrush also served as former president of AIPPI-NZ. Thrush has been actively involved with ICANN since the beginnings of the internet governing body in 1998. During his term as president of AIPPI-NZ, he initiated the initial meeting in New Zealand to form the Intellectual Property Constituency.

AIPPI Feedback/Report on ICANN Issues

The current Chairman of AIPPI Q160 Mathew Swinn wrote an article informing the internet community about the approval of the ICANN Board on the new gTLD program last June 20, 2011. Swinn provided significant details about the program including the timetable and the launching of the global communication program, which aims the provide the public with information about opportunities of new gTLD. He also explained that although the new gTLD program provides opportunities, there are risks for brand owners and it is important for them to learn about the IP Protection mechanisms discussed in the Applicant Guidebook including the availability of the Trademark Clearinghouse, and the strategies on how to effectively deal with any issues related to the introduction of new gTLDs.

On June 8, 2001, AIPPI commented that the WIPO2 Report was a success because ICANN decided to adopt and implement the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy to regulate IP infringements made in gTLD registration. AIPPI made the following comments and suggestions:

• Cases filed under the UDRP should be limited where a clear abuse of registration happened and maintain simple system of rules and regulations.
• Regulations related to the Domain Name System should not be use to change intellectual property laws worldwide just to provide additional rights to property owners.
• Regarding the issue on International Non-proprietary Names, AIPPI pointed out that protection should only be extended when an increased number of abusive registration requires solution. In addition, the organization also expressed that it does not support restrictions on domain names for INNs.
• AIPPI does not support total restriction on domain name registration for international governmental organizations.
• On issues related to personal names, AIPPI believed that the current UDRP system should remain since individuals can file a case against an entity if he or she can establish proofs that the name is also a trademark.
• AIPPI did not support any measure to implement protections related to names of places and countries but supported extending the UDRP to protect trade names.
• The organization suggested that the current information on the Whois data base should remain in the record and suggested that intellectual property owners and enforcement agencies should have access to the data base.

On March 15, 2000, AIPPI welcomed the European Commissions proposal to create the .eu top level domain name to serve the needs of European businesses and consumers. The organization suggested that the ICANN UDRP should be used by the .eu TLD to protect trademark owners from cyber criminals. It also supported the implementation on second level domains for the .eu TLD. AIPPI believed that it will reduce problems between competing trademark owners. Overall, the organization emphasized the need for a sufficient mechanism to protect the intellectual property rights holders from possible abuse.

Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy

Top-Level Domain