Companies, inventors, academics and users of the intellectual property system will benefit from a decision last week by member states of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to revise certain standards associated with the recording, storage, exchange and retrieval of patent, trademark and industrial design information. These standards facilitate access to and use of the rich pool of publicly available industrial property information associated with the grant of patents, trademarks and industrial designs. This will also make it easier to access prior art information, critical in determining the patentability of an invention. Adopted revisions regarded priority application numbers and the bibliographic data components of industrial designs. Delegates also reviewed progress in the preparation of revision proposals relating to Trademarks. In preparation for the renewal of the WIPO Handbook on Industrial Property Information and Documentation (the authoritative guide to WIPO Standards), a task force was established. For further information, CLICK HERE.