Subject: WIPO to make fresh cut in patent fees
From: Emanuella Giavarra (ecup.secr@dial.pipex.com)
Date: ke 16 syys 1998 - 14:27:57 EEST
(Financial Times 15 September 1998 by Frances Williams in Geneva)
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), embarrassed by its
hefty financial surplus, is cutting fees for registering international
patents for the second time this year and taking steps to balance its
budget in the future.
WIPO's annual meeting, which ends today, has agreed to use SFr7m ($5m)
of WIPO's SFr16.4m surplus for the 1998-1999 biennium to finance a
patent fee reduction. The remainder will be used to fund several new
projects, including a study on trademark protection and internet
addresses, and more help for developing countries to improve
intellectual property protection.
The latest fee reduction, effective from January 1999, will give
companies a SFr200 discount for electronic filing and reduce the maximum
initial filing fee from SFr1,650 to SFr1,500, a total reduction of up to
15 per cent. This follows an earlier cut of 15 per cent last January.
-end-
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