How can right holders protect intellectual property in the Republic of Moldova, how can authorities combat counterfeiting and piracy, what regional practices have generated the best results? These were the main topics on the second day of the regional seminar dedicated to respect for intellectual property rights, organized on 7^th June, in Chisinau.

According to national experts, the Moldovan public authorities have enough legal instruments to protect intellectual property rights. There are over 50 normative acts and laws in Republic of Moldova that regulate this area from a civil point of view and six institutions whose responsibility is to combat the phenomenon of counterfeiting and piracy: Courts of Justice, Customs Service, Agency for Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance, General Inspectorate of Police, National Agency for Food Safety and General Prosecutor's Office.

However, in order to make effective protection of intellectual property rights and to reduce counterfeiting and piracy, right holders need to be more active, make complaints, cooperate with the authorities, provide information on counterfeit products and participate in awareness campaigns. 

The Director-General of AGEPI, Ms. Lilia Bolocan, underlined that intellectual property protection is receiving more attention from the Government, especially in the context of European integration and the harmonization of the national intellectual property system with the acquis communautaire.

A priority for AGEPI is the implementation of a common interdepartmental information system to ensure inter-institutional data sharing and to raise awareness of society about the importance of intellectual property rights. In this context, the Director-General of AGEPI stated she appreciated the contribution of the EU Technical Assistance Project "Support to Enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights” in the Republic of Moldova in the implementation of the cultural change program in the field of intellectual property.

The Regional Seminar brought together over 80 participants, including representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM), the EU Delegation to the Republic of Moldova, EU High Level Adviser on Economy and Trade,  EU High Level Adviser on Internal Affairs, EU High Level Adviser on Customs, Judges from the Supreme Court of Justice, Customs Officials, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Association "REACT", experts from Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Latvia, Georgia, Armenia.

The Regional Seminar was organized by AGEPI in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization and the European Union Technical Assistance Project "Support to Enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights" in the Republic of Moldova, in the context of World Anti-Counterfeiting Day.

The EU Project ”Support to Enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights” in the Republic of Moldova is funded by the European Union and implemented by a Consortium of Archidata LLC (Italy), European Profiles S.C. (Greece) and Business and Strategies in Europe (Belgium). The project has a duration of two years and ends in November 2018.