 Pay due regard to cases of present or imminent emergencies

NAGOYA PROTOCOL
that threaten human, animal, or plant health
The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the  Consider the importance of genetic resources for food and
Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their agriculture for food security
Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity, also known
Benefit-sharing obligations[edit]
as the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is
a 2010 supplementary agreement to the 1992 Convention on Domestic-level benefit-sharing measures aim to provide for the fair
Biological Diversity (CBD). Its aim is the implementation of one of the and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of
three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits genetic resources with the contracting party providing genetic
arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, thereby contributing resources. Utilization includes research and development on the
to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.[1] However, genetic or biochemical composition of genetic resources, as well as
there are concerns that the added bureaucracy and legislation will, subsequent applications and commercialization. Sharing is subject to
overall, be damaging to the monitoring and collection of biodiversity, mutually agreed terms. Benefits may be monetary or non-monetary
to conservation, to the international response to infectious diseases, such as royalties and the sharing of research results.
and to research.[2][3][4]
Compliance obligations[edit]
The protocol was adopted on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan,
Specific obligations to support compliance with the domestic
and entered into force on 12 October 2014. It has been ratified by
legislation or regulatory requirements of the contracting party
107 parties, which includes 106 UN member states and
providing genetic resources, and contractual obligations reflected in
the European Union[5]. It is the second protocol to the CBD; the first
mutually agreed terms, are a significant innovation of the Nagoya
is the 2000 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
Protocol.
Scope[edit] Contracting parties are to:
The Nagoya Protocol applies to genetic resources that are covered
by the CBD, and to the benefits arising from their utilization. The  Take measures providing that genetic resources utilized within
protocol also covers traditional knowledge associated with genetic their jurisdiction have been accessed in accordance with prior
resources that are covered by the CBD and the benefits arising from informed consent, and that mutually agreed terms have been
its utilization established, as required by another contracting party
 Cooperate in cases of alleged violation of another contracting
Obligations[edit] party's requirements
 Encourage contractual provisions on dispute resolution in
The Nagoya Protocol sets out obligations for its contracting parties to mutually agreed terms
take measures in relation to access to genetic resources, benefit-
 Ensure an opportunity is available to seek recourse under their
sharing and compliance.
legal systems when disputes arise from mutually agreed terms
Access obligations[edit] (MAT)
Domestic-level access measures aim to:  Take measures regarding access to justice
 Monitor the use of genetic resources after they leave a country
by designating effective checkpoints at every stage of the value-
 Create legal certainty, clarity, and transparency
chain: research, development, innovation, pre-
 Provide fair and non-arbitrary rules and procedures commercialization, or commercialization
 Establish clear rules and procedures for prior informed consent
Implementation[edit]
and mutually agreed terms
 Provide for issuance of a permit or equivalent when access is The Nagoya Protocol's success will require effective implementation
granted at the domestic level. A range of tools and mechanisms provided by
 Create conditions to promote and encourage research the Nagoya Protocol will assist contracting parties including:
contributing to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use
 Establishing national focal points (NFPs) and competent national participating patent office to benefit from the work previously done by
authorities (CNAs) to serve as contact points for information, the other patent office, with the goal of reducing examination
grant access, or cooperate on issues of compliance workload and improving patent quality.[1]
 An Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House to share An updated "PPH 2.0" system under the program name "Mottainai"
information, such as domestic regulatory ABS requirements or (a Japanese word meaning "wasteful") began among several
information on NFPs and CNAs national patent offices in mid-2011.[2]
 Capacity-building to support key aspects of implementation.
Based on a country's self-assessment of national needs and Trilateral PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH)[edit]
priorities, capacity-building may help to: A Patent Cooperation Treaty/Patent Prosecution Highway
(PCT/PPH) pilot program was also started on 29 January 2010 for a
 Develop domestic ABS legislation to implement the Nagoya planned period of two years. This pilot program enables to "[fast-
Protocol track] patent examination procedures for PCT applications that have
 Negotiate mutually-agreed terms received a positive written opinion of either the International
 Develop in-country research capability and institutions Searching Authority or the International Preliminary Examining
Authority, or an international preliminary examination report from the
 Raise awareness
European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) or the
 Transfer technology United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)."[27][28]
 Target financial support for capacity-building and development
initiatives through the GEF IP5 patent prosecution highway (IP5-PPH)[edit]
Relationship between the Nagoya Protocol and other
On 6 January 2016, a patent prosecution highway program was
international agreements[edit]
launched between the five intellectual property offices [29]
A growing number of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) include
provisions related to access to genetic resources or to the sharing of  European Patent Office,
the benefits that arise out of their utilization. Indeed, some recent  Japan Patent Office,
trade agreements, originating notably from Latin American countries,
provide specific measures designed to facilitate the implementation  Korean Intellectual Property Office,
of the ABS provisions contained in the Nagoya Protocol, including  State Intellectual Property Office of China, and
measures related to technical assistance, transparency and dispute  United States Patent and Trademark Office.
settlement.[6] A decision was made in 2016 to extend the duration of the
Criticism[edit] programme by three years. The European Patent
Officepublished[30] in its official journal that the program is going to
Many scientists have voiced concern over the protocol, fearing the available from 6 January 2017 until 5 January 2020. Participation in
increased red tape will hamper disease prevention and conservation the program before the European Patent Office requires that
efforts, and that the threat of possible imprisonment of scientists will substantive examination of the European patent application has not
have a chilling effect on research.[2][4] Non-commercial biodiversity started yet. The starting date of substantive examination of a
researchers and institutions such as natural history museums fear European patent application is publicly available from the European
maintaining biological reference collections and exchanging material Patent Register via file inspection.
between institutions will become difficulT.
ASEAN PATENT EXAMINATION COOPERATION PROGRAM
ASEAN PATENT EXAMINATION CO-OPERATION (ASPEC) PROGRAM
PATENT PROSECUTION HIGHWAY
( March 2, 2017 )
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a set of initiatives for
providing accelerated patent prosecution procedures by sharing The ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC) is the first
information between some patent offices. It also permits each regional patent work-sharing program among ASEAN IP Offices, with
objective of reducing duplication of the patent search and In Vietnam, the NOIP requires patent applicants to file a verified
examination (S&E) work, thereby saving time and improving the English translation only in cases “when there are contradiction(s) or
quality of S&E results. doubts or the likes in the content of the ASPEC documents”.
Currently, almost all the ASEAN member states (AMS) are part of
this program includes: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
With ASPEC, one application claims priority from another or both
applications claim priority to the same basis application. Although the
S&E results carried out by one Office is not binding on other Offices,
it is of persuasive value. In other words, the S&E results of another
AMS IP Office serves as a useful reference in producing quality
reports.
In addition, ASPEC operates in the English language on all
participating AMS IP Offices, so it is time-saving and resources.
Besides, there is free-of-charge to the applicant at any participating
AMS IP Offices. However, local search and examination fees at AMS
IP Offices will still apply.
Some of AMS IP Offices allow the ASPEC request be filed when
responding to an adverse report and, in accordance with the National
Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP), even any time before a final
determination of grant or refusal in Vietnam.
Eligibility
All patent applicants are allowed to participate in the ASPEC
program, if they satisfy any one of the requirements under the
ASPEC system works. For the purposes of illustration, below is a
graphical representation of ASPECs scenarios. And it represents a
Corresponding Application with respect to a Vietnam Application, if
the ASPEC Request Form is filed with the NOIP.
Required Document
Patent Applicants shall be met just one common form – the ASPEC
Request Form, without the need to pay any fee. The following
English documents may be requested and furnished together with
the said form:
 A copy of the search report (if required);
 A copy of the examination report;
 A copy of claims referred to in the examination report; and
 A claim correspondence table (optional).
Where the above-listed documents are not filed in English language,
patent applicant may file a verified or, where required, a certified
English translation of the documents with the relevant patent office.