ASIPI and INTA were invited by the Ministry of Justice of Costa Rica to hold a series of meetings and working tables on February 25 and 26, related to the restructuring and relaunching of the National Intellectual Property Plan that was prepared by Costa Rica in collaboration with WIPO in 2012.

Luis Henriquez and Etienne Sanz de Acedo met with the Minister of Justice Fiorella Salazar and the Director of the General Directorate of the Registry of Intellectual Property Fabiola Varela with whom they held a very cordial meeting. During this meeting, they presented their organizations, explained what they do and how they could collaborate. Additionally, they presented the results of the Study of the Economic Impact of Trademarks on the Economy and highlighted the importance of incorporating the private sector in the discussions of this National Intellectual Property Plan, since their vision and expertise are very important for the success of such plans.

Subsequently they went to a working session with the representatives of the Interinstitutional Liaison Commission for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CIPPI) made up of representatives of various Ministries and public bodies. During the session, they presented the impact study, and recommendations were made on the specific objectives and good practices that the strategic IP plan should include. Additionally, it was discussed the importance of confronting piracy in a coordinated manner among the different State entities as well as the need to improve the rules for their observance.

As we agreed with the authorities, there will be new meetings and, in this regard, we believe that there is a very good opportunity for ASIPI and with the help of our local group, to contribute to the development of this new national plan on intellectual property for Costa Rica.