From 27 to 31 May, the Latvian Patent Office (LPO) organized a number of meetings of experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with representatives of various Latvian institutions in order to continue research on the intellectual property (IP) system in Latvia, which will result in OECD’s recommendations for the system’s improvement.
It was another visit within the framework of the project on Building a More Effective and Efficient Market Surveillance and Intellectual Property System for Latvia, financed by the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission. In a weeks’ time, the OECD experts met with the representatives of the LPO, the Latvian Academy of Sciences, educational institutions, and entrepreneurs.
There were significant discussions with IP law teachers, IP experts, and entrepreneurs that made proposals for further improvements of the IP ecosystem. The entrepreneurs shared their positive and negative experiences of protecting their IP, while the representatives of the Latvian Academy of Sciences drew the OECD experts' attention to the shortcomings in the process of commercializing innovations.
For the OECD expert group, it has been the third study mission since last October, the leading IP law expert being Professor Martin Kretschmer of the University of Glasgow.
The OECD report on the IP system in Latvia will be submitted to the LPO in September this year, providing recommendations for its improvement. It will be followed by an action plan for the implementation of the recommendations.
The aim of the project is to support Latvia in improving its IP ecosystem, strengthen the use of IP, stimulate innovation and improve the competitiveness of businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). IP management mechanisms and networks must be improved in Latvia in order to promote creativity and innovation, protect investments and increase the competitiveness of SMEs.