A meeting of the Observatory on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (EIPR Observatory) was held on 23 December 2024, at the headquarters of the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI). The event was attended by representatives of AGEPI, the Customs Service, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Inspectorate for Supervision of Non-Food Products and Consumer Protection, the Agency for Courts Administration, and technical assistance projects for the Republic of Moldova.

The meeting was opened by Eugeniu Rusu, Director General of AGEPI and Chair of the EIPR Observatory, who appreciated the active involvement of the Observatory members in the activities carried out during 2024 and their contribution to the Bilateral Screening on Chapter 7 (Intellectual Property Law), recently held in Brussels. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of strengthening the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IP) in the context of current economic and legislative challenges.

In the first part of the meeting, the participants in the meeting addressed current issues in the field of IP rights enforcement and identified the priority activities to be carried out in 2025 in order to ensure a level of IP rights enforcement in the Republic of Moldova similar to that in the European Union.

In this context, the Head of the Communication, International Relations and European Integration Directorate, Liliana Vieru, presented the opportunities offered by the European Union-funded project “Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine” (EU4IP) in carrying out the necessary actions to achieve the Observatory’s objectives. Liliana Vieru stressed the importance of close collaboration between the Observatory members and the EU4IP project team to assess the existing regulatory framework and develop a Roadmap in the field of IP rights enforcement, which would meet the specific needs of the Republic of Moldova.

The Observatory members discussed the existing legislative challenges and emphasized the need for a well-structured action plan, which would correspond to both national requirements and regional and international challenges in the field.

Present at the meeting, Ion Țigănaș, national expert within the EU4IP project, informed the participants about the stage of evaluation of the normative-legislative framework and encouraged the representatives of the institutions with responsibilities in the field of IP rights enforcement to come up with concrete proposals for the priority intervention areas that are to be found in the Roadmap.

Subsequently, the activities proposed within the Moldovan-Swiss Intellectual Property Project (MSIP) aimed at strengthening institutional capacities in the intellectual property segment were discussed. The participants confirmed the importance of implementing the actions supported by MSIP for training specialists and implementing efficient rights enforcement mechanisms in accordance with international standards and European best practices.

Another topic on the agenda concerned the analysis of the competences of the institutions involved in ascertaining IP rights infringements. The representatives present drew attention to some contradictions existing in the legislation, which hinder the efficient application of legal provisions. The need to initiate a legislative review process was emphasized to provide for clarity and coherence of the norms.

In conclusion, Eugeniu Rusu thanked the participants for their involvement and reiterated the importance of interinstitutional collaboration to achieve the established objectives. He encouraged the institutions to actively contribute to the development of the Roadmap and to valorize the support provided by the EU4IP and MSIP projects to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights in the Republic of Moldova.

The EIPR Observatory has been operating within AGEPI since 2011. The purpose of its creation was to ensure the exchange of information between the authorities responsible for monitoring the enforcement of intellectual property rights, as well as the development of reports, analytical and statistical studies in the field. At the same time, the Observatory exercises the functions of the Notification Center of the World Trade Organization on the Implementation of the TRIPS Agreement and is an effective means of promoting the activities carried out by various authorities and institutions involved in combating the infringement of intellectual property rights.