Increase of commercial brands registration fee didn’t influence registration amounts

The general director of the State Agency for Intellectual Property, Stefan Novac, declared Tuesday, September 19, during a press conference that the increase in March of commercial brands registration fee for Moldovan producers hasn’t influenced registration amounts. According to him, after the tax increase a short period the brand registrations amount dropped only for a short period of time. Novac mentioned that in March the registration taxes for local entrepreneurs were equaled with the tax for foreign companies, which is USD 40. According to the cited source, the decrease by 50% of the registration fees for Moldovan enterprises with up to 250 employees and a turnover of up to MDL 8 million is favorable for all small and medium size companies from the Republic of Moldova. Therefore, the fee increase for local producers from 5 minimal wages (MDL 90) to USD 40 should not be a problem in the brand registration process, Novac concluded. According to him, the brand is an intellectual property and for this system to function properly, the Republic of Moldova needs not only a registering organization, but a whole intellectual property protection system, “that would imply competent policemen and judges in the area, and also a culture and a will to create and register brands”. The AGEPI data show that in 8 months of this year, Moldovan producers have forwarded 1043 brand registration requests, and foreign enterprises - 546 requests. As result of the fee decrease from USD 50 to USD 40 the monthly amount of foreign registration requests. From 1992 until now, AGEPI registered 30 thousand commercial brands, with 3 thousand registered each year.