21/07/2022
The visit took place within the framework of the twinning project "Strengthening the Egyptian Patent Office", promoted and financed by the European Union and managed by the FIIAPP
For three days, a group of officials from Egypt visited the OEPM headquarters in Madrid for the second visit within the framework of the project. The participants were able to follow a program of technical and practical activities to improve institutional, technical and awareness-raising skills in the defense of patent rights, taught by a total of 15 tutors from the OEPM.
“It is an honor to share the experience of our Patent Office and contribute our knowledge and vision from the Spanish and European perspective. Putting our knowledge in common with equivalent European institutions allows us to develop capacities that are aimed at improving Egypt’s economic and technological development,” explains the project director and Technical Advisor of the OEPM, Javier Vera, who acknowledged the support and organization of the visit by the FIIAPP. The good use of the rights associated with patents has been identified by Egypt as a key point to improve the competitiveness of its companies, facilitating the entry into the market of small and medium-sized companies.
The program has been developed through activities related to Information Technologies, Registration and Digitalization “which are so important and necessary for Patent Offices”, as Javier Vera, project director, assures. Likewise, the technical part of the course focused on the analysis of specific case studies on patent examination, on the Technological Information Services provided by the SPTO, on the quality management aspects necessary to achieve the maximum standards required in patent examination or on the use of specific tools in patent management and search, among other aspects.
The visit, which ends today, “has allowed EGPO staff to get a close look at the way of working at the OEPM. Above all, in the fact of seeing how patent applications are processed from their reception to their processing at different levels,” said Mahmoud Yacoub, representative of the EGPO. He added that “it is a good opportunity to intensify cooperation between the two offices and open up new horizons”.
The work between both parties has been “very positive because in all the activities implemented during the Twinning there has been an active participation and a great understanding between the OEPM specialists and the EGPO staff”, emphasized Yacoub, who also acknowledged the contribution of the Spanish specialists.
The project, led by the EGPO, also has the support of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) and the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ). With a budget of 1.5 million euros, the program has been running for two years and is coming to an end. During this time, a total of 50 missions have been carried out, such as the Industrial Property Conference held in October 2021 in Cairo. In it, speakers highlighted the importance of the correct use of patent rights for SMEs and the Egyptian business class as a way to penetrate markets and thus improve the competitiveness of companies.
