Secretary of State for Justice closes conference on intellectual property

Source: Portuguese presidency of the EU i, published on Thursday, February 11 2021.

Today, the Secretary of State for Justice, Anabela Pedroso, gave the closing address at the High Level Conference on the topic of "The Intellectual Property Metamorphosis in the Age of Digital Transition", as part of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Organised by the Ministry of Justice and by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), over 33 speakers participated in the conference, debating the transformation of intellectual property in the age of globalisation.

Underlining the links between intellectual and industrial property and the fundamental property rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Secretary of State emphasised the role of this intangible asset in the revitalisation of the economy.

While referring also to the most recent study by the European Patent Office, in partnership with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, according to which the industries that use intellectual property rights extensively, such as patents, trademarks and copyright, generate 45% of the GDP (EUR 6.6 billion) of the European Union annually and are responsible for 63 million jobs (29% of all jobs in the EU).

To this end, the European Union Intellectual Property Office - EUIPO, with the support of the European Commission, recently created the SME Fund, which encourages SMEs to register their intangible assets and which quite a high percentage of Portuguese SMEs have shown their interest in.