Bilateral Cooperation between the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) is Agreed

The EPO president, Benoît Battistelli, and the CPVO president, Martin Ekvad, have signed an Administrative Arrangement in Munich. Both offices agree to strengthen their relationship through the exchange of information regarding plant related patents and plant variety rights. In order to enhance the cooperation and increase the transparency between these two offices, both offices agree to share their databases and working practices related to other work items. Furthermore, there will be a great exchange of knowledge and information in joint training activities organized by both offices, such as conferences, courses, and workshops. It can be seen clearly that there will be a significant increase in technical awareness and legal expertise for both offices. After the agreement is finalized, the EPO president, Benoît Battistelli, believes that the relationship between the two offices will be strengthened by a series of joint measures. The work of the EPO and the work of the CPVO are greatly related to each other. Thus, this agreement will allow both offices to benefit tremendously from each other’s knowledge and expertise. The CPVO president, Martin Ekvad, also states his happiness for the cooperation and expects the exchange of idea and knowledge between the two offices will help both offices to make high quality decisions. The EPO has a renowned IP academy and now the plant variety right system will become a part of a coming study: “IPR contribution to economic performance and employment in the EU”.

 

Source：https://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2016/20160211a.html

Kyeword：EPO, CPVO, IPR, plant variety right