FICPI South East Asian Drafting (SEAD) Training Course

A patent application starts with drafting a claim submission. It requires not only knowledge of the invention, but also good language skills and legal knowledge. The Fédération Internationale des Conseils en Propriété Industrielle (FICPI; 'International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys' in English) has developed a training course on drafting patent specifications, which was launched in Singapore in 1997 and extended to Australia and Europe in 1999.

To promote awareness in intellectual property protection and provide training in patent drafting to technology transfer professionals, researchers and patent administrators in Hong Kong, the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) brought the course to Hong Kong in 2010. The South East Asian Drafting (SEAD) Training Course, jointly organized by TTO and FICPI, has been offered for three years in Hong Kong.

The course is focused on the art of patent drafting, especially on drafting techniques used in the major jurisdictions, namely Europe, USA and Japan. It is divided into three segments with 6 internationally renowned patent attorneys serving as instructors. Segment 1 is a series of tutorials and workshops for 5 days; Segment 2 is for students to work on four drafting exercises by correspondence; Segment 3 is the final series of tutorials and workshops over 5 days. Emphasis is put on practical work and case studies, which participants find very useful but also challenging.

Over the past three years, a total of 78 participants from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan and South East Asia had attended the course.

FICPI will introduce the course to Malaysia later this year.