In order to extent the cooperation with the European institutions in the field of intellectual property protection, Mr. Dorian Chirosca, Director general of AGEPI, visited on the current September 4-5 European Union Office for Harmonization in the Intern Market (OHIM) (Trademarks and Design) located in Alicante, Spain.
The program of visit included meetings with Mr. Wubbo de Boer, president of OHIM, and Mr. Ignasio de Medrano Caballero, vice-director of the directorate International Relations OHIM, in the frame of which took place the fruitful change of information related to the system of intellectual property protection of the Republic of Moldova and the communitary system of trademarks and industrial designs protection; measures taken by the republic of Moldova in order to harmonize the national legislation with the requirements of European directives and regulations in the given field and assistance being rendered by the communitary institutions, including OHIM, to the national offices both by the EU members and European neighboring space; programs of professional training for the specialists in the intellectual property field.
Director General AGEPI familiarized with the intern regulations of OHIM’s activity, procedure of examination of the applications on registration of communitary trademarks, industrial designs and granting the titles of protection, activity of the Appeals Board, Informational system of OHIM, including the data bases used in the process of documentation, control system of quality and administration programs elaborated in the frame of OHIM etc.
In the frame of the visit the profound attention was paid to initiation of discussions on the possibility to sign a Program on cooperation in the intellectual property field between AGEPI and OHIM that further will allow to be approved on the bilateral level, a plan of the specific actions.
Taking in consideration the European aspirations of our country, the administration of OHIM manifested a keen interest in intensification the relations of cooperation with the Republic of Moldova in the field of intellectual property protection. With this aim Mr. Wubbo de Boer, president OHIM expressed the wish to visit the Republic of Moldova in order to obtain a detailed information related to the achievements on the Republic of Moldova in the process of harmonization the national intellectual property system with the communitary one.
Being in Alicante, Mr. D. Chirosca also made a visit of documentation to the University of Alicante in order to establish some relations of cooperation in relation of education and training the stuff in the field of intellectual property. In the frame of discussions with Mr.Roberto Escarré Urueña, head Department International Cooperation of the University, discussed the aspects of training the national stuffs in the field of intellectual property in the institutions of high education of the republic of Moldova and opportunity to establish some relations of cooperation with the University of Alicante in the given field.
European Union Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) is a specialized communitary institution the main branch of activity of which is registration of communitary trademarks and industrial designs. Registration of the communitary trademarks and industrial designs provides by means of the unique procedural system a uniform intellectual property right valid in all the member states of the European Union. OHIM is an European independent self-financing and non-profiled institution located in Alicante, Spain. The detailed information on the OHIM’s mission and activity is accessible on http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/index.en.do.
The University of Alicante is a world known one, being considered as a reference point for a large number of institutions and companies with which it has relations of cooperation and realizes a technical assistance program in different fields: transfer of technologies, students training programs, post-university education, innovative projects etc. More then 30.000 students in different fields ( social and legal sciences, experimental sciences, technical sciences, human sciences, education and health sciences) study In the university. The University possesses five Research Centers (environment, water, geographical research, international economy) and is famous in Spain by its developed scientific activity. The University is the first institution in Spain having a stuff about 2000 persons (including the professor and administration stuff) and an annual budget of nearly 15 millions pesetas.
Details on the activity of the University of Alicante you may find http://www.ua.es/en/index.html