Officials and participants gather for a photo session at the launch of the patent workshop on Thursday.

Commerce ministry aims to build competitive skills on intellectual property

Laos will continue enhancing the capacity of its officials, teachers and students to understand the importance of patent information retrieval.
To help officials, lecturers and students upgrade their understanding of this key issue, the Intellectual Property Department under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has organised a two-day workshop and business contests on patent information retrieval education and dissemination.
The workshop, which began on Thursday, is aimed at upgrading knowledge and understanding of intellectual property, especially in the field of patent information retrieval.
In her opening remarks, the Acting Director General of the Intellectual Property Department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mrs Sida Youtrichanthachak, said this important gathering was jointly organised by the department and the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA) under the partnership with the Japan Patent Office (JPO).
“Intellectual property is one of the essential tools or key drivers for the nation’s gradual economic development, and the understanding of patent retrieval by researchers from various sectors will lead to new innovations,” she said.
The promotion of insight and understanding of patent retrieval is necessary for teachers from various universities and education institutes so that they can contribute by passing on the knowledge to their students, she said.
The participants of the workshop will also learn about the basic understanding of patent reclamation, approaching patent information and numerous topics from foreign experts from ERIA through both distance and in-person sessions.
The ministry’s officials hoped that the understanding of intellectual property, especially patent information, will significantly contribute to socio-economic development.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update September 2, 2022)