• Monitor and provide business perspectives on technology and IP-related issues in UN processes relating to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.
• Coordinate business input on the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing to ensure transparent and practically implementable legislation at regional and international levels.
• Issue the 13th edition of the ICC Intellectual Property Roadmap.
• Develop a knowledge compendium for businesses regarding the valuation and monetization of IP assets.
• Explore the impact of initiatives to improve efficiency, such as work sharing between patent offices, on patent examination and patent quality.
• Prepare a position on the reduction of formalities relating to IPR registrations through adhesion to the Convention on the Apostille.
• Analyse and articulate business needs with respect to requirements for design protection for graphical user interfaces around the world.
• Continue to produce evidence-based research on the role of intellectual property in innovation by issuing a fifth research paper on incremental innovation.
  Reinforce messaging on the importance of the European unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court for business in the context of Brexit.
• Conduct a comparative analysis of recent trade secret legislation in the EU and the US, and possibly other jurisdictions, to facilitate trade secret protection by businesses.
• Provide an overview of utility models regimes worldwide and business best practices for dealing with these.

• The commission identifies key intellectual property issues facing the international business community and contributes the business voice to debates to resolve these. The commission initiated and continues to actively support and contribute to Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) a high-level ICC initiative uniting different sectors worldwide to fight against counterfeiting and piracy. In Albania, we have been particularly active since the co-creation, with the General Administration of Customs and Excise (GAC&E)  of a Private Foundation Non à la Contrefaçon et à la Piraterie/Neen aan Namaak en Piraterij (NANAC).Through its awareness-raising and advocacy initiatives, ICC promotes the positive role of the IP system, gives guidance on how the system can be made more efficient and cost effective, and helps policymakers adapt the system to new challenges.As an advocate for international business, ICC works closely with intergovernmental organizations involved in intellectual property policy-making, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as with other international organizations.Its biennial publication The ICC Intellectual Property Roadmap: Current and Emerging Issues for Business and other initiatives help raise awareness of IP policy issues and of the contribution the intellectual property system makes to economic, social and cultural development.

Renata LEKA, Boga & Associates

POLICY PAPERS & REPORTS

• Encouraging ABS Agreements and Sustainable Use of Genetic Resources (December 2018)
• The Importance of Fostering Incremental Innovation (October 2018)
• Know your customer, due diligence and maritime supply chain integrity (September 2018)
• Promoting sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity through open exchange of Digital Sequence Information (June 2018)
• Design protection for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) (April 2018)
• ICC BASCAP Know-your-customer best practices for maritime operators (March 2018)
• Derivatives Under the EU ABS Regulation: the Continuity Concept (February 2018)
• European Commission ABS Sectoral Guidance: Key Issues for Business (February 2018)
• First Assessment and Review of the Effectiveness of the Nagoya Protocol: Business Views (December 2017)
• Digital Sequence Information and the Nagoya Protocol (October 2017)