24 | 02 | 2020

The Conference "Intellectual Property for the European Union in a World of Challenges" Held on 19 and 20 February 2020

Photo: PIXELL.hr/HR PRES 2020

The conference titled “Intellectual Property for the European Union in a World of Challenges” was held in Zagreb on 19 and 20 February 2020 at the National and University Library within the presidency of the Republic of Croatia of the Council of the EU. The main organiser of the conference on behalf of the Croatian presidency was the State Intellectual Property Office in cooperation with national authorities and partners from the European Union and international organisations in the field of intellectual property.

At the beginning, the participants in the Conference were addressed by Croatian and foreign guests who also opened the conference, namely: Ms Ljiljana Kuterovac, Director General of the State Intellectual Property Office, Mr Darko Horvat, Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Ms Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Minister of Culture, Ms Blaženka Divjak, Minister of Science and Education, Ms Amaryllis Verhoeven, Head of Unit for Intellectual Property at the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of the European Commission, Mr Christian Archambeau, Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), Mr Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) via video message and Mr Antonio Campinos, President of the European Patent Office (EPO).

The Conference has opened many issues and instigated discussions on topics such as: how to make institutional support to small and medium-sized enterprises with using intellectual property more efficient; how to better connect intellectual property protection policies with a new industrial strategy of the European Union; how can intellectual property protection system help make Europe greener; is there a need for a new data protection regime in the context of current economy based on a more intensive use of data; how can EU and Member States help in establishing digital copyright infrastructure; and what are the challenges of trade secret protection in digital economy.

Many Croatian and foreign eminent experts in the field of intellectual property as well as many entrepreneurs contributed to success of the Conference by presenting their experience.

Video broadcast of both days of the Conference are available on the following links: IP Conference – 19 February 2020 and IP Conference – 20 February 2020.