EPO and EUIPO renew their co-operation
The European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), renewing their commitment to a comprehensive co-operation framework to further improve services for companies, researchers and inventors in Europe and worldwide.
"This agreement opens a new chapter in a long tradition of co-operation between our two offices," said EPO President António Campinos. "It aims to enhance the effectiveness of the European IP system, improve its accessibility for users and promote a modern IP culture in Europe. As two organisations administering pan-European IP rights, and with many of the same member states and users, we have much to gain from exchanging knowledge and best practices."
The new MoU, which was signed by the EPO President and the EUIPO's Executive Director, Christian Archambeau and follows an earlier one from May 2011, provides an extensive and flexible framework to foster even closer collaboration between the EPO and EUIPO. It aims to increase the consistency of activities involving both offices and their users in existing networks, and successfully support the transformations envisaged in the EPO and EUIPO strategic plans, likely to be adopted in the coming months.
Under the MoU the two offices will share information and align their European and international co-operation projects, especially in light of the complementarity of their activities (EPO responsible for patents, EUIPO for trade marks and designs); they will work to provide joint high-quality IP training activities, and raise awareness of the IP system, supporting business' use of IP in the development of their innovation strategies, and informing policymakers of the socio-economic impact of IP in Europe.
The MoU will be accompanied by annual work plans detailing the joint projects to be carried out over the year.
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