The Agreement between SIPO and AGEPI and the Action Plan thereto was signed on October 3, 2012, in Geneva, Switzerland. The documents were signed by Ms. Lilia BOLOCAN, Director General of the State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI) and Mr. TIAN Lipu, Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO).

Signing of the Agreement took place at the International Conference Center in Geneva, during the fiftieth series of Assemblies of Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Agreement signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Victor MORARU, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other representatives of our country’s official delegation to the WIPO General Assembly, namely Mr. Ion TIGANAS, Deputy Director General of AGEPI, Ms. Liliana VIERU, Deputy Director of the Promotion and Publishing Department, AGEPI, and Mr. Alexei IATCO, First Secretary of the Mission of the Republic of Moldova to the UN Office at Geneva.

From the Chinese Office the signing ceremony was also attended by Dr. LI Yuguang, Deputy Chairman, Mr. WU Kai, Director General, International Cooperation Department, Ms. SHENG Li, Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department and Mr. ZHONG Yan, Project Administrator, International Cooperation Department of SIPO.

After signing the documents, the two delegations exchanged opinions on the relations between our countries and were exposed to the importance of signed documents to enhance the Moldovan-Chinese cooperation and the role that intellectual property plays in the economic development of the Parties.

Mr. Ambassador Victor MORARU expressed full satisfaction for relations between the Republic of Moldova and the People’s Republic of China in various sectors of economic and social life and congratulated the representatives of intellectual property offices from Moldova and China on the occasion of signing of thee important documents for both countries.

Ms. Lilia BOLOCAN, AGEPI Director General, thanked the SIPO Commissioner for the goodwill he manifested towards AGEPI and reiterated the invitation addressed to Mr. TIAN Lipu to visit our country.

In turn, the Commissioner of the Chinese Office confirmed his willingness to contribute personally to the implementation of the Agreement between the two offices and encouraged the Moldovan side to benefit from the experience of the Chinese Office in the management of acute problems for sustainable economic development.

Thus, the Agreement signed by both parties provides for the exchange of experience and assistance in areas of common interest, official publications and legislation on intellectual property, information on patent protection of inventions, topographies of integrated circuits, industrial designs, computer systems and information technologies used in the intellectual property offices of the parties, promotion of intellectual property, access to information, including information services in the field of intellectual property rendered to industrial sector, upgrading of specialists, etc. A special point of the Agreement is the joint actions dedicated to the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the two countries.

The Action Plan for 2013, approved jointly by the parties, provides for the professional training of specialists, in which will be addressed topics such as: the national intellectual property strategy, patents examination practice, institutional capacity in the management of human resources and civil service in the field of intellectual property, specific character of the Chinese intellectual property system, etc.