AIPPI
e-News
No.1
April 2008
April 2008
AIPPI General Secretariat |Toedistrasse 16 | CH-8027 Zurich
Tel. +41 44 280 58 80 | Fax +41 44 280 58 85
enews@aippi.org | www.aippi.org
"AIPPI needs you as much as you need AIPPI"
Luis Alfonso Durán (Spain), Chair of Q201As reported in the last AIPPI Newsletter, the Bureau has decided to create a new Membership Committee to deal with issues concerning members. This Committee is Q201, which I am honoured to chair.
AIPPI membership is very particular because, except for independent members, all members are members of AIPPI and at the same time members of their corresponding National or Regional Group.
This is one of the main reasons why AIPPI is not just another international IP association, but an international association which groups together national/regional associations all over the world.
The structure and working methods of AIPPI also reflect this membership composition and the decision-making body is the Executive Committee, where each National/Regional Group is represented by its President and a number of delegates proportional to the number of members of each National/Regional Group.
Therefore, the importance and influence of AIPPI in each country very much depends on the vitality of the corresponding National Group. This is the reason why I wish to send a message to all AIPPI members to make their best endeavours to promote AIPPI in their own country.
The Secretary General sent a letter earlier this year to all Presidents/Secretaries of Groups asking them to prepare a strategic plan with the objective of achieving substantial growth of their respective Groups by the time of our next Congress in Boston. I do hope that all members are aware of this fact and that planning for each Group is underway.
However, to make AIPPI attractive in each country, National and Regional Groups need to offer their members interesting local activities which, complemented with the international activities, may attract an ever-increasing number of members.
To achieve this, it is obvious that the people belonging to management bodies of AIPPI Groups will have to devote a lot of time and effort.
I am aware of the fact that we, AIPPI members, are all volunteers and that we all have a lot of other things to do in the firms and companies we work for.
However, AIPPI work pays back all this volunteer work much more than we are paid in our professional work.
I am of course not talking about financial compensation, but of other compensation the value of which is much more important.
AIPPI work first of all provides an excellent opportunity to improve our education in many aspects. It gives us the chance to be updated on the latest developments in IP law both at a local and international level. It provides excellent prospects for learning comparative IP law and being involved in the preparation, improvement and discussing of international treaties. In addition, by learning about the topics themselves, one also learns how to explain, discuss and argue miscellaneous topics in an international environment and all of these skills are very useful for daily professional life.
Given the high level of most AIPPI members, one has the opportunity to learn a lot from colleagues from other countries with the best of reputations. One may have to pay a lot of money to have the chance to work with some IP experts with whom one works regularly in AIPPI for free. This is a highly valuable experience, particularly for young practitioners, which is often not fully appreciated.
In addition, in AIPPI one has the opportunity to meet a lot of potential clients and associates from all over the world. However, these acquaintances are not only made at superficial meetings during social gatherings, but also at working sessions where one can realize the true value of people. Such contacts are much more intense and helpful for future cooperation.
Therefore, I invite all of you to consider these and other advantages of AIPPI membership, to share them with your colleagues and friends involved in IP, whether they be from your country or from other countries. AIPPI needs the best efforts of all of its members to expand worldwide, as the more members we have, the better for AIPPI and its existing members.
We need the right balance between experienced members and young people to pursue our objectives, to promote the understanding of the necessity for intellectual property protection at both national and international level in the broadest sense.
I also wish to inform you that in the near future your group will be contacted by a member of Q201 Membership Advisory Committee with the intention of collecting information and your advice on how the Bureau can help your group in its endeavours to make AIPPI more attractive to your members. Any thoughts and ideas are welcome.
Finally, I wish to finish with a parody of the words spoken by US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, "Ask not what AIPPI can do for you, ask what you can do for AIPPI!
From JFK's inaugural address on January 20, 1961.
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