The 45th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law on Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT/45 Committee) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 28 to 30 March 2022. The meetings took place in hybrid mode (with room presence and online participation).

According to the Agenda, during the current session of the SCT Committee, several topics were discussed related to:

• Development of a Database That Would Include the Practice of States on Temporary Protection Provided to Industrial Designs at Certain International Exhibitions;
• Protection of Designs for Graphical User Interfaces (GUI);
• Protection of Country Names and Geographical Names of National Significance in the Domain Name System (DNS);
• Nation-Brand Protection;
• Geographical Indication Protection.

The work of the SCT/45 Committee was attended by more than 400 representatives from WIPO Member States, international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The Republic of Moldova was represented by Simion Levitchi, Head of Trademarks and Industrial Design Department of AGEPI, being elected this year as Vice-President of SCT/45.

The meeting of the SCT/45 Committee was opened by WANG Binying, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, who emphasized the importance of the current meeting of the Committee, which discussed topics of real interest. It was also noted that, in the wake of the pandemic, the number of trademark, industrial design registration applications increased during 2021. Therefore, the interest of companies in using intellectual property as a secure tool for economic development is confirmed.

According to the Work Agenda, topics related to the nation-brand protection in the Member States were also addressed, including the opportunity to plan an information session to analyze the practice of different states.

Participants also spoke about the development of recommendations on the protection of graphical user interfaces (GUI), and aspects related to geographical indications were addressed both in plenary meetings and information session.

Last but not least, it was reiterated that the matters concerning the convening of a Diplomatic Conference on the Design Law Treaty (DLT) remains a priority for WIPO.

Communications presented during the information session can be accessed at https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=69130.

The full agenda of the SCT/45 Committee can be accessed at https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/sct/en/sct_45/sct_45_1_prov_4.pdf.