Taking into account the many years of work experience of the members of the working group, above all, in the field of protection of intellectual property rights, we are strongly convinced that the partnership between the Ministry of Economy, State Office for Industrial Property, the General Secretary of the Government of the RN Macedonia and the American Chamber of Commerce can represent a significant factor in the realization of strategic goals in protection of these rights.
In this regards, the IPR Task Force held a working meeting with the State Councillor for Internal Markets, Mr. Urim Ibraimi to discuss the possibilities for future cooperation and inform the Ministry for the objectives and plans.
In the recent years, the activities of the Coordination Body for Intellectual Property have been significantly reduced. The same can be said for the work of other competent authorities and bodies, particularly in the detection and prosecution of piracy and counterfeiting via social media and the distribution of digital content over the Internet. It causes substantial losses for both the rights holders and the national budget.
Following this, the second meeting during last month was held with the Director of the State Office for Industrial Property and President of the Coordination body, Mr. Blerim Idrizi, Mrs. Natasa Zdravkovska, Secretary of the Coordination Body and Mrs. Elizabeta Simonovska, Head of trademarks.
Despite the fact that a Strategy was prepared, the final Draft version of which was adopted and submitted to the State Office for Industrial Property, at whose request it was prepared in December 2021, as a realization of a project supported by the European Union, it has not yet been adopted. The adoption of the Strategy is a significant step that can intensify the work of all stakeholders/actors in North Macedonia, starting from those who are responsible for the preparation and adoption of the regulation and ending with the promising inspection authorities, the public prosecutor’s office and the courts. In addition to this, the benefit that the holders of intellectual property rights, citizens and users will have should be taken into account.
