A review of completed and ongoing activities, as well as upcoming project plans were the main highlights of a regular technical visit of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to the Latvian Patent Office (LPO) on Friday, 19 September. During the meeting, special attention was paid to one of the EUIPO's current initiatives – the development of virtual communities.
Opening the meeting, Ēriks Rēķis, LPO Deputy Director and Director of the Administrative and Finance Department, emphasized the importance of such meetings, noting that they provide an excellent opportunity to look back on what has been achieved, discuss future plans and unclear issues, and allow the institution to show additional initiative in the implementation of various development projects.
Sandris Laganovskis, Director of the EUIPO Cooperation and Partnerships Department, praised the excellent mutual cooperation, which results in various EUIPO projects and activities.
During the visit, EUIPO representatives presented new project activities being carried out this year, covering such areas as consistent user experience, support for entrepreneurship and innovation, inclusive intellectual property (IP) environment, and emerging technologies. EUIPO representatives also informed about a new initiative – the establishment of the Copyright Knowledge Center, which will be launched in November with a conference dedicated to copyright issues.
Special attention was paid to one of the EUIPO's newest initiatives – the virtual communities, launched this year. There is a total of 19 virtual communities, bringing together more than 400 representatives from the EUIPO, national IP offices and other institutions to seek solutions to problem situations, share experiences on best practices, harmonise procedures and promote cooperation between all parties involved. Evaluating the activities and impact of the project so far, the EUIPO delegation highlighted the LPO's active involvement in these communities.
The LPO, for its part, informed about the current events and activities, including the changes in legal framework, participation in third-party events, and the projects carried out in the last six months – implementation of information technology projects and raising public IP awareness and knowledge.