WIPO总干事邓鸿森：商标是知识产权世界的面包和黄油

"Trademarks are the bread and butter of the IP world": WIPO Director General calls on brand professionals to take message to the masses.

以下内容译自《世界商标评论》网站的相关报道

The following article is from the website of World Trademark Review.

3月16日这一周的WTR Connect系列线上会议以WIPO总干事邓鸿森的炉边谈话拉开序幕。在谈话中，邓鸿森就WIPO未来的工作重点进行了深入探讨，并向知识产权界发出了号召。

This week's WTR Connect series of virtual sessions kicked off yesterday, March 16, with a fireside chat with Daren Tang, director general of WIPO. In a wide-ranging discussion, Tang provided insight into the agency's future focuses and issued a rallying call to the IP community.

2020年10月1日，邓鸿森就任WIPO总干事，在此之前，他曾于新加坡知识产权局担任局长。在履新的前五个月里，他需要在疫情背景下尽快熟悉WIPO的工作人员、流程和结构，用他的话说，这就像是在“用消防栓喝水”。与此同时，他还希望以一种与前任总干事略有不同的方式开展工作，他说：“我取消了办公室主任这一职务。这个职务在联合国机构中很常见，是总干事和所在组织间的中间人。而我希望能与本组织和我的同事保持更直接、更密切的联系"。

Tang took the helm at WIPO on 1 October 2020, having previously served as chief executive of the IP Office of Singapore (IPOS). He likened the first five months in his new role to "drinking from a fire hydrant", the task being to get up to speed with WIPO staff, processes and structures in the midst of a pandemic. He was also keen to go about things in a slightly different way to his predecessors, explaining: "I have done away with chief of staffs. They are common in UN agencies because they act as an intermediary between the director general and the organisation, but I wanted to be close to the organisation and my colleagues."

1月，新的副总干事和助理总干事团队上任，一系列机构改革就此展开，其中就包括成立一个新的部门——知识产权和创新生态系统部门。该部门将从企业经济的角度处理知识产权问题。不过，当前的大部分重点工作是在为7月份的计划和预算会议做准备。该会议将产生一份战略计划，确定WIPO未来五年的工作重点。在炉边谈话中，邓鸿森详细介绍了一些可能实施的方案。

In January his new team of assistant and deputy director generals took office. Since then, a series of structural changes have already been implemented, including the establishment of a new division - the IP and Innovations Ecosystem Sector - which will consider intellectual property from the enterprise economic perspective. However, much of the current focus is on preparing for July, when programme and budget meetings will result in the strategic plan that sets up focus for the next five years. During our fireside chat, Tang expanded on some of the likely initiatives.

其中一个方案涉及知识产权的商业利用。在邓鸿森任职于新加坡知识产权局期间，该局推出了一系列融资计划。尽管WIPO的角色与国家的知识产权局略有不同，但对于WIPO来说这同样是一个值得关注的领域。他解释道：“越来越多的公司将无形资产作为中心。但由于没有一致的标准，我们并不知道如何准确地评估这一资产类别，也不清楚如何将其抵押或者货币化。这里存在一个巨大的鸿沟，也是WIPO可以发挥作用的地方。但这种作用将不同于各国国家知识产权局的作用。我认为作为联合国机构，我们要做的并不是直接上阵，逐个对中小企业实施各项计划，因为那是各国知识产权局的工作。他们身处实地，最了解当地的情况。WIPO可以做的是利用其作为一个国际机构的优势，将人们汇聚起来讨论这些问题，分享最佳做法，审视共同的挑战。我们还可以与世界银行和国际货币基金组织等其他机构和国际机构联系，让他们知道：‘这是一个我们都需要关注的问题。’”

One relates to the commercial use of intellectual property. During his tenure at IPOS, the office launched a range of financing schemes and this remains an area of interest, albeit with WIPO playing a slightly different role. He explains: "More and more companies are centred on intangible assets. [But this is] an asset class which we don't know how to value properly – there is no consistent standard. And we often aren't quite clear on how to collateralise or monetise it. There is a big gap here and WIPO can play a role. But the role will be different to that of national IP offices. I don't see us as a UN agency getting involved in the trenches and running schemes that are targeting individual SMEs, because that is the job of national IP offices. They are on the ground and know the local circumstances best. What WIPO can do is draw from and leverage its strength as an international agency and help to bring people together to talk about these things, to share best practices and to look at common challenges. We can also connect with other agencies and international agencies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to say 'this is an issue we all need to look at'."

在我们的谈话中，建立联系是一个反复出现的主题，而确保中小企业得到关注则是WIPO下一步的工作重点。在新冠肺炎疫情背景下，这一点尤为重要。邓鸿森指出，“由于疫情原因，当前，各个国家都在想方设法帮助企业复苏。中小企业在就业中发挥着十分重要的作用，如果它们不能得到恢复，那么经济复苏就将是不平衡的，并且会加剧分化。这对每个人来说都不是好事。因此，WIPO必须从中发挥作用，确保中小企业知道如何利用知识产权促进业务的增长和发展。”

Creating connections is a recurring theme in our conversation and ensuring that SMEs are part of the discussion is set to be a priority for WIPO. This is particularly important, Tang notes, in light of covid-19: "Because of the pandemic, countries are looking at how they can help companies recover. SMEs are such a big part of employment and if they are not part of the recovery story, that recovery will not be even and will exacerbate divisions. That isn't good for anyone and WIPO must play a role in helping to make sure SMEs know how to use IP for business growth."

对于这项工作，邓鸿森同样认为WIPO应采取建立伙伴关系的方法，为各国知识产权局和其他利益攸关方的工作提供补充和支持。“单靠我们自己是做不成的，我们也不打算自己去做，”他解释说。“我们需要找到合适的合作伙伴，包括不同地区和国家的知识产权协会、中小企业协会和行业协会。我们还可以从整体上看问题，在政策层面培养人们的意识，并为他们提供一些有用的工具，特别是针对那些缺乏资源开发能力的发展中国家。”

In this effort, Tang again sees WIPO adopting a partnership-based approach, complementing the work of national IP offices and other stakeholders. "We can't do this ourselves and don't intend to," he expands. "We need to find good partners - IP associations, SME associations and industry associations within different regions and countries. What we can also do is look at things from a systemic angle. To raise awareness at a political level and provide some toolkits to help, especially for those in developing countries that may not have the resources to develop resources."

更多具体的计划将在7月份的计划和预算会议上提出，可以明确的是，为中小企业提供支持一定会是议程的优先事项。至于WIPO的其他重点工作，邓鸿森表示“首先，我们要继续做好传统领域的工作，包括推动规范性议程取得进展。这存在一定的困难，因为所有的联合国机构都处于地缘政治的环境中，而这种环境不利于共识的建立。不过我们还是会继续这项工作。”

More concrete proposals will be presented in the July programme and budget meetings, but SME support will clearly be high on the agenda. As for other WIPO priorities, Tang expands: "First, we want to continue doing our traditional areas of work well, including to support movement in the normative agenda. It is tough as all UN agencies are facing a geo-political environment in which consensus is harder to build. But we will continue doing that work."

对国际专利、商标和外观设计等服务体系的管理，仲裁和调解工作，以及WIPO PROOF和WIPO GREEN等新平台的持续开发，也都是工作的重点。

That focus extends to administering services such as the international patent, trademark and design systems, as well as arbitration and mediation work, and the continued development of new platforms, such as WIPO Proof and WIPO Green.

除了面向中小企业外，WIPO还希望将知识产权信息传递给新的受众。对此，邓鸿森认为：“我们要接触年轻人，这一点至关重要。他们是未来的创新者和创造者，如果我们不能以一种具体的方式接触到他们，向他们展示知识产权是如何与他们的生活联系在一起的， 是如何成为他们生活的一部分的，尤其是在他们进行创造和创新的时候，他们就不会了解联合国系统和WIPO的工作。因此我们会非常关注年轻人。”

Alongside SME outreach, there is also a desire to take the IP message to new audiences. For example, Tang contends: "We want to reach out to youth. That is absolutely crucial. When I look to them as the future innovators and creators, they won't understand the UN system and what WIPO does unless we reach out to them in a concrete fashion – to show them how IP is connected and something that is part of their lives, especially as they create and innovate. So there will be a big focus on youth."

这一切都牵涉到一个更大的交流问题，即确保知识产权在所有行业、地区和人群中都得到理解和接受。“我们必须更加有效地向知识产权界以外的人们讲述知识产权的故事，我们必须让人们感到知识产权与他们有所关联。我担心我们在这方面做的还不够。有一种观点认为，知识产权是高度发达经济体的专属品，只为那些能够利用它的人服务。我们要把故事讲好，要平易近人地讲述这些故事。为此，WIPO将与各个机构和知识产权协会开展合作。我想（向广大知识产权界）发出呼吁：无论以何种方式，请确保人们知道你们所做的事情与他们的生活息息相关——为了让知识产权在5年、10年或20年后继续与人们的生活息息相关，我们必须这样做。”

This all plays into a larger communication piece - namely, to ensure that intellectual property is both understood and embraced across all sectors, regions and sections of the population. "We have to tell the story of IP a lot more effectively to people outside the IP community. We have to make people feel that IP is relevant to them and I worry that we don't do this enough. There is a view that IP is all about very advanced economies and only supports those who can exploit it. We need to tell these stories better - to get off the shelf and put the story out there. So WIPO will work with institutions and agencies, and IP associations. And I'd like to make an appeal [to the wider IP community]. In whatever way you can, make sure people understand that what you are doing is relevant to their lives. That is what we need to do for IP to remain relevant to people five, 10 or 20 years from now."

这是邓鸿森从自己的职业生涯中总结出来的。作为一个并非一开始就从事于这个行业的人，他回忆道：“知识产权不是我的初恋，这是一场包办婚姻。我职业生涯大部分时间都在从事国际法方面的工作，因此，当我于9年前转行进入知识产权领域时，可以说是在冒险。入行后，我才发觉知识产权无处不在。它存在于我们身边的品牌，与我们日常使用的技术相关，也关系到我们每天创造和消费的内容。”

This is a story that Tang himself has learnt over his career. As someone who did not start out in this particular industry, he recalls: "IP was never my first love. It was an arranged marriage. For most of my professional life I was practising international law and when I was asked to join the IP office nine years ago it was really a leap in the dark. After joining I saw IP all around me. It is about the brands we see around us. It is about the technology that we use day to day. It is about the content we create and consume every day."

现在，作为知识产权的传播者，他渴望看到更多人将这份热情传递到大众中去，而商标界的专业人士最适合做这项工作。“有关知识产权的议题往往被专利所主导，但我认为商标才是知识产权世界的面包和黄油，这个群体应该为自己所做的事情感到自豪，因为那对企业家和企业而言是如此重要。虽然创新与技术部门的同事听到我这么说可能会不高兴，但的确只有品牌才是每个企业所必需的，专利并不是。企业需要用品牌吸引消费者，需要用品牌传达自己的使命。”

Now, as an IP evangelist, he is keen for the wider community to take that enthusiasm to the masses - and trademark professionals are best positioned to do so. "The discussion on IP rights tends to be dominated by patents but I think that trademarks are the bread and butter of the IP world, and this community should be proud of the fact that what it is doing is so critical to entrepreneurs and enterprises. My colleagues in the patent and technology sectors may be upset to hear me say this, but not every enterprise needs a patent. Every enterprise does need a brand. A brand is needed to engage with consumers and convey its mission."

品牌比专利更容易获得，更容易在人们的日常生活中被感知到，这为商标界更广泛地推广知识产权提供了良好的条件。邓鸿森总结道：“这是一个令知识产权专家振奋的时代。但我们这群人必须要与其他群体联系起来，要让每一个普通人了解我们的工作。若非如此，知识产权只能被大经济体和大公司享有的观念就会长期存在，这对我们每个人都没有好处。让我们一起努力！WIPO会在此为你们提供支持！"

With brands more accessible than patents and clearly visible in everyday life, there is a real opportunity for the trademark community to promote intellectual property more generally. Tang concludes: "It is an exciting time to be an IP expert but please make sure that we connect our community to the other communities out there, so that the man and woman on the street understand what we do. If we don't, the perception that IP is only for big economies and companies will be perpetuated and that is to the sufferance of us all. Let's work together - and WIPO is here to support you in this endeavour."

原文作者系：

Trevor Little

Author | Editor

trevor.little@lbresearch.com

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