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Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2024 submitted by the State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI)

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I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

During 2024, AGEPI received 4626 trademark protection applications, including 2003 (43%) – nationally and 2623 (57%) – internationally. Of the total applications, 34% were filed by national applicants, and 66% – by foreign applicants. Compared to the previous year, there was an increase in the number of applications filed by 101 (2.23%), determined by an 8.15% increase in the number of applications filed by national applicants (1579), and a decrease in the number of applications filed by foreign applicants (20) by 0.65%. As of December 31, 2024, the total number of trademark registration applications received during the entire period of AGEPI's activity amounted to 157,891, of which 58,884 (37%) were filed nationally, and 99,007 (63%) – internationally.

The majority of applications submitted by national applicants – 75% (1185 applications) come from applicants domiciled or based in the municipality of Chisinau, 3% are from applicants from Bălţi (52 applications), Ialoveni (45 applications), Străşeni (40 applications), ATU Gagauzia (34 applications), and the remaining approximately 14% (223 applications) – were submitted by applicants from 37 other localities of the republic.

The geographical origin of the applications reflects the attractiveness and interest of the applicants in the Republic of Moldova market. Applications from 52 countries were received through the national procedure, most of which originated from the United States of America (5% of applications), China (3% of applications), and others.

Through the Madrid System procedure, applications were received from 62 countries, most of them from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) (14%), China (14%), the Russian Federation (10%), Hungary (6%), Switzerland (6%), the United States of America (5%), etc.

Overall, trademark registration applications filed in 2024 with AGEPI come from applicants from 74 countries (in 2023 – from 70), the largest share coming from those from the Republic of Moldova.

Renewals of 5,384 trademarks were requested, or 979 (22.2%) more than in 2023. The majority of renewals – 4,866 (90%) – were requested by foreign holders, including 3,278 – for international registrations and 1,588 – for national registrations. National holders filed 518 (10%) trademark renewal applications.

During the reference period, 1,438 trademark registration certificates were issued, 77 (5.7%) more than in the previous year, with national holders obtaining 1,020 certificates (71%) and foreign holders obtaining 418 (29%). The considerable difference between the number of registration applications and the number of certificates issued is explained by the fact that AGEPI does not issue registration certificates for trademarks filed internationally. In this context, protection was granted for 2521 international applications through the Madrid System procedure.

During the reference period, 1995 certificates of renewal of trademark registration were issued, of which 488 (24%) – to national holders and 1507 (76%) – to foreign holders. Compared to the previous year, the number of renewal certificates issued increased by 944 (89.8%).

From the beginning of its activity until December 31, 2024, AGEPI issued 40560 certificates of registration of trademarks. At that date, 23393 certificates were valid, including 10332 renewed certificates.

In 2024, AGEPI, as the office of the country of origin, checked and sent to WIPO 134 applications for international registration of trademarks, including 95 new applications and 39 – for territorial extension. In the applications for international registration filed by national applicants, most frequently are designated: Romania (62 applications), Ukraine (27 applications), Poland, Germany (21 applications), European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) (20 applications), Great Britain (19 applications).   

The most important office notices and news regarding the trademarks and other IP objects are provided directly on our website with free access www.agepi.gov.md. Detailed information on trademarks could be found by accessing the following link:  http://agepi.gov.md/en/trademarks/presentation.

As regard the general information about IP objects, their protection and related events organized in the view to promote them on the national and international level, the statistics data and their impact to the national economy, could be found in the Annual Report, published by AGEPI every year and distributed on the official web page http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/50.

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

All the information regarding the requirements for the application materials is provided by AGEPI at https://agepi.gov.md/en/trademarks/requirements.

AGEPI also has a Call-center and a consultancy office, which offer consultations, information and support for the applicants by phone or in person.

For online filing of Intellectual property object applications was elaborated an Electronic service e-AGEPI (access to the platform is on https://e-servicii.agepi.gov.md/en). It also contains "Guides for completion", "Video guide", "User guide", "Quick reference guide", "Legislation" and "Terms and Conditions" compartments.

During the year under review, the AGEPI trademarks’ examiners have applied during their activity the following classifications:

The 12th edition of the International Classification of Goods  and Services (Nice Classification) starting on 1st January 2024 (NLC (12-2024)); The 9th edition of the International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), starting on 1st January 2023; The electronic classification systems check the classification symbols furnished by the applicant and which are contained in the lists of goods and/or services;

The electronic classification system offered by WIPO

Starting with October 23, 2017, the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) joined the TMclass search tool provided by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

Non-traditional trademarks are protected in the Republic of Moldova under the Law 38/2008 on the protection of trademarks. The requirements for non-traditional trademarks are the same as those for the traditional trademarks. Any designations may be registered as trademarks which may serve to distinguish the goods and/or services of one natural person or legal entity to be distinguished from the goods and/or services of other natural persons or legal entities (in the Republic of Moldova by national procedure were registered two sound marks and more than a thousand of three-dimensional trademarks).

The following may be registered as trademarks: words (including names of persons), letters, figures, drawings, combinations of colors, figurative elements, three-dimensional forms, in particular the form of a product or its package, holograms, positioning signs, sounds, olfactory, tactile signs, and any combinations of signs, provided that such signs may serve to distinguish the products and/or services of a natural or legal person from the products and/or services of other persons.

It is not obligatory for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied but is highly recommended.

III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

The main types of publications in the field of trademark information are:

- The Official Bulletin of Intellectual Property (BOPI);

- The Trademark Register;

- National Register of Applications for the Registration of Trademarks.

The Official Bulletin of Intellectual Property is a monthly publication, which includes official information on applications for patenting/registration of intellectual property objects (IPO) in the Republic of Moldova and titles of protection granted, to the changes occurred in the legal status of applications and titles of protection of IPO and the results of appeals examination in the Contestation Commission of AGEPI, court decisions on disputes over IPOs, general information. The BOPI is issued in Romanian, English and Russian languages on paper carrier (ISSN 1810-7095), and online on the AGEPI website http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/48.

BOPI is available on the AGEPI webpage and the public has unlimited access to the publication.

There are 2 chapters related to trademarks:

Chapter III contains:

- Applications for registration;

- Examined applications for trademark registration;

- List of registered trademarks;

- List of renewed trademarks.

Chapter VI contains various types of notices referring to all amendments occurred to the legal status of the protected industrial property objects (List of amendments, List of assignment agreements, Errata, etc), the half-yearly subject indexes of registered trademarks.

The Annual Report reflects the activity of the AGEPI during the whole year. It includes data on the registration/patenting of intellectual property objects, the most important events organized with the participation of the AGEPI as a partner, implemented projects and goals for the following year. The Publication is issued and distributed to regional IP Offices, national public authorities on the paper carrier and is available online at the following address: http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/50.

The information products available to external users are:

-Public Trademarks Database http://www.db.agepi.md/marcireprezentanti/Search.aspx  (daily updated). The access is free of charge and doesn’t require authentication.

The Database contains such compartments as:

- Issued decisions;

- Expiring trademarks;

- Trademarks in the grace period;

- List of owners with expiring trademarks;

- List of patent attorneys representing owners with expiring trademarks;

- Notorious trademarks;

- List of marks for which a decision of the Commission was issued (use of the official or historical name of the state in a mark) 

IP Official Bulletin (BOPI) http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/48. To receive the Official Bulletin of Intellectual Property (BOPI) on paper subscription fee is required.

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

AGEPI uses an in-house built IT system to handle national cases. It manages online filing workflow, electronic dossier and electronic archive, data exchange, internal and public search engines, and their daily updates. Microsoft Word is used for various purposes like processing information and documents, generating correspondence letters, publication files and miscellaneous reports.

The office uses workstations and notebooks with Microsoft Windows 10. All devices are connected via the 100 Mb/s or 1Gb/s network into the Microsoft Active Directory Domain. AGEPI has a fiber channel link into the internet with 1 Gb/s.

The office maintains a complete history of its trademark files in paper and electronic form. Information from the internal databases is available in:

The trademark information is disseminated in WIPO ST.66 or 96 XML formats.

AGEPI also exchanges data within the Madrid System in electronic format, on a weekly basis.

V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION

Information on the following topics is desired:

AGEPI provides  Bibliographic Information Services.

The national collection of documents in the field of intellectual property includes databases (DB) with trademarks, industrial designs of the Republic of Moldova; books and serial publications in the field of IP, etc.

The Collection is annually supplemented with new documents in different fields, which are reflected in the electronic Catalog and in specialized DBs.

Beneficiaries of the bibliographic information services in the field of IP are the experts and other employees of AGEPI, as well as all interested persons outside the institution: researchers, inventors and rationalizers, teaching staff, students, etc.

They benefit from:

  • access to the National Collection of patents, patent applications, trademarks, utility models, and new varieties of plants;
  • informational assistance in support of their creativity;
  • the possibility of using the electronic Catalog of the book collection (DB BOOKS) and that of the articles from the periodical editions in the field of intellectual property (DB ART-IP), as well as access to the electronic databases of AGEPI and offices abroad;
  • methodological assistance in information retrieval in electronic DBs;
  • information and bibliographic servicing;
  • the opportunity to participate in information promotion activities in the field of IP carried out at local and republican level

 Collection

The national Collection of documents in the field of intellectual property owned by AGEPI consists of the following types of documents:

  • Databases on electronic support in the field of intellectual property;
  • Books in the field of intellectual property, legislative documents, normative acts, international treaties and agreements, dictionaries and encyclopedias in different branches of the economy, official and methodical publications of AGEPI, periodicals;
  • In 2011, the “WIPO Depositary Library” was established within AGEPI, with the aim of creating a specialized book fund in the field of IP.

 List of specialized journals:

  • BOPI
  • Intellectus
  • Revista română de Proprietate Industriala (CD-ROM)
  • Revista română de dreptul proprietăţii intelectuale
  • Contabilitate și audit
  • Dreptul muncii
  • Интеллектуальная собственность: авторское право
  • Интеллектуальная собственность: промышленная собственность
  • Изобретатель и рационализатор
  • Изобретательство
  • Патентное дело
  • Патентная информация сегодня
  • Патентный поверенный
  • Патенты и лицензии
  • Наука и жизнь
  • WIPO Magazine
  • Magazine de l’OMPI

Starting with 01.03.2019, AGEPI launched the e-learning platform that will allow for the uploading of online specialized training courses in the field of intellectual property (IP) for different categories of users: pupils, students, professors, researchers, as well as for public authorities with responsibilities in the enforcement of IP rights, business environment.

The e-learning platform aims to improve and modernize the training process in the field of IP, promoting and disseminating information on the protection of intellectual property in the Republic of Moldova.

Access to the platform is on http://elearning.agepi.gov.md/.

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION

Information on the following topics is desired:

AGEPI performs an international exchange of information on trademarks with:

- TMView (EUIPO);

- Global Brand Database (WIPO).

During the year 2024, trademark examiners have participated in the following international and regional activities:

- WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT), (March 18 to 20, 2024, Geneva, Switzerland);

- The Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks (October 7 to 11, 2024, in Geneva, Switzerland);

- The 35th session of the Committee of Experts of the Nice Union (April 28 to May 02, 2024, in Geneva, Switzerland).

- On December 3-4, 2024, Chisinau hosted the Regional Seminar for some Madrid System member offices from Eastern Europe and neighboring regions, focused on the transition to XML data exchange and API implementation. The event was organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in collaboration with the State Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI) and with the support of the National Intellectual Property Authority of the People's Republic of China (CNIPA).

Starting from April 1, 2023, AGEPI joins the project of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to promote the Madrid System, by distributing flyers explaining the benefits of this system. In this regard, AGEPI transmits quarterly statistical data to the International Bureau on the number of flyers distributed both attached to certificates and during other events.







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