Ávarp Katrínar Júlíusdóttur iðnaðarráðherra fyrir hönd efnahags- og viðskiptaráðherra í Hörpu 18. ágúst 2011 á 20 ára afmæli Einkaleyfastofu
Honourable Mr. Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Mr. Lutz, Vice-President of the European Patent Office, Mr. Archambeau, Vice-President of the Office of Harmonization in the Internal Market. Dear guests from the mainland Europe and Iceland, Distinguished audience.
It is a pleasure to welcome you all to this conference - the importance of Intellectual Property Rights - which is organized by the Icelandic Patent Office to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.
The Icelandic government has always aimed to create a good business environment here in Iceland – an environment that provides opportunities for different kind of businesses to prosper. Intellectual Property Rights are without a doubt an integral part in all aspects of business activities: from creativity to manufacture, advertising, selling and distribution of goods and services and we are well aware of the importance of a sound legal environment and reliable administration. Therefore, we continuously aim at strengthening the legal framework to the extent possible. Not only have opportunities for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights been opened up, but also resources for the real and active enforcement thereof.
Important steps were taken in connection with the Agreement on the European Economic Area in 1993, which has lead to the implementation or adaption to important European Union legislation in this field. Also in the 1990s, we acceded to many significant agreements, such as the Patent Co-operation Treaty and the Madrid Protocol, which lay the foundation to the worldwide protection of patents and trademarks. These treaties are governed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and it is therefore a great pleasure to have with us here today the Director General of the Organization, Mr. Francis Gurry.
Another important step in the development of patent protection was taken in November 2004, with the accession to the European Patent Convention. By participating in the fruitful co-operation of altogether 38 member states, Iceland has become part of a successful system which can grant patents covering a geographical area of more than 600 million inhabitants. It is therefore a great pleasure to have with us here today, Mr. Raimund Lutz, Vice-President of the European Patent Office and also Mr. Jesper Kongstad, Chairman of the Administrative Council of the EPO, who is also the Director General of the Danish Patent Office.
As previously stated, the EEA Agreement opened a gateway between Iceland and the European Union. In 2009 Iceland delivered its application for membership of the European Union, and this summer the accession negotiations were formally opened. Whether or not Iceland will form part of the European Union in the future is still a question to be answered, but should Iceland become a member state, the main impact in this field would surely be on trademark and design protection and enforcement. Since 1994, a unified system for trademark protection and later design protection has existed within the Union and the office handling these matters is the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, otherwise known as OHIM. To share with us the Union's experience in this regard, we very much welcome the Vice President of OHIM, Mr. Christian Archambeau.
It is an honour for us all to have so many high-level specialists and company representatives to share with us today their knowledge and experiences.
The conference is opened.