The software piracy rate in Moldova remains the highest in the world. According to the Business Software Alliance, this rate in Moldova in 2011 was of 90%. The data were presented in a meeting of the national commission on intellectual property that is headed by acting Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar, IPN reports.
According to a communiqué from the Ministry of Economy, the meeting focused on the agreement on the protection of geographical indications of agricultural and food products between Moldova and the EU, which came into force on April 1, 2013.
The commission addressed the observance of the intellectual property rights in Moldova. According to a report produced by the International Intellectual Property Alliance, the legislation on the intellectual property rights in Moldova is generally solid and was adjusted to the EU directives. But the rights in the software industry and the cinematographic industry are not respected. Only nine names of origin are protected in Moldova. Two of them are national - Ciumai and Romanesti.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance recommends the Government of Moldova in 2013 to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the intellectual rights by staging public and education campaigns. A solution is to increase the number of training programs for the police, prosecutors and judges in intellectual property protection, including online piracy, and to step up inspections with the aim to combating the violation of intellectual property rights.
Valeriu Lazar said the names of origin are an important economic instrument for promoting the Moldovan products on the European market with a view to implementing the Deep and Compressible Free Trade Agreement.
