On November 2, 2016, in Chisinau, was held the Training Seminar in the Field of Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights dedicated to training of trainers in public institutions with responsibilities in the field.

The event was organized by the State Agency on Intellectual Property and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in order to enhance skills and knowledge of specialists in the public institutions and authorities responsible for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, as well as training of trainers in this field.

The seminar was attended by representatives of Customs Service, General Police Inspectorate, Prosecutor General’s Office, Consumer Protection Agency, National Institute of Justice, Competition Council, and WIPO experts and AGEPI specialists.

The event was opened by AGEPI Director General, Octavian Apostol, who said that cooperation between public institutions with responsibilities in the field is very important for the protection of the intellectual property system in the Republic of Moldova. In this way we will stimulate manufacturers to develop new technologies and provide new products, more competitive, knowing that their investments are protected, added Octavian Apostol. Also, AGEPI Director General assured the participants of all support from the AGEPI specialists in the information and consultation on the protection of intellectual property objects.

During the event, WIPO experts addressed issues related to the enforcement of intellectual property rights regionally and nationally.

Thus, in the first part of the day was discussed the balanced approach to the enforcement of intellectual property rights and building respect for this area; the enforcement of intellectual property in the Republic of Moldova - operational context, the public interest and the decision to start criminal prosecution, trademark counterfeiting, piracy of copyright and commercial scale.

About the investigation of crimes in the field of intellectual property, challenges on the enforcement of intellectual property in the field of Internet, border measures and destruction of goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights was discussed in the second part of the seminar.

Also, WIPO experts presented the best practices and tools used to strengthen the institutional capacity of the institutions and raise public awareness on the role and the need to enforce intellectual property rights.

The seminar ended with a question and answer session. Finally, the participants were satisfied by the level of organization and the information presented by experts and showed interest in participating in such events.