Students from Various European Universities Passed Intellectual Property Training at Sakpatenti Training Center

Students from universities of various European countries passed intellectual property training at Sakpatenti Intellectual Property Teaching and Training Center. The International Summer School of Intellectual Property Law is held annually since 2016, organized by the  European Law Students’ Association Georgia (ELSA Georgia) and Sakpatenti, and more than 200 students from various leading universities of the European Union have participated in it.

The opportunity to participate in the International Summer School is offered to students of the Faculty of Law of universities of different European countries, who, within the academic program, get acquainted on the example of Georgia with the theoretical and practical issues of intellectual property law. The purpose of training is to arouse interest among students of the Faculty of Law in the intellectual property field and to introduce to them the intellectual property law system of Georgia.

In the international training 2024, organized again by “Elsa Georgia” and supported by Sakpatenti, 19 students from the leading universities of the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Ireland, Ukraine and Norway participated. 

The closing ceremony of the Law School was held at Sakpatenti Head Office in Mtskheta. Ms. Nino Chikovani, Deputy Chairperson of Sakpatenti, addressed the participants of the event and congratulated them on the successful completion of the training. She noted that in the period of innovations and new technologies, intellectual property plays an important role in the economic, social and cultural development of the country, whereas active involvement of the youth in the process of development of the field is necessary. At the end of the event, Ms. Nino Chikovani handed over to the Summer School graduates the certificates of completion of the training program.

It should be noted that within the 5-day academic program, European students passed a specialized program on the intellectual property system, which included introduction of separate intellectual property subject-matters, mechanisms of their legal protection and conditions of international registration. At the lectures, on the basis of the example of Georgia, intellectual property protection and enforcement tools were considered, copyright and related rights as well as limitations and exceptions related to them were discussed. During the meetings, absolute grounds for refusal of trademark registration, similarity of marks leading to likelihood of confusion and practical exercises of examination of trademarks using well-known trademarks were considered. In addition, the program participants discussed the scope of protection of design and procedures of its registration, also familiarized with the specificity of protection of geographical indications. The students also got acquainted with inventions and utility models, infringement of exclusive rights deriving from patents and enforcement mechanisms. Along with this, in the discussion format, they considered the importance of innovations in the modern world. A specially invited speaker from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) introduced to the participants of the Summer School the international aspects of intellectual property and the WIPO’s mandate in the process of shaping the global intellectual property policy. 

As part of the Summer Law School program, students visited the Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), where they received extensive information on the activities and goals of the Agency. In addition, the students visited the Clearance Economic Zone “Tbilisi” of the LEPL Revenue Service, where they familiarized with the specificity of work of the Customs Department, customs procedures and methods of combating counterfeiting, as well as mechanisms of responding to violations revealed in the course of activity. 

Within the Summer School, training was conducted by Sakpatenti trainers accredited by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and invited tutors.