Mr. Soso Giorgadze Met with Mr. António Campinos, President of the European Patent Office (EPO)

Mr. Soso Giorgadze, Chairman of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia – “Sakpatenti” met with Mr. António Campinos, President of the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. 

After the entry into force of the Validation Agreement on January 15 of the current year, this was the first official meeting of the heads of the two offices.  Mr. Soso Giorgadze expressed gratitude to Mr. António Campinos for support in the difficult and dynamic process of validation.

During the meeting it was noted that the “Validation Agreement is mutually beneficial. Georgia, with one of the fastest growing economies in the region, which has a modern and efficient system of intellectual property rights protection, is joining the European patent area as the 45th country. In its turn, for Georgia, which was granted the EU candidate status a month ago, the entry into force of validation is another important step forward on the way to European integration. Georgia is expecting that the process of Georgia’s accession to the European Patent Convention will be accelerated further, which means that Georgia will become a full-fledged member of the European Patent Organisation.

It is noteworthy that the Validation Agreement implies daily cooperation between the EPO and Sakpatenti directly on the applications that will be filed for consideration within validation, which naturally requires performance of services according to the EU standards at the examination as well as technical levels.”

At the meeting, it was emphasized that Georgia will deliver services based on the common, unified standards, for which Sakpatenti has already implemented a number of important reforms – amendments were made to the Patent Law, the electronic systems were improved and made compatible with the EPO systems. It was also noted that raising and improving the qualification of examiners is one of priority directions of Sakpatenti. 

At the meeting, special attention was paid to future cooperation. Strengthening of intellectual property protection mechanisms, introduction of new services and strengthening of the training direction were the priorities discussed by the parties. In addition, attention was focused on strengthening of the institution of patent attorneys – the reform is already launched and the relevant draft law is submitted to the Parliament of Georgia. 

At the end of the meeting, Mr. António Campinos promised unwavering support to his Georgian counterpart. The parties agreed to develop by the end of the year a joint action plan, which will be signed as an official agreement.

Mr. Soso Giorgadze, together with Mr. Merab Kutsia, Head of the Department of Inventions and New Varieties and Breeds, visited the EPO Optics Directorate. Mr. Gareth Lord, Director of the Optics Directorate, hosted the delegation members and introduced to them the specificity of work of the Directorate.