Bilateral meeting between OBI and the Albanian Industrial Property Authority (General Directorate of Industrial Property, GDIP), Tirana, January 29, 2025
On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, a bilateral meeting took place in Tirana between the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI) and the General Directorate of Industrial Property (GDIP) of the Ministry of Economy, Culture, and Innovation of Albania.
The heads of the delegations, Ms. Maria Solis, General Director of GDIP, and Mr. Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, General Director of OBI, welcomed the cooperation between the two national offices, which dates back to 2021, and emphasized the importance of continuing this collaboration for the benefit of the industrial property ecosystem in both countries.
Ms. Katerina Margellou, Deputy General Director of OBI and Director of Legal Support, provided an overview of the national industrial property system and the legislative initiative for the adoption of a national system for the registration of non-agricultural geographical indications.
During the meeting, the latest developments in each country’s industrial property system were presented, focusing on modernizing the protection of industrial property rights and strengthening innovation.
Among the developments mentioned by Ms. Myrto Lamprou-Maurer, Head of International Affairs at OBI, was the artificial intelligence system “THALES”, developed by OBI to accelerate the classification and examination process of national patent applications, as well as the newly established Innovation Agency for connecting the research ecosystem with the productive entities.
Similarly, Ms. Lineda Arapaj, Head of Trademarks, Industrial Designs, and Geographical Indications at GDIP, Ms. Sonila Meka, Head of the Coordination and Analysis Department, Ms. Aferdita Rokaj, Director of Finance and Human Resources, and Mr. Përparim Mezini, Head of the Legal Department at GDIP, discussed the upcoming modernization of industrial property law and the development of an intellectual property strategy at universities.
The two offices agreed to strengthen their cooperation by promoting joint actions and extending the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2021 with the addition of new areas of cooperation.
Photos from the meeting:
