In the period November 11-13, 2015, in Budapest, was held the Regional Seminar on Enforcement of IP Rights, organized by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) in cooperation with the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office.

The seminar was attended by representatives of EU Member States involved in the process of enforcement of rights both at the border and on internal markets. At the event were also present representatives of several states that have not yet joined the European Union, namely: Turkey, Serbia and Moldova. Our country was represented by Mrs. Natalia Mogol, Deputy Head of Trademarks and Industrial Designs Directorate, State Agency on Intellectual Property, and Mr. Iurie Rosca, employee of the Centre for Combating Cyber Crimes within the National Investigation Inspectorate.

During the three days of work, there were presented a series of reports that have focused on the legal framework relating to the protection of IP rights in the Community, on the role of cooperation between the various players involved in the enforcement of IP rights, but also on the role of cooperation between the EU states and OHIM activities in the field of enforcement of IP rights, especially in terms of IT tools developed for facilitation and transparency of targeted processes.

At the same time, it was also organized a practical exercise at the Budapest International Airport. At the Cargo terminal was held a presentation of the process of risk analysis, control of goods, seizure of goods suspected of being counterfeit, but also a demonstration of destruction of counterfeit goods.

At the same time, on the last working day of the seminar were presented illegal business models on the Internet and cases of copyright infringements in the online environment. To provide a complete picture of the procedures relating to the enforcement of IP rights, it was also presented the experience of prosecutors in conducting an investigation related to the violation of IP rights being stressed that there are big problems when the matter is about infringement of IP rights in the online environment with the finding of the guilty person and also with the establishment of damage.

The last reports in the seminar were presented by the representative of the Office for the Fight Against Fraud (OLAF) and the European Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust) who highlighted once again the importance of cooperation at all levels.