The State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI) announces the launch of the National Report on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the Republic of Moldova for 2020.

The Report is prepared by the Observatory on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights with the information support of public authorities of the Republic of Moldova responsible for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, namely: Customs Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Agency for Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance, Public Prosecutor’s Office and Competition Council.

The Report contains relevant statistical and analytical data on the activity of law-enforcement bodies in the fight against infringements of intellectual property rights, as well as information on legislative and institutional developments in the field concerned. The publication also reflects the most important actions taken by public authorities of the Republic of Moldova during 2020, with the view of increasing the degree of public awareness of the risks posed by counterfeiting and piracy phenomena.

According to figures reported by the Customs Service, during 2020, the customs authority registered 98 cases of seizure of batches of goods, susceptible of infringing intellectual property rights, which is 7,105,080 units of goods, worth 6 million lei.

We should mention that, in the context of the epidemiological situation in the Republic of Moldova, taking into account the decisions of the National Extraordinary Public Health Commission on the establishment of a special activity regime, a decrease in the number of controls and measures carried out by the police with the view of preventing and combating IP offenses is attested for 2020.

The Agency for Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance reports for 2020 the seizure of counterfeit products in the total amount of 266,088 lei (in 2019 their total value amounted to 405,309 lei), and the Public Prosecutor’s Office issued records on seizure of counterfeit products amounting to 1,115,224.36 lei (increasing compared to 2019 when the total value was 947,000 lei).

The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights is a key parameter of progress in the field of research, innovation and employment. This National Report is prepared to ensure the continuity of collection and systematization of IPR enforcement data, and also to encourage the community to become our partners in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting.

The National Report on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights can be consulted at the following address: http://observatorpi.md/raport-national/.

The Report is prepared annually since 2012. The publication of the report is part of the efforts of public authorities to develop a balanced system of enforcement of intellectual property rights.