The State Agency for Intellectual Property (AGEPI), in common with the EU Project “Support to Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights” in the Republic of Moldova, organized on 21 September a workshop entitled “Intellectual Property Offences in the Online Environment: Realities and Practices to Combat the Phenomenon”.
The workshop was attended by experts from the EU Project, AGEPI specialists, representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the General Police Inspectorate, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the biggest players on the ICT market in Moldova.
At the opening of the event, AGEPI Director General Andrei Popa mentioned that the Agency, as a national intellectual property office, is responsible for promoting and carrying out activities in the field of intellectual property protection, respectively, ensures the implementation of the IP field development strategies and monitors compliance with the legislation in this area. “The support offered by the EU Project in our work is indisputable and the support in combating IP offences in the online environment derives from its overall objective: to improve the enforcement of law and regulations on intellectual property rights in Republic of Moldova,” added Andrei Popa.
International experts with extensive experience in the field have approached a number of topics of interest to providers of information services and communication technologies and public authorities of the Republic of Moldova, such as: trends in intellectual property Offences in the on-line environment; the most commonly used means of intellectual property rights infringement on the Internet; the provisions of the national and international legal framework for the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs); practices and procedures for sanctioning intellectual property offenses; the role of ICT companies in IPRs protection; Romania’s solutions to intellectual property rights infringements on the Internet and streamlining the fight against intellectual property offences on the Internet in the Republic of Moldova.
Deputy Leader of the EU Project Kenny Wright made a presentation of the international legal framework on intellectual property rights infringements in the online environment, the most counterfeit products, and international practices to combat this phenomenon. According to the expert, intellectual property is the foundation for the development of the European Union’s economy, so it is a priority in community policies. According to a study by the OECD in 2016, 38% of the total number of jobs in the EU is provided by property industries and 42% of the European GDP belongs to industries with intellectual property. Given the economic weight of IPRs, authorities need to strengthen their protection against counterfeiting and piracy.
The Technical Assistance Project “Support to Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights” is funded by the European Union and is supposed to be completed in November 2018.
