In the period 20-24 July 2015, in Alicante, Spain was organized the Intellectual Property Week for managers of Intellectual Property Offices (second edition), organized by the European Patent Office (EPO) in cooperation with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM). The purpose of the meeting is to create a platform for discussion about the role of intellectual property offices in the continued development of the intellectual property system, thus convening the responsible seniors in the IP offices of the Member States of the European Union, European Patent Organization and third countries.

Moldova was represented at the event by Mrs. Lilia Bolocan, Director General of the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI).

The event’s program included expert reports of OHIM, EPO, IP Offices of Great Britain, Denmark, but also of major companies such as Google, ADOBE System Inc., etc.

The participants in the event had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the latest legislative developments in the field, tools used by OHIM and EPO in the fight against digital piracy, European initiatives and programs aimed at promoting the use of legal content, and IP services available to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). An opportunity for exchange of experience was the presentation of case studies that demonstrated the impact of globalization on the intellectual property system, the role of quality policies to ensure the IP system certainty for users, contribution of cooperation programs in avoiding duplication of efforts and increasing efficiency of IP Offices, etc. European Patent Office has made a foray into the history of the European Patent Convention from foundation to implementation of the system for validation of European patents – a new tool to exploit the potential offered by the European Patent Convention in non-member states. Thus, the event serves as an excellent opportunity for managers of regional and national IP offices to share their best practices and achievements in the field of IP and to identify new opportunities for collaboration.