The seminar ‘’Fighting Intellectual Property Rights Violations in the Andean Community‘’ took place, with great success, on 15-16 May 2024 at the Externado University of Colombia.

The event brought together judges, prosecutors and officials from intellectual property offices from across the region to discuss strategies for combating IPR violations. The programme included panel discussions, expert presentations and networking opportunities among the guests.

The aim of this activity, with the support of INTERPOL, is to support different authorities in the region to carry out operational actions to combat the trade of products that infringe IP laws, pharmaceutical crimes and digital piracy.

This activity marks an evolution from previous activities for customs officials that aimed to enhance their understanding of the challenges of today’s international piracy and counterfeit trafficking. In particular, this activity aims to bolster the region through tangible operations against intellectual property crimes.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) organised the ‘Seminar on Intellectual Property for Judges of El Salvador’ in the city of San Salvador on 4 and 5 November.

Over 100 intellectual property (IP) examiners and officials from 16 Latin American nations met online on 12-13 March 2024 to participate in a training session on industrial design examination. Organised with the AL-INVEST Verde DPI cooperation project, the event aimed to strengthen the skills of IP registrars with a focus on industrial design examiners.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), building on its strategic partnership with the Andean Community (CAN) countries and in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the Andean Community (SGCAN) in Lima, Peru, and the IP offices of the CAN countries (SENAPI-Bolivia, SIC-Colombia,

The webinar on international intellectual property treaties, organised in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), successfully concluded after two days of intensive sessions. This event, held on 6 and 7 May 2024, focused on fostering dialogue among Andean countries on the challenges and opportunities of accession to the Hague Agreement and the Madrid Protocol.

More than 300 participants joined online on 19 and 20 March to attend the Virtual Trade Marks Workshop, focusing on positional, three-dimensional and virtual goods and services marks. The online event attracted a diverse audience interested in the current IP landscape.

The ‘Workshop for Patent Examiners from Latin American IP Offices: Pharma, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics’ was successfully concluded after two days of intensive training for patent examiners from the region. Held virtually on 3 and 4 September 2024, the workshop was organised by EUIPO, in the context of the IP Key Latin America project, in collaboration with the European Patent Office (EPO).

The activity consisted of a technical workshop alongside a study visit, which was organised in Spain. The visit was based on site tours and direct discussions with EU breeding companies, farmers, and growers.

This study visit included both theoretical and practical sessions on how the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention benefits plant variety protection for farmers and growers. It also provided stakeholders with a platform to address their concerns and seek practical solutions through exchanges with EU experts, breeding companies, farmers, and growers.

This study will show how the production and exportation of roses contribute to Ecuador’s economy. It will follow the structure and methodology of analogue studies carried out by the CPVO in the EU. The study should also prove the importance that the protection of IPRs has for the Ecuadorian flower industry, and at the same time the risk that inadequate protection of rights may mean for that sector.

The study contemplates the following topics: