Director General,
Excellences,
Distinguished delegates,
I would like to join other delegations and thank you Madam Chair, as well as the Vice-chairs, for your efforts in leading our discussions this assembly. We wish us all a fruitful session.
We also extend our thanks to the DG, Mr. Daren Tang and the WIPO Secretariat for preparing this important session of the WIPO Assemblies.
At the outset, we would like to reiterate Israel's support of the statements made on behalf of Group B.
In Israel, intellectual property has a central role in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, which constitute an economic engine in the country.
Israel welcomes WIPO’s efforts to support a balanced and well-functioning global IP ecosystem for the benefit of all. We follow and appreciate the many WIPO’s initiatives, such as the Global Innovation Index, which has been an extremely relevant guidance for policy makers, WIPO’s work on spearheading diversity, inclusion and equity, enabling increased access to innovation and IP. In this regard, we welcome the developments on IP and Gender, a topic Israel keenly champions, and WIPO frontier technologies conversations, which helps addressing current issues, practical solutions, and explore future directions in the field.
The Israeli Patent Office is investing many resources in making information and its services accessible online, and taking steps to reduce regulatory burden and increase satisfaction of the service it provides.
The year 2022 brought with it a significant increase in applications for registration of intellectual property rights in Israel, particularly for trademarks and patents. In patents, for example, an increase of 10% was observed in 2022.
The considerable increase in applications for patents registration in recent years testifies to the centrality of intellectual property rights and its importance in promoting the business layout in Israel.
Israel makes artificial intelligence-based technology a priority. There are heated debates on the desired protection when it comes to creation and inventions made by AI, and Israel is following closely the legal developments in other countries. Israel also prioritizes the participation of SMEs in the IP arena. In this regard, we appreciate WIPO's efforts to support and facilitate the access of SMEs to the IP system.
In closing, Madame chair, The Israel Patent Office aims to promote collaborations in the international arena, and we restate our commitment to participating in this GAs in a constructive and positive manner.
I thank you.