Last week, ECTA and EUIPO held their annual Bilateral Meeting at the EUIPO Headquarters in Alicante to discuss topics of mutual interest and importance, such as:

• Implementation of the EUIPO Strategic Plan and enhancement of engagement with the users;
• Latest updates on craft and industrial GIs as well as in the fields of copyright and patents;
• SME support and related plans of the Office;
• EUIPO’s implementation of the 14th package of sanctions against Russia;
• Feedback on the functioning of mandatory eAFAs and the IPEP tool;
• Security of the EUIPO systems and a number of procedural issues of everyday relevance to practitioners;
• Key recent case law and a number of other practical IP topics.

ECTA was represented by Carina Gommers (President); Paola Ruggiero (1st Vice-President); Benjamin Fontaine (2nd Vice President); Anna Ostanina (Head of Legal Affairs); Cristina Bercial (EUIPO-Link Committee Chair); Sarka Petivlasova (EUIPO-Link Committee Vice-Chair); Klaudia Blach-Morysinska (EUIPO-Link Committee Secretary); Aitor Pomares (Geographical Indications Committee Chair); Katri Kiviniemi (Design Committee Chair).

We are extremely grateful to the EUIPO for a highly productive meeting and the fruitful cooperation and open dialogue we have built over the years. We look forward to continuing our exchanges and cooperation in improving the IP landscape in Europe.