Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Chiril Gaburici met with the Director of the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) Lilia Bolocan. During the meeting they discussed about the creation of an online training course in the field of intellectual property for entrepreneurs, the procedure for granting legal protection to trademarks and industrial designs in accelerated regime, and the importance of reforms in the field for representatives of business environment.

“I’m glad you managed to launch the e-learning platform in early March – a useful tool for all those in need of information in the field of intellectual property. An online training course for entrepreneurs in the field of intellectual property is also required. This would considerably ease their activity. In this sense, you have all the support of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure,” said Chiril Gaburici, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure.

Among the topics discussed during the meeting was the procedure for granting legal protection to trademarks and industrial designs in accelerated regime. As a result of changes in the operating process, it will be granted within 15 days, while the term previously was 6-7 months. However, after 15 days, AGEPI will continue the trademark verification procedure, and if irregularities are detected, the decision will be canceled.

In 2018, the interest of applicants for IPR protection in the Republic of Moldova has been increasing, especially in the field of plant varieties, trademarks, and copyright protected objects. Thus, during this period, 10,634 applications for the grant protection to intellectual property objects were filed altogether, with a 3% increase compared to 2017, and 9,686 IPOs have obtained protection.

The Agency has also implemented the European patent validation system under the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the European Patent Organization. At the end of 2018, the total number of requests for validation of European patents in the Republic of Moldova reached the number of 1,985 applications.

Source: www.mei.gov.md.