In Europe there is "a deficit in the use of intellectual property", which is why the strategic plan for the next five years of the EUIPO, the European agency that registers trademarks, models and designs, is focused on SMEs because with this protection they generate "more wealth", says its director, the Belgian Christian Archambeau.
In addition to encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to protect their brands, models and designs, another of the One of the priorities of the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) strategic plan for 2020-2025, which comes into force on 1 July, is to continue its global implementation.
Furthermore, Archambeau adds, another objective of the EUIPO is to centralise in the future a expanded register of designations of origin.
And he points out that, in the more general field of intellectual property, the unblocking of the creation of a «European unitary patent», because "an industrial policy without a patent is not an industrial policy."
With a financial surplus since its founding in 1994, the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union (EU) looms large on the EUIPO's horizon.
A possible hard Brexit "is a risk factor," he admits, but refuses to go into details or make "political fiction," and refers to the action plan drawn up by his agency for that eventuality.
In its 25-year history, the EUIPO has grown steadily and has processed more than 2 million trademark applications and more than 1,3 million requests for Community designs from virtually all countries and regions in the world, where the Euro-Agency is among the three most important, after China and the United States.
There is a deficit of intellectual property in Europe
In terms of annual trademark registrations, if the EU is compared to economies of a similar size, such as China, "we are very far behind", with half a million in the Twenty-Eight (including national offices and the EUIPO) compared to eight million in the Asian power, says Archambeau, who recognises that "in Europe there is a deficit in the use of intellectual property".
A shortcoming that the EUIPO will "try to change" with a "special programme" in its strategic plan focused on helping and raising awareness among European SMEs of the benefits of protecting their brands and designs.
«Companies that use intellectual property are more successful, are more resilient to crises, grow more, have more employment and also better, higher-level and better-paid jobs.", Archambeau points out, based on a study by the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, which the EUIPO has hosted since 2012.
According to another study by the same observatory, "Less than 10% of (European) SMEs have intellectual property rights", he adds, and stresses that In Europe, 99% of companies are small and medium-sized.
To reverse this trend, according to the director of the EUIPO, the agency has "sufficient resources" to "work hand in hand" with national intellectual property registration offices and chambers of commerce to create "a network whose objective will be specifically to provide information and assistance to SMEs."
The aim is to facilitate the procedures and "expand services" for SMEs in the registration of European Union trademarks (EUTM) and encourage them to promote the protection of their registered community designs (RCD), which provide intellectual property protection in all EU Member States, since the latter is a "quick, simple and cheap" procedure: it can take less than two days, costs 350 euros and protects for 5 renewable years.
Source: EFE
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
