The Secretary of State for Industry Fabio Righi signs the Cooperation Agreement with the European Patent Organization
The Secretary of State for Industry, Handicraft and Commerce, Technological Research, Legislative Simplification of the Republic of San Marino, Fabio Righi and the President of the European Patent Organization (EPO) António Campinos have signed an Agreement of cooperation between the European Patent Organization and the State Patent and Trademark Office, which will remain in force until 2023. The Republic of San Marino is a member of the International Organizations specialized in the Industrial sector and through the State Patent Office and Marchi, the cooperation projects for the development of the sector are managed. In particular, San Marino joined the European Patent Organization on 1 July 2009, the USBM therefore assumed the function of Receiving Office for European Patent applications and San Marino became a designated country for validation purposes. of EPO patents. With the signing of the Cooperation Agreement, conditions are created to strengthen cooperation with the EPO in the protection of inventions of small and medium-sized enterprises and to increase the quality of San Marino patents; implementation of the support from San Marino to the quality of patents given to small and medium-sized enterprises is contained in Decree no. 126, approved in July 2021, which takes into account the new EPO policy on patent research, provides for a financial contribution to applicants from the San Marino state, within the limits of budget availability. In confirmation of the soundness of the decisions taken, of the provisions issued by the Secretariat and of the great work put in place by the Patent and Trademark Office staff, it is noted that in the course of 2021 the revenues in the sector are further increased compared to previous years: in fact an increase of approximately 10% compared to 2020 for a total of 1,796,004.00 Euros. The sums collected directly from the USBM, that is the taxes on patents, trademarks and designs -, collected in 2021 amount to 1,423,592.78 Euros to testify, despite the pandemic, the effectiveness of the online procedures promptly implemented; while the remaining sum derives from taxes collected by International Organizations on international practices, then paid to the Republic of San Marino thanks to the relationship strengthened by the signed agreement.
Fabio Righi (Secretary of State for Industry of the Republic of San Marino): “The signing of this Cooperation Agreement expresses and renews the support of the Republic of San Marino for the fundamental principles and values of the European Patent Convention and for the interesting and important projects involving the Organization and our National Patent Office. In the strategic plan of the EPO and in the Agreement just signed, I found many points in common with the programs of the Secretariat of State, for example, the digital transformation which compared to 2022 must be the turning point. “
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