A series of events dedicated to counteraction of the phenomenon of counterfeiting and piracy, including the Annual International Conference entitled “Georgia against Counterfeiting and Piracy” took place from July 25 to 28, 2022, in Batumi, Georgia. The conference was organized by the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia (SAKPATENTI) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce under the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP).

The event was attended by representatives of Eastern European countries, neighboring countries of the Black Sea region and Central Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan), high-ranking representatives of international organizations (World Intellectual Property Organization, World Customs Organization), as well as representatives of the private sector and Georgian public organizations.

In the opening speech, Manana Pruidze, Acting Chairperson of SAKPATENTI, emphasized the importance of the dialogue between the public and private sectors regarding the protection of intellectual property rights, the exchange of experience between them and joint discussions on existing challenges and their solutions. He also mentioned the need for closer cooperation between different institutions with attributions in the field of enforcement of intellectual property rights, because the phenomenon of counterfeiting and piracy seriously affects the economy, ecology, security, well-being and even people’s health.

Mechanisms to combat counterfeiting and piracy in several dimensions were also discussed, in particular, challenges in the pharmaceutical industry and drug traceability methods, as well as methods to solve problems in the automotive and textile industries, such as product tracking at import/export. Due to the format of the Conference, the participants had the opportunity to learn about modern methods and practical experiences on the enforcement of IP rights at the national, regional and international level. In the same context, the problems faced by society in the field of economic security and the health of the population, as well as internal practices of brand protection and concrete examples of combating their counterfeiting were addressed.

At the event, the Republic of Moldova was represented by a delegation led by Eugeniu Rusu, Director General of the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI), head of the delegation, Ms. Tatiana Nasirov, senior specialist, Information Technologies Division, Ms. Ludmila Revun, senior specialist Legal Assistance and Contract Registration Division, Ms. Galina Sibova, principal specialist International Relations Division and Ms. Mariana Manoli, Chief Inspector, Service for Intellectual Property Protection in the Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova.

During the Conference, the Director General of AGEPI presented the country report on the challenges of the national IP system, the recent developments in the matter of IP rights enforcement, as well as the role of the owners in combating the violation of their IP rights. Participating in the event represented a good opportunity to get familiar with the latest developments in the field of IP rights enforcement at European level and at the same time offered the opportunity to share the challenges of recent years that the Republic of Moldova has faced in this field, largely affected by the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

In the same context, on July 27 there was a meeting of the representatives of the Intellectual Property Offices and those from the customs system in the area of ​​Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and on July 28 the “Trans-Caspian Intellectual Property Forum” took place, which had for an object to develop a plan for future cooperation against the phenomenon of counterfeiting.

It should be mentioned that the Director General of AGEPI, Eugeniu Rusu, also had a bilateral meeting with Ms. Manana Pruidze, Acting Chairperson of Sakpatenti, during which the continuous efforts for cooperation between AGEPI and Sakpatenti were discussed, in particular, with the aim of informing the population of both countries on the negative effects of counterfeiting and piracy.