Joint Delegation of the Parliament and Sakpatenti Met with Secretary General of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM)

The joint delegation of the National Intellectual Property Center and the Parliament of Georgia, composed of Mr. Soso Giorgadze, Sakpatenti Chairman, Ms. Nino Chikovani, Deputy Chairperson, and Mr. Gela Samkharauli, First Deputy Chairperson of the Agrarian Issues Committee of the Parliament, is paying an official visit to Madrid. Within the visit, the delegation of Georgia met with Mr. José María Calleja Rovira, Secretary General of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM). During the visit, which is aimed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the intellectual property field, members of the joint delegation of Sakpatenti and the Parliament of Georgia got acquainted with the specificity of the IP pre-diagnostic service at OEPM. Sakpatenti is working actively to introduce this service at the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia.

Providing of the IP pre-diagnostic service assists small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing a strategy and creating an intellectual property portfolio. This service implies the study of the business model of a company, its industrial process. As a result of analysis of obtained information, intellectual property subject-matters are identified, namely, patentability of an invention or utility existing in the company’s assets is determined. On the basis of fundamental research, the final report is prepared, which includes consultations and a package of recommendations regarding protection of IP subject-matters of the company and their further management. It is noteworthy that innovation-based activities of SMEs generate new opportunities for gaining benefits, the prospect of increasing employees’ incomes and long-term economic development of the company, which also determines the stimulation and promotion of inventive activity in the country.

During the visit to the Kingdom of Spain, Sakpatenti delegation will familiarize with the specificity of the OEPM activity, organization structure and strategic planning principles, as well as recent developments in the direction of information and communication services and citizens service. In addition, Sakpatenti delegation will get information on the OEPM activity directed at supporting SMEs.

OEPM is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain, which was established in the 19^th c. and is responsible for patents on the territory of the Kingdom of Spain. Its mandate covers the International Searching Authority (ISA) and the Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the procedures set by the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The visit of the delegation of Georgia to Spain was organized within the EU Georgia Intellectual Property Project (EUGIPP), which is implemented by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and is aimed to support the intellectual property system in Georgia. Mr. Andrea Iori, EUGIPP Project Officer, International Cooperation Service, and Mr. Alvaro Garcia Alcazar, Team Leader, Project Coordinator, International Cooperation Service, participated on the part of the project.