Mindia Davitadze: “Georgia’s Accession to EPO is One of the Main Priorities of Sakpatenti”

Mr. Mindia Davitadze, Chairman of the National Intellectual Property Centre of Georgia Sakpatenti, held a remote meeting with Mr. António Campinos, President of the European Patent Office (EPO). At the introductory meeting the heads of the Offices discussed the prospects of Georgia’s accession to the European Patent Organisation.

“Georgia’s accession to EPO is one of the main priorities of Sakpatenti, as the above-mentioned will confirm that patent rights in Georgia are protected according to the quality of protection existing in European countries”, - Mr. Mindia Davitadze noted during the meeting.

Sakpatenti Chairman thanked Mr. António Campinos for supporting Sakpatenti in achieving the set objective and for development of the intellectual property system of Georgia through the projects implemented in cooperation with EPO. 

The prospects of Georgia’s membership of EPO became explicit after signing the Agreement between the European Patent Organisation and Georgia on Validation of European Patents (Validation Agreement) in 2019, which will allow validating European patents on the territory of Georgia, based on a single European patent application. The implementation of the Validation Agreement is on the final stage. During the meeting the heads of the Patent Offices assessed the conducted work, which will be completed after adoption of the draft amendments to the Patent Law of Georgia by the Parliament of Georgia, this being equivalent to the ratification of the Agreement. Nevertheless, it was noted at the meeting that membership of the European Patent Organisation will be more beneficial for Georgia than only the status of the validation country. In case of accession to EPO, the European Patent Convention will apply to Georgia and accordingly the national patent legislation will be harmonized with the European approaches. 

Mr. António Campinos expressed to the Sakpatenti Chairman that EPO is ready to contribute to the development of the intellectual property field of Georgia and to facilitate it in the aspiration to become a part of the European patent system.

EPO is the second largest organization in Europe rendering public services, which carries out examination of applications to obtain patents for inventions and grants European patents. Its activities are directed to facilitate development of innovations, competitiveness and economic growth in Europe.