On 12 February, at the State Agency on Intellectual Property was held the meeting summarizing the activities conducted by the AGEPI staff in 2014. The meeting was attended by the Administration, heads of subdivisions and specialists from AGEPI and representatives of the public authorities, National Commission on IP and institutions with which the Agency is in effective partnership of cooperation, namely: Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova, Agency for Innovation and Technology Transfer, Customs Service, Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The meeting was moderated by Lilia Bolocan, Director General of AGEPI. In her speech, Mrs. Bolocan said that AGEPI activity was focused on approaching the intellectual property system nearer to European standards and fulfilling the obligations arising from the Law on State Agency on Intellectual Property approved in the year under review.
Besides the activity of examination and protection of IP objects, AGEPI has many other activities, such as carrying out the obligations arising from the AGEPI Law, thus it was made every effort to fulfill the action plan for 2014. Compared to previous years, when one of the priorities was to establish cooperation relationships with other public institutions of Moldova, in 2014 were consolidated these relationships and were achieved high results in the areas of cooperation. The priorities for 2014 were focused on several categories of citizens dealing with IP, thus AGEPI had a good opening from representatives of legal institutions to organize seminars, in which AGEPI was as an instructor, but also trained in the IP legislation segment.
In the context of public information about intellectual property, in 2014, a priority of AGEPI was training the young generation in the field of protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Thus, it was launched the National Chisinau Pupil Awareness Campaign on Counterfeiting and Piracy Phenomena in the Republic of Moldova entitled “Stop Piracy and Counterfeiting”, in which it managed to inform about 6000 pupils in this area.
Similarly, the inventors have also enjoyed special attention by the possibility of promoting their inventions internationally, namely: participation in specialized exhibitions of inventions and new technologies (in Romania, Croatia, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, etc.) with the support of AGEPI.
Another priority segment for 2014 was training of librarians from regional centers in the NOVATECA Project, seminars which had as an object the involvement of librarians in promoting IP protection system and development of the skills to provide new consultancy services in this area.
It was also invested much effort in promoting the benefits of registration of Geographical Indications among economic agents, this area remaining a priority for 2015 as well, since, being a new domain, it is not yet known by all producers acting in the given field.
In terms of legislative activity during 2014 were developed a number of normative and legislative draft laws in order to align the national system of IP to international practices in the field.
In closing, Mrs. Bolocan specified that AGEPI will continue to strive for the national intellectual property system to respond primarily to the needs of citizens and business environment, as well as to strengthen regional and international relations.
In his address to the participants in the meeting, Vice Prime Chairman of the ASM, academician Ion Tighineanu, appreciated the ASM fruitful collaboration with AGEPI over the years in several areas, noting the contribution of the Agency to promote the achievements of inventors from our country at the international exhibitions of inventions from abroad. Association in the Community research programs led to better communication with the Diaspora by presenting and developing innovative projects, which encourages further implementation of a greater number of such projects. Mr. Ion Tighineanu expressed his confidence that the results presented at the meeting will show the fair value of AGEPI as an institution responsible for intellectual property
AITT Director, Roman Chirca tended to remark the successful collaboration between AITT with AGEPI over the years through organization of competitions, projects and thematic seminars. In the context of what was said earlier in the meeting, Mr. Chirca added that the positive results obtained in the projects started in 2014 will lead to an increase in the number of IP objects in the coming years, this fact representing a direct reflection of the level of economic development of our society.
Present at the meeting, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova, Tudor Olaru mentioned the importance of productive cooperation with AGEPI in various projects, in particular: contest “Trademark of the Year” and activities of promoting Geographical Indications.
In continuation of the meeting, the Directors of departments and the heads of divisions presented the results achieved in 2014 on each segment of activity of the AGEPI, namely: examination of applications and grant of titles of protection for various industrial property objects (inventions, plant varieties, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications), activity in the field of copyright, normative-legal field, promotion of national intellectual property system, international cooperation and European integration, development of information technology system, manpower, and financial-economic activity.
