ASU May Become a Center of Intellectual Property Protection for the Caspian States

Geoffrey Westgate, the Head of the Support Section of PCT Translation Service of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), paid another visit to Astrakhan State University. Today he’s met with Konstantin Markelov, the ASU Acting Rector, and, on behalf of his organization, proposed several promising joint projects.

It should be recalled that Astrakhan State University is the first and still the only Russian university which cooperates with WIPO officially. Currently, there are several areas of joint activities. For example, ASU researchers help develop WIPO Pearl terminology database, and WIPO itself fully supports protection of Astrakhan innovators’ copyrights.

Geoffrey Westgate reaffirmed WIPO intention to hold an international patent system seminar at the university. The event may be organized as early as next year and involve Russian representatives of WIPO and Rospatent.

The guest also suggested that ASU participates in a programme on establishing special centers for technology and innovation support. This project was launched in 2009 and gives researchers a remote access to top-quality technical data, thus helping them fulfill their potential and ensure protection of their rights. Launching such a centre at ASU will offer a wide range of opportunities on intellectual property protection both for the university researchers and for the region in general.

Geoffrey Westgate also expressed his confidence that ASU could become a hub for developing a system of intellectual property protection in the Caspian Sea region. Extensive international ties of Astrakhan State University are key to a successful work in this sphere. Konstantin Markelov noted that leaders of several Caspian states that he met with during his recent trips got very interested in the prospects of cooperation with WIPO.

The ASU Rector is ready to render assistance in communication with the regional authorities, which is very important for WIPO. Furthermore, Konstantin Markelov promised to help organize a meeting with representatives of the special economic zone «Lotus», one of the university partners.