The U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly C. Degnan, Visited Sakpatenti

H.E. Kelly C. Degnan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Georgia, visited the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia – Sakpatenti and held a working meeting with the Center top management.

The development of Georgia's intellectual property system and the close cooperation between the USA and Georgia in this area were topics of discussion during the meeting. 

At the meeting, Sakpatenti's acting chairperson, Ms. Manana Pruidze, emphasized how over the years, in close collaboration with U.S. partners, Sakpatenti has carried out a variety of projects and initiatives for pertinent target groups with the goal of enhancing their capacity and promoting the intellectual property field. Of these, the following were mentioned: the e-filing system for IP objects, adopted with USAID support; the ongoing project in cooperation with the USAID Economic Security Program and the USAID Economic Governance Program, whose aim is to support the introduction and enforcement of legislative amendments on the fight against online piracy.

In addition, the importance of the annual international conferences "Georgia Against Counterfeiting and Piracy" and the workshop for judges, co-organized with the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), as well as the importance of cooperation with the USPTO, were underlined.

At the end of the meeting, Acting Chairperson of Sakpatenti, Ms. Manana Pruidze, on behalf of Sakpatenti, expressed gratitude to the U.S. Ambassador for her visit and appreciation to the U.S. Embassy in Georgia for the fruitful cooperation over the years with Sakpatenti. In her turn, Ambassador Degnan highlighted the progress achieved in the direction of the development of the intellectual property system in Georgia, and in order to ensure further development of the system, expressed readiness to continue cooperation with Sakpatenti and support significant programs.