Director General of the Belarusian National Center for Intellectual Property Aleksei Kurman made a general statement at the Sixty-Sixth Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the WIPO Member States, BelTA learned from the NCIS.

Today, intellectual property is becoming an increasingly important asset in the global economy, Aleksei Kurman noted.
“It is a powerful tool for sustainable development, economic growth and cultural exchange. Recognizing this, WIPO member states demonstrated a high level of cooperation and, based on consensus, adopted two historic documents in 2024. Those were the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge and the Riyadh Design Law Treaty,” he said. 

Belarus has actively participated in the negotiation process and intends to continue to support WIPO’s efforts to create an effective global intellectual property system. “At the national level, we strive to create an environment conducive to innovation and creativity. We are constantly improving the intellectual property services system following international standards. Belarus is actively working towards having its organizations gain International Depository Authority (IDA) status under the Budapest Treaty and also join the WIPO Digital Access Service (DAS),” he noted. 

Aleksei Kurman highlighted the importance of strengthening the capacity of the expert community in the interests of all users of the global intellectual property system. “Unfortunately, we continue to face destructive policies from a number of states, which is manifested in sanctions pressure and attempts to politicize the activities of international organizations.” This prevents the applicants, who aspire to become part of the international scientific and economic community, from making the full use of the capacities of the intellectual property system.

Belarus supports the position of the countries of the region on the inadmissibility of discriminatory policies based on national principle. “Such treatment of applicants by individual countries undermines the confidence in the global intellectual property system, which is designed to promote innovation and intellectual capacity in all regions of the world without exception. By eliminating attempts to politicize intellectual property, we will be able to work out balanced solutions aimed at unlocking the innovative potential of all countries,” Aleksei Kurman said. 

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