Slovenia Sets up Anti-Piracy and Counterfeiting Working Group

On June 12, 2009, Slovenia established an inter-sectoral working group for the fight against piracy and counterfeiting. The group is supposed to facilitate a more effective co-operation between the state authorities in IPR enforcement.

According to the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), some of the main tasks of the group should be to:

1. Raise the level of protection of intellectual property and reduce piracy;
2. Establish coordination among customs authorities, market inspectors, police, courts, chambers of commerce and industry, the Chamber of Crafts, the Association of Patent and Trademark Agents, and SIPO;
3. Amend the Industrial Property Act based on analysis;
4. Set-up a common database;
5. Raise awareness of the public and right holders.

These tasks were also included into the National Action Plan for Cooperation between the SIPO and the European Patent Office (EPO).

The newly established group consists of the representatives of the Office of the State Prosecutor General, General Police Directorate, General Customs Directorate, Market Inspectorate, Ministry of Economy, and SIPO.

The group is presided by the director of SIPO, which performs all administrative tasks for the group.

For more information, please contact Jovana Miocinovic in our Balkan Regional Office.