Message from the AIPPI President

Dear Members, Dear AIPPI Friends

On behalf of the Bureau, I extend to you and your families our best wishes for the New Year!

A successful AIPPI year has just ended, and a full program is waiting ahead. I hope you share the Bureau’s excitement.

We had a great World Congress in Yokohama with a record number of participants (more than 2,800 participants in total). The Congress resulted in some most interesting resolutions on “Compulsory licensing” (Q293), on “Exhaustion of trade mark rights” (Q294), on “AI & copyright” (Q295) and on “Preliminary Injunctions: Requirements for compensating damage suffered by Defendant” (Q296). While this was our highlight, the entire year was full of terrific events, starting with the MidTerm meeting in Zagreb in February, followed by 18 webinars on various topics.

For 2026, the agenda is already fully booked. We will soon meet in Marrakesh for the MedTerm event on 5-6 February, where we will welcome our recently founded Moroccan National Group, and enhance our efforts to expand the AIPPI community in the African continent. Back-to-back with the Asean IP IPA Annual Conference, we will organise a Reach Out Series event in Phuket on 27 March, thereby reaching out to our members in Southeast Asia. Also, do not miss the many trilaterals and other events jointly organised by the National Groups: they reflect perfectly the international spirit of our Association.  For the first time, a Trilateral Cup bringing together the Mexican, US and Canadian AIPPI groups in Mexico City on 5 and 6 March 2026.

In addition to attending the in-person events and multiple webinars, I call on you to join the work of the Study Committees. Guidelines were recently sent out regarding four most interesting Study Questions: “Divisional applications and double patenting” (Q297), “Parody (and freedom of expression) as a defense to trade mark infringement” (Q298), “Online infringement and territoriality considerations / issues of geoblocking” (Q299) and “Dynamic blocking injunctions (Q300). We look forward to the dynamic discussion and the resulting resolutions during the next Congress.

Speaking of which: Please pencil into your agenda AIPPI’s premier event, the AIPPI World Congress that will take place in Hamburg from 7 to 10 October 2026. Do not miss it!

Looking forward to meeting you at any of the upcoming in-person or online AIPPI events.

Your president, Lorenza