On February 17th, 2023, the Institute of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer hosted  Scientific Forum "Protection of intellectual property rights - violations, place and role of the law enforcement system", organized by the Department "Intellectual Property and Technological Transfer" of the University of National and World Economy.

Presented аt the forum were the types of violations, the legal grounds for violations prosecution, and the protection possibilities in case of violated rights on objects of intellectual property. The forms and types of the intellectual property rights infringements, the administrative and judicial protection in the event of violations of intellectual property rights were discussed, as well as the functions and the role of judicial, customs and border authorities and experts. The forum was attended by representatives of the academic community from University of National and World Economy, Technical University of Sofia, New Bulgarian University, the Ministry of Culture, judges from the Administrative Court Sofia – District and Sofia City Court, representatives of the National Customs Agency of the Republic of Bulgaria and various law enforcement bodies in the country, as well as lawyers, experts, representatives and intellectual property (IP) appraisers.

 

Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov - Rector of the University of National and World Economy and Prof. Maria Markova - Head of the  Department “Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer”, ad int., Institute of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer

 

The forum was opened by Prof. Maria Markova - Head of the  Department “Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer”, ad int., Institute of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer. She welcomed the FORUM 18/ 2023 participants from the University of National and World Economy  program for Scientific Research Activity for year 2023, and noted: "We have today, as the subject of our discussion, the presentation of data, facts, opinions and proposals in the field of Intellectual property (IP) rights PROTECTION.

Allow me to point out, that the protection of IP by establishing a protection under the order of legal or de facto monopoly, is NOT A GOAL IN ITSELF. It is a necessity in today's business environment - technological, global (with deglobalization aspects from the last 3 years), difficult to predict due to the processes’ high dynamics. The human ingenuity products are a factor and a significant resource for a success in the business, for raising the technological and social cultural level in society as a whole, therefore, IP is the focus of the forum. Establishing IP rights is not a goal in itself, it has a clear and precise business sense - the protected innovations and signs realization, as well as works of literature and arts, with a profit for the business and the property benefits for their creators. The goal is to recover the costs and to create new works and innovative solutions”.

According to annual reports data from the last 5 years, of the European Patent Office and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the industries based on intellectual property generate nearly 30% of all jobs in the EU; approximately 40% of the employment in the EU; 45% - a contribution to the total economic activity - gross domestic product (GDP) in the EU, worth of 6.6 trillion euros. An interesting fact is that the industries based on intellectual property, pay significantly higher wages than other industries - by about 47% more, i.e. approximately 1.5 the wages in other sectors of the economy, and account for the majority of EU trade with the rest of the world.

The relevance of the TOPIC ON THE PROTECTION OF IP RIGHTS: UNDISPUTED!

Bulgaria is the country with the highest share of fake and imitation goods - 37% of all such goods that crossed the EU borders are annually confiscated  - around 115 million products, worth BGN 1.3 billion. This industry harms the international commodity market in the amount of losses of approximately 33% - ACCORDING TO European commission’s data, data of the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency, and others.

WHY ARE WE ORGANIZING THIS FORUM:

One of the main reasons being the University of National and World Economy is the largest and most prestigious university in Bulgarian business, the Department "Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer " is the only academic unit in Southeast Europe, accredited for training in “Intellectual Property for business” – a department with 33-year history; and because in 2023, the University celebrates its 20th anniversary. Another reason is the academic and expert staff of the Department "Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer” are established professionals in specific areas of IP and the habilitation staff of the department are economists and lawyers. We have implemented a series of initiatives - we created Creative Industries network, conducted research in Creative Industries with a contribution to the national economy, an ongoing study of IP has been done as a factor for competitiveness and success of the companies; we have received funding from the National Innovation Fund, and a number of other initiatives were accomplished with various experts, forensic experts, cyber security experts and more.

Furthermore, we work with representatives of the bar association, the Bulgarian judiciary and other law enforcement bodies, and in practice we put into effect the relationship "ACADEMY - BUSINESS - INSTITUTIONS".

 

  

Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, Rector of the University of National and World Economy, welcomed the participants, highlighted the relevance of the forum’s theme and the fact that for a large part of the economy’s spheres, the IP was becoming increasingly important. The synergy between security and law was turning towards Intellectual Property and we were fighting distinctly to assert its rights. He emphasized: "We rely on everyone who cooperates with us and on the students from the University of National and World Economy. The “D.A. Tsenov” Academy of Economics and all other academic bodies related to IP, worked with our institute. We had a feedback from all institutions.'' He made a recommendation for more publications, for greater promotion and coverage of both the violations and the possibilities for their resolution.

Prof. Markova thanked the rector's management for their support to the activities of the Department "Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer" and the Institute of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer.

 

     Judge Krasimira Milachkova, Administrative Court Sofia – District

 

Judge Krasimira Milachkova from Administrative Court Sofia – District presented interesting examples from the Court practice, regarding appeals against acts of the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria under the Trademarks and Geographical Indications Act, under Act on Patents and Registration of Utility Models and under the Industrial Design Act. She also pointed out that the cases of the above-mentioned matter were about 1% of the total number for the court and presented examples of the court’s current practice, from which the objective of common comprehensive protection within the EU was evident.

The trademark protection regime provided for by Regulation (EU) № 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21^st of November, 2012, on quality schemes for agricultural products and foods, which also covers, among others, agricultural products and foods listed in Annex I to the Regulation, is of an exceptional nature. Its purpose is not to establish an additional regime of a protection for the geographical indications - as is the case with trademarks, but to provide for a uniform and comprehensive protection regime for these indications within the EU, in addition to the national rules that continue to exist.

The Court of Justice of the European Union accepts that the community protection regime has an exhaustive nature and does not allow the application of a protection regime provided for by treaties between two member states, which would grant a designation recognized in one country as an appellation of origin protection in the other member state, after the intended designation has not been applied for or registered in accordance with the regulation. While recognizing the comprehensive regime of EU regulations regarding the protection of certain geographical indications, the Court of Justice of the European Union did not rule on the applicability of the Lisbon Treaty to the member states that are parties to it, including for the protection of the registered appellations of origin. Insofar as the European legislation does not derogate from the Lisbon Treaty, the Republic of Bulgaria, as a party to this international act, is obliged to respect and provide a protection to the appellations of the origin, registered in accordance with it.

  

Prof. Zhivko Draganov, Head of Department “International Law and EU Law”, at the Faculty of Law of the University of National and World Economy

 

Prof. Zhivko Draganov, Head of Department "International Law and EU Law, at the Faculty of Law of the University of National and World Economy pointed out that the efforts of all countries in the EU were aimed at protection of  the Intellectual property rights. The legislation in force in our country provides various methods and opportunities for a protection against violations of the intellectual property rights. In accordance with the international treaties, as well as the EU law, the Bulgarian law provides for a civil, administrative and criminal protection. However, the existence of legislative options is not in itself sufficient as to achieve an effective protection. The reasons for this are very diverse. The civil disputes, as well as the administrative and criminal cases in the field of the intellectual property, have insignificant relative share against the background of the general workload of the courts. At the same time,the legal training in the field of intellectual property protection is poorly represented. Opportunities for a specialization are also lacking. The combination of these factors leads to an excessive amplification and to a distortion of the experts’ role in the legal disputes resolutions in the field of the intellectual property. In many cases, undoubtedly, there is a need for an expert knowledge in these disputes. In quite a few cases, however, the assignment of expertise also includes legal issues that cannot be resolved with the experts conclusions. Thus, the statutory protection it is not provided by the court but depends on the conclusions by the experts. The weak preparation is also the reason for the accumulation of a contradictory practice in the application of the law. At the end of 2022, two interpretative cases were filed - one by the Supreme Court of Cassation and one jointly by the  Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria and the Supreme Court of Cassation, on the application of norms related to the protection of the intellectual property. On one hand, the overcoming these problems implies efforts towards raising the culture of all who work in the field of intellectual property and, on the other hand- making concerted efforts at the level of preparation in the field of IP law for the magistrates and the bar, through the organization of trainings by the National Institute of Justice, universities and scientific organizations, from the Patent Office and so on.

Mr. Mehti Melikov’ observation, being Director of “Copyright and Neighbouring Rights” Directorate, Ministry of Culture, was related to the place of the administrative punishment in the system of protection the copyright and neighbouring rights. Mr. Melikov expressed the opinion that the civil law method should’ve became predominant and that the Ministry of Culture’s control activity also aimed to confirm the copyright doctrine, regarding the unauthorized use of protected objects. Efforts were also being made in this regard to unify the judicial practice, with the Ministry of Culture initiating for the adoption request of an interpretive decision on a controversial issue of law enforcement under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act. He emphasized that we had the legal basis for protection of intellectual property rights and detection of the violations. Similarly, the Ministry of Culture worked together with the National Institute of Justice. The Ministry of Culture is also considering an exception to the general rule of the local jurisdiction when appealing the criminal decrees issued by the Minister of Culture under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, in view of the benefits of the court's specialization in hearing cases in the specific matter of the copyright.

A large part of the attendees were actively involved in the discussion. All participants highly appreciated the usefulness of the conducted forum, and they came up with a proposal for the training on the intellectual property’s issues  and the protection of its rights.