In order to achieve the Twinning Project “Support to implementation and enforcement of intellectual property in the Republic of Moldova” launched on November 1, 2010, in January 2011 in Chisinau is conducting a series of documentation visits of the European experts.

Thus, between January 9 to 14, at the AGEPI, which is the main beneficiary of the project, took place the documentation visit for assessment of communication and cooperation mechanism in the field of protection of intellectual property rights, with the participation of Mrs. Monica Pop, Chief Prosecutor, Department for Coordination of Activity of the Public Ministry in the field of intellectual property rights of Romania, and Mrs. Adriana Atanasoaei, Head of Information Technology Directorate at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks of Romania (OSIM).

During this mission, European experts have held a series of meetings with representatives of public authorities responsible for implementation of IP rights, including of the Fraud Investigation Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Control and Customs Destinations Directorate of the Customs Service, Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance Directorate of the Ministry of Economy, the Prosecutor’s General.

Also, European experts had meetings with representatives of organizations for collective administration of copyright and related rights (AsDAC and Copyright), BSA Moldova representative, as well as private sector representatives, including of the Association of Employers “American Chamber of Commerce in Moldova”, of the British American Tobacco, IM Trimetrica L.T.D. companies, etc.

At the end of the mission experts have come up with some recommendations to improve the communication and cooperation mechanism in the field of protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the Republic of Moldova.

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In the period of 16-21 January this year, in Chisinau took place the documentation visit of the delegation of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DPTO), senior leader of the Twinning project, members of which were Mrs. Marianne Helledi Knudsen, Senior Adviser, International Projects Department, and Mr. Kim Buchardt Christiansen, Director, Sales and Marketing Department. During the visit, experts from Denmark assessed the strategies for marketing and promotion of the role of intellectual property in the Republic of Moldova, used by specialists in the Promotion and Publishing Department of AGEPI, familiarized themselves with the structure of the Agency, which publications it publishes, with services provided, with Internet partnerships and initiatives, with information sources in the IP field available in the AGEPI Library.

In this context, EU experts have met with representatives of the Agency for Innovation and Technology Transfer in the ASM, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as representatives in IP.

At the end of this mission, European experts made a thorough evaluation of the strategies for marketing, communication and promotion of the role of intellectual property in the Republic of Moldova, presenting to AGEPI specialists some conclusions and recommendations for improving this activity, including the mechanism of AGEPI cooperation with IP information users (institutions of science and innovation, right owners, economic agents, especially SMEs, etc.). Based on the results of the current mission, at a later stage EU experts will assist AGEPI in improving its communication strategies with various categories/groups of users of the IP system.

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In the period of January 24-28 at the AGEPI takes place the documentation visit of the experts of the Twinning Project “Support to implementation and enforcement of intellectual property in the Republic of Moldova” of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office - Mr. Sven Nytoft Rasmussen, examiner, Mechanical Engineering Division, Mrs. Kathrine Spinner Madsen, legal counsel, trademark expert and Mr. Torben Engholm Kristensen, senior legal adviser, industrial designs examiner. Following the consultations, European experts will assess the training needs of examiners in terms of patents, trademarks and industrial designs, which will guide the development of training programs for AGEPI specialists.