Launch took place in the Republican Palace on 23 November this year in a mobilizing atmosphere. The event was attended by the Head of EU Delegation in the Republic of Moldova, His Excellency the Ambassador Dirk Schuebel, His Excellency the Ambassador of Romania in the Republic of Moldova Mr. Marius Gabriel Lazurca, His Excellency the Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Republic of Moldova Mrs. Keith SHANON, His Excellency the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in the Republic of Moldova Mr. Bogumil LUFT, State Deputy Minister Mr. Eduard Banaruc, Project Leader, Deputy Director General of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office Mr. Keld Nymann Jensen, Junior Project Leader, Director of the National Collection, Information and Services Direction of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks of Romania Mr. Bogdan BORESCHIEVICI.
Among participants were the Economic Advisor of the Romanian Embassy in our country Mr. Ion Serban, Project Manager of EU delegation Mrs. Zane Rungule, team leader of the Project “Support to Implementation of RM-EU Agreements” Mr. Eugene Stewart, Resident Advisor of Twinning Mr. Kenny Wright and Director of Sales and Marketing Division Mr. Kim Buchardt Christiansen, both from the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, Mrs. Adriana Atanasoaei, Head of Databases and Information Systems Office of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks of Romania, other highly placed persons.
Competent public authorities with responsibilities in the field of protection and defense of intellectual property rights, non-governmental organizations and the academic community was present by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, Ministry of Information Technologies, Ministry of Economy, the Prosecutor General, the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, Customs Service, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Association of Copyright and Related Rights “AsDAC”, Innovation and Technology Transfer Agency, the State Commission for Variety Testing, National Agency for Competition Protection, the State University of Moldova.
In his opening speech, Ambassador Dirk Schuebel said that the European Union is committed to share its achievements and values with countries beyond its borders. EU financial assistance to the Republic of Moldova is based on the priorities related to the reforms agreed in the RM-EU Action Plan. This assistance has increased from € 20 million in 2003-2004 to € 42 million in 2005-2006 and reaches € 210 million for 2007-2010.
Intellectual property becomes an increasingly important area in modern economies, because it creates wealth for natural persons, companies and governments. Counterfeiting and piracy are intellectual property crimes that involve theft of ideas, are major threats to consumers, enterprises and economies. The strong Laws on intellectual property protection, including effective enforcement of rights, have positive effects both economically and socially, creating a stable environment for investment.
On January 12, 2010, the European Union and the Republic of Moldova have started negotiations on concluding an agreement on political association and economic integration. In the context of these negotiations, intellectual property rights, including those related to geographical indications and appellations of origin, are extremely important. This agreement will open new opportunities for the bilateral trade between the EU and Moldova. But, for the signing of this agreement, the respect for intellectual property rights is particularly important, concluded Mr. Ambassador Dirk Schuebel.
His Excellency the Ambassador of Romania in the Republic of Moldova Mr. Marius Gabriel Lazurca welcomed the participants in the twinning project launch conference, he mentioned Romania’s active participation in the implementation of the projects carried out by EU and satisfaction of the fact that Romanian experts will implement a Twinning Project in the Republic of Moldova.
Mr. Edward Banaruc, State Deputy Minister, reviewed the advantages gained by our country following the implementation of previous projects Twinning, with the present one - four in number, and the importance of successfully implementing the current Project, targeting a priority framework for the European course of the Republic of Moldova - the application and enforcement of IP rights.
In her speech, Mrs. Svetlana Munteanu, Deputy Director General of AGEPI, the conference moderator, said: “We have every confidence that the Twinning Program to be launched today will directly contribute to increasing our country’s institutional capacities in the field of IP, to enhancing coordination activities of various institutions responsible for protection and defense of IP rights and the synergistic effect of these activities, the effective development of the national system of protection of geographical indications, which is one of a great perspective for the Republic of Moldova”.
The Project Leader, Deputy Director General of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office Mr. Keld Nymann JENSEN mentioned that Denmark is a strong supporter of the Twinning Project. Since 2005 the Danish Patent and Trademark Office has managed five twinning projects. The implementation of the Twinning Project in the Republic of Moldova will improve communication between government institutions responsible for protection of intellectual property rights, will strengthen the organizations for the collective administration, measures to raise awareness on the importance of protecting intellectual property rights, support the development of the national system of protection of geographical indications, appellations of origin and traditional specialties guaranteed. All trainings will be conducted by recognized experts from EU Member States, in partnership with institutions of the Republic of Moldova. The experts will come from Denmark, Romania, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Hungary, Belgium and Poland. The sustainability and continuity of knowledge will be done through recommendations by the distribution of publications, training of formers in the Republic of Moldova, providing training modules, initiation of a campaign of awareness and development of relationships.
In conclusion, Mr. Bogdan BORESCHIEVICI, Director of the National Collection, Information Technology and Services Department of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks of Romania made a historic trip to IP rights, mentioned the benefits Romania has achieved after the implementation of certain Twinning projects in Romania along the way or EU candidate country, as well as availability and satisfaction of Romanian experts to implement, together with those of the Danish Patent Office, such a valuable project in the Republic of Moldova.
AGEPI Press Service