The Patent Office’s traditional regional seminar for judges on current issues in intellectual property (IP) rights will be held in Liepāja on September 12 and 13. International lecturers will share the most recent information, and the seminar participants will have the opportunity to take part in discussions about the topicalities in the field of IP.
The annual training is organized by the Patent Office in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), and the European Patent Office (EPO). The purpose of the event is to ensure high-quality professional development and further education of employees of the judicial system, paying special attention to IP enforcement to increase the quality of court judgments and prepare the national judges for high quality work in the legal system of the European Union.
Ms. Dace Liberte, Chairperson of the Industrial Property Board of Appeal: "Just like all of us, judges constantly face new challenges and adaptation to non-standard situations is required by the development of technology and the desire of traders to use not only traditional trademarks to distinguish their products, but also non-standard solutions, e. g., colours, ornaments, or multimedia signs. During these two days, the Latvian judges will have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of these and other IP-related issues, as well as to communicate with each other, which will undoubtedly broaden their horizons and will certainly contribute to IP protection in Latvia."
The two-day seminar will be opened by Mr. Agris Batalauskis, Director of the Patent Office, and Ms. Inés Fernández Ulate, Legal Officer at the WIPO Judicial Institute (Switzerland). 15 lecturers from various European countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Luxembourg, and Spain, will give presentations on current IP issues. The seminar participants will have the opportunity to learn about the impact of the metaverse on IP, the limits of copyright protection, the evaluation of distinctiveness of shape and colour trade marks, e-evidence in trademark and design cases, etc.
Each seminar day will end with a broader discussion. On the first day, September 12, the discussion is planned on "Bad faith in trade mark registration" and will be chaired by Ms. Inés Fernández Ulate, Legal Officer at the WIPO Judicial Institute. On September 13, the discussion “Regional outlook on the Baltic IP case law” will be led by Dace Liberte, Chairperson of the Industrial Property Board of Appeal.
This year, Liepāja has been chosen as the seminar host city, which is the only Latvian municipality that has joined the European Network of Authenticities this year, supporting original, authentic products and IP rights protection.