On 11 January this year, at the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI), was held the Meeting of the AGEPI Board, instituted under point 14 of the Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the State Agency on Intellectual Property, approved by Government Decision No. 1247/2018 and the Order of the Director General No. 117/2019. The meeting was chaired by the Director General of AGEPI, Viorel Iustin.

According to the agenda of the meeting, the project concerning the Information Platform in the field of protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) was brought up for discussion. Thus, information was presented on the Information Platform in the field of IPR protection, which was elaborated by AGEPI, according to the functional competence, together with the authorities responsible for the enforcement of intellectual property rights (Customs Service, subordinated to the Ministry of Finance, General Inspectorate of Police within the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), Agency for Court Administration of the Ministry of Justice, Prosecutor General’s Office, Agency for Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance) and with the support of the European Union Technical Assistance Project EuropeAid/137467/DH/SER/MD “Support to Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the Republic of Moldova”. It should be mentioned that the Information Platform in the field of IPR protection is made up of the Information System in the field of protection of intellectual property objects and of the Information System “Register of Applications for Action” and aims to increase the management capacity of the intellectual property (IP) system by the main actors involved in the enforcement of intellectual property rights by facilitating the exchange of data between them, through various forms of notifications (for example, IPR notifications in the case of MIA; IPR complaints in the case of prosecutors; on possible IPR infringements in the case of Customs Service, etc.), each of them needing to be connected to all relevant data, regardless of their storage location; ensuring the access of the citizens and the mentioned authorities to the complete information on the IP objects registered with AGEPI by developing a unique automated communication platform between the authorities and the right holders, meant to facilitate the secured procedure for online filing by the IPR holders and/or their representatives of the applications for action with the Customs Service, giving the first ones the possibility to follow in real time the solution of these applications.

Also, during the meeting were discussed the following steps that are necessary to be taken for the development of the mentioned Information Systems, respectively, by promoting and approving the draft normative act regulating the technical concepts and regulations on the organization and functioning of these Systems, as well as the completion of all technical measures that will ensure their functionality.

Another topic discussed was the initiation of the development of a concept on the National Intellectual Property Strategy until 2030. In this regard, within the meeting was analyzed the stage of implementation of the provisions of the National Intellectual Property Strategy until 2020, developed by AGEPI with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), with the participation of central public administration authorities, bodies empowered with functions and responsibilities for IPR enforcement, academic environment, non-governmental organizations and civil society under the auspices of the National Commission on Intellectual Property (NCIP).

In conclusion, it was mentioned that the goals and objectives of the National Intellectual Property Strategy until 2020, the Action Plans approved for the implementation of the Strategy have been successfully implemented, despite the challenges and problems existing in the system, being achieved important results and performances in field. By implementing the action plans, a major and extremely important contribution has been made to the development, fortification and consolidation of the national IP system.

On this subject it was decided to finalize the progress report on the realization of the Action Plan for 2019 on the implementation of the National Intellectual Property Strategy until 2020, based on the reports accumulated from the responsible authorities, and on the elaboration of the concept of a new Strategy in the field it was agreed on the creation of a working group for this purpose.

Also, during the meeting were addressed various topics related to the organizational activity of the Agency’s subdivisions and which will ensure the improvement of the institutional management of the national IP office as a whole. We remind that the Board is a consultative body set up by AGEPI in order to monitor all the major aspects regarding its activity, to improve the services provided, as well as the procedures for implementing the development objectives of the national intellectual property system. The Board is composed of the director general, deputy directors-general, heads of the internal subdivisions of AGEPI, as well as other persons and meets whenever necessary.