The Inter-American Association of Intellectual Property (ASIPI), jointly with the Paraguayan Association of Intellectual Property Agents (APAPI) and the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)- Paraguayan group, organized a round table on April 26 in light of the World Intellectual Property Day 2017. The title of the round table was: “Innovation improves life”.

The event took place in the American Paraguayan Chamber of Commerce (PAMCHAM) and was attended by 50 people. The speakers were Matias Noetinger (representing ASIPI), Cristóbal González (representing the AIPPI Paraguayan group) and moderator was Lorena Mersan (representing APAPI). Among the local authorities that attended the event were: the Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay, Gladys Bareiro de Modica; the Director of the Directorate of Intellectual Property Rights of the CSJ, Gabriela Talavera; the Director of Mediation of the CSJ, Gladys Alfonso de Bareiro; the tax agents specialized in crimes against Intellectual Property, Diego Zilverbarg and Carmen G. de Cattoni and the Director of Fight against Piracy of the National Directorate of Intellectual Property, Carlos Kunihiro.

The event was opened by Victor Abente Stewart, current president of APAPI. Then Matías Noetinger first made a brief overview of ASIPI, and then discussed the importance of intellectual property in the generation of innovations, mentioning the obstacles that the patenting of innovations in the different countries of the region has. In turn, Cristóbal González focused on innovation in Paraguay, mentioning the current situation and presenting some successful examples. Then there was a space of 20 minutes for questions and answers, where there was a great participation and a lot of input from the participants. To conclude, the ASIPI Delegate for Paraguay, Raquel Toñánez, gave the closing words.