ASU Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation Cooperates with the World Intellectual Property Organization

In early April, Olga Egorova, Director of the ASU Project Office of International Cooperation and Development and Director of the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation, held a number of meetings on various areas of cooperation with representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The World Intellectual Property Organization is our long-standing partner. Initially, we started our cooperation in the area of patent terminology and training interpreters and translators for this sphere. Now MA students who take international programmes of the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation are working on their own projects for WIPO. The results of these projects will be published in the WIPO Pearl database: http://perevod.asu.edu.ru/news/magistrantyi-kvshp-prodolzhayut-uchastvovat-v-proekte-vois-po-terminologii.html Olga Egorova held a series of meetings on this issue, and we will keep working actively in this area. Addressing the tasks we are setting for ourselves now is a big responsibility, especially in the light of the fact that ASU in the only Russian university with which WIPO implements such international projects – it is our University that is responsible for the purity of the Russian language in the WIPO Pearl patent terminology database. Besides, the business trip programme included meetings with WIPO representatives that are responsible for conducting workshops on international patent applications and technology transfer in the Russian Federation. It should be reminded that last year, following the ASU application to the WIPO and Rospatent, a decision was made to hold a national workshop on patents at our university in 2019. As planned earlier, the workshop will be held in early October 2019. This large-scale event should bring together at least 150-200 experts – inventors, experts in technology transfer, innovators, representatives of Russian and Caspian universities and companies. We look forward to hosting this workshop and are working on its organization. It is important to note that we have already reached a preliminary agreement that, if the first workshop is successful, then in 2020 another event will take place, which will also be held by patent experts working with Russia. The new project will be dedicated to innovative forms of submitting patent applications, in particular electronic submission of applications through E-PCT – an online portal on International Cooperation Agreement, international patent applications and formal examination of international applications submitted through Russian governmental agencies, Rospatent patens etc. Since the whole world is advancing to electronic technology, this workshop will play a major role in training our scientists to work remotely and obtain necessary data and information on how to protect their intellectual property in a globalized world. Olga Egorova also had meetings in other departments. In particular, she met with Philippe Baechtold, Senior Director of the PCT Services Department, who strongly supported our initiatives related to the development of cooperation in the field of intellectual property protection in the Caspian region. In addition, he supported the idea of turning ASU into a platform for replication of its experience among our numerous partners not only in Russia but also in the countries of the Caspian region and Central Asia. The implementation of this idea implies, among other things, establishment of a specialized WIPO Technology and Innovation Support Center at our university, which will operate on the basis of the already existing Centre of Technologies Transfer of ASU. The new centre will allow ASU inventors to get remote access to high-quality technical information, to unleash their potential and ensure the protection of their intellectual property rights. Another meeting that contributed to further cooperation with WIPO in other areas was held in the department that deals with WIPO Green projects related to sustainable technologies. WIPO Green is a global platform for promotion and dissemination of green innovations in various fields, primarily in logistics, transportation, construction, water management, energy, power, pollution, waste, etc. The platform idea is as follows: corporations, small and medium enterprises, investors, universities, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, all sorts of associations join the programme and place their innovative projects on a common platform. For example, if university scientists place their work on the platform (of course, without disclosing its patent component), potential investors will be able to easily find and read about the project. It is important that the ideas of published projects should have a clear environmental focus on the use of sustainable technologies. Our university was invited to register at this platform and later become its member if in future we can hold programme events of the platform (MatchMaking Forums) at ASU. Various actors of the green technology market take part in such forums, and here each member can find a partner for their project. In general, the participation itself in the platform events is very prestigious. We have a unique opportunity to become the first Russian university to apply for participation in this innovative platform. The meeting, held with the management of the department responsible for cooperation with Russia, the CIS countries and Eastern Europe, is of great importance for us. The management of this department got very interested in the projects we are currently conducting together with WIPO, in regular visits of WIPO representatives to ASU in order to provide all kinds of support and also in the fact that our university can act as a hub in this field. At WIPO request, we will prepare a roadmap, containing the information on how our university will act for the next two or three years as a potential hub for the World Intellectual Property Organization in the Caspian region. Today WIPO already has its office in Moscow, and Astrakhan State University actively cooperates with it – not so long ago ASU Acting Rector Konstantin Markelov held a meeting with the Office Director. However, now WIPO needs a reliable partner in Southern Russia and in the Caspian region, and we can take this responsibility. That’s why the next step is to prepare a roadmap of how we see ourselves and what we can offer WIPO as a hub in the Caspian macro-region. In addition, we were invited to take part in a free online training of WIPO Academy. We can attract students and teachers from different faculties for conducting these activities, from the Faculty of Law to those departments that implement many innovative projects. It will help young people understand how to position and develop their innovations properly both in Russia and internationally. The first seminar will be held this spring, and we will be able to register and participate in it. A pleasant surprise of Olga Egorova during her visit to WIPO was a meeting with Adelya Bogdalova, a graduate of the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation who that time was undertaking the fellowship programme at WIPO. It is important to note that she is the third graduate of our university undertaking a paid fellowship in the field of patent terminology. It was very pleasant to hear a positive feedback about Adelya’s work and her contribution to the development of the database in completely different fields from her mentors. It is no less important that Adelya has a technical background, as well as good work experience: before being enrolled at the ASU Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation and eventually becoming a WIPO fellow, Adelya had worked at Fabrika technopark in Astrakhan and at Skolkovo Innovation Center in Moscow. That’s why our graduate has first-hand experience in the sphere of innovations and intellectual property protection. This is an example of how a successful graduate combines technical education and excellent language proficiency. Such combinations allow our students to undertake traineeships and give an opportunity to get employed at one of the most prestigious organizations in the world.