On 21 March this year, the National Report on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, 6th Edition, was launched.

The launch of the study was held at a press conference held by the Director General of AGEPI Lilia Bolocan and the Director General of Customs Service Vitalie Vrabie.

The Report of the Observatory on Enforcement of Intellectual property Rights covers the most important data on the actions taken by the Moldovan public authorities during the year 2017 in order to increase consumer awareness of the risks of the phenomena of counterfeiting and piracy, a series of statistical data reflecting the activity of law-enforcement agencies in counteracting acts related to the infringement of intellectual property rights, as well as the publication of legislative and institutional developments in the area concerned.

“The protection of intellectual property rights is an essential parameter of progress in research, innovation and employment. We come with this National Report on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the Republic of Moldova to ensure the continuity of collecting and systematizing IPR enforcement data and also to encourage you to become our partners in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting,” said Lilia Bolocan, during the press conference.

In turn, Director General of Customs Service Vitalie Vrabie listed the measures applied by the customs authority to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights, while noting that, in order to make progress in the fight against traffic in counterfeit goods, not only good cooperation between the competent authorities is sufficient, but it is also necessary to increase the degree of involvement of the right holders, the economic and image interests of which are to be protected.

The mention was made in the context in which there is reticence on the part of the owners of the protected trademarks to give the go-ahead to the Customs Service notifications, through which it is desired to establish the authenticity of a product. “Violation of intellectual property rights by including counterfeit goods in the commercial circuit is damaging not only the state budget and right holders, but also consumers who risk buying some non-compliant or even dangerous for health products.”, added the Director General of Customs Service.

The report is prepared annually by the AGEPI, with the information support of the Moldovan public authorities responsible for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, namely: the Customs Service, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Agency for Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance. The current edition of the Report was published with the support of the Technical Assistance Project “Support to Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the Republic of Moldova”, funded by the European Union.

The publication of the report is part of the efforts of public authorities to develop a balanced intellectual property protection system in line with the National Intellectual Property Strategy until 2020.

A new version of the website of the Intellectual Property Observatory was also launched during the press conference, which can be accessed at http://observatorpi.md in order to inform the public about the importance of intellectual property in the economic development of the country, as well as to raise citizens’ awareness of counterfeiting and piracy phenomena.

The National Report on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights can be consulted at the following address: http://observatorpi.md/studii-rapoarte/raport-național/