The representatives of the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) participated from October 15 to 17, 2024, in a study visit to the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic. The event was organized under the auspices of the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX) of the European Commission, with the support of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations. The main purpose of the visit was to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and promote good practices in the field of industrial property law, with a special focus on trademarks.

Specialists from the Trademarks and Industrial Design Department, the Legal Department as well as the Information Technology Division of AGEPI had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge on the trademark registration process, the alignment of national legislation with European standards and the application of best practices in trademark management. The program of the visit included training sessions and discussions on key topics such as trademark registration and renewal, digitization of administrative processes and trademark dispute management.

During the event, specialists had the opportunity to explore in detail the stages of the trademark registration process, from the submission of the application to the issuance of the registration certificate. Modern solutions for the digitalization of workflows, the use of electronic platforms for correspondence management and document archiving, as well as the integration of these IT tools with other government platforms were presented. Special attention has been paid to the methods of assessing the distinctiveness of marks, as well as the procedures on absolute grounds for refusal, when marks are considered to be misleading or lacking in distinctiveness.

The AGEPI delegation benefited from the practical assistance of the representatives of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic, as well as from interactive sessions where concrete cases and challenges encountered in daily practice were discussed.

The visit also provided an insight into the resolution of trademark disputes, examination of opposition proceedings and applications for cancellation or declaration of invalidity of a trademark. The participants had the opportunity to understand how the quality assurance decisions issued by the office are monitored and how the legal aspects related to the limitation of exclusive rights are managed.

The event marked an important step in strengthening the relations between AGEPI and the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic, contributing to the improvement of the professional capacities of specialists from the Republic of Moldova and to the promotion of modern legislation in the field of industrial property, in accordance with the requirements of the European Union.