The Cooperation Fund has marked 300 implementations by national and regional IP offices of its tools and services.
The Cooperation Fund began operations following an extraordinary meeting of OHIM’s Administrative Board and Budget Committee in 2010, and with a €50 million budget, is OHIM’s largest single project to date.
The Fund is run in partnership with the EU national and regional intellectual property offices, all of whom play a vital role in developing its tools and services, which are designed to harmonise working methods at national and regional office level across the EU-28.
To date the Cooperation Fund has delivered 21 products and e-service solutions; all designed at the outset to be one-off activities, delivering clear benefits, with concrete outputs and defined start and delivery dates.
The Cooperation Fund tools support every part of the trademark and industrial design life cycle. They include free, online search tools like Designview; modernised back and front office systems for national offices, including e-filing for trademarks and designs; specialised tools designed for the enforcement community; quality standards tools to support the drive for greater user-centred quality across the EU national and regional offices which make up the European Trade Mark and Design Network, and examiner support tools.
The achievement of 300 implementations has been a collective one. Over 300 IP experts, drawn from every EU national and regional IP office, plus user representatives, have worked alongside OHIM colleagues to develop and install the Fund’s tools and services.
The Cooperation Fund is due to run until 2015, as initially planned at its inception. Currently a further 50 implementations, making a total of 350, are due to take place before it is wound up.
Source: OHIM
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